NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO560)
In my previous blog post I showed the empty streets in Kyoto. The images in this blog post are different, very different.
Before we came to Japan we watched a couple of travel videos on youtube. Over-tourism and how to deal with it seem to be a big topic. And after our Japan trip we can say that the picture is accurate but it’s also not that bad at the same time. The total number of tourists in Japan is still rather low compared to the size of the country. Japan saw a little over 30 million tourists in 2023. Seems high but my homeland Austria had the same number of visitors. The big difference: Japan has 125 million citizens, Austria has 9.
So why is over tourism such a big deal in Japan?
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO280)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO720)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO200)
The main problem is the uneven distribution of tourists. Everyone seems to visit the same places: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto. We did the same on our first vacation but we added Kanazawa to the mix. Tokyo and Osaka are big cities but Kyoto is not. That’s why the situation in Kyoto is worst. Should you avoid Kyoto? By all means no. Kyoto is of breathtaking beauty. I can’t remember the last time I took so many images on a single day like on this first day trip to Kyoto. Just make sure that you choose the time of your visit wisely, especially regarding time of the day.
We visited the first temple early in the day but now, after lunch, on our way to the Kyomizu – dera temple we faced the “tourist – rush-hour” in Kyoto.
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO1600)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO720)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO720)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO250)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO200)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO900)
Tourist traffic quickly built up and all of a sudden it seemed as if every single visitor of Kyoto that day was on this narrow street with us. I traveled a lot but I have never experienced something like it. Sometimes the caravan stopped for a moment before it started to move on. There also was a constant flow of people headed in the other direction. There was no way to stop, we just went with the flow in a stream of people.
I still haven’t changed my lens since we started our trip early morning in Osaka. My Nikon Z 20mm F1.8 S was the perfect lens to cover the temple and also our walk on this busy street. Sure I could have chosen a longer lens to compress the scene but even with the 20mm it is obvious that this street was packed with people. The 20mm also shows the buildings on both sides and how narrow this little street is.
20mm is my favourite focal length for travel photography. The Fuji XF 14mmF2.8 R (21mm on full frame) was my favourite lens in the past. I love the Nikon for its optical quality but I hate its design. The lens is too big and heavy and most of all comically long. I wish Nikon would make a high quality 20mmF2.8 or F3.5 someday. This is also the first lens that I shoot without the lens shade because this thing is even wider than the lens making the whole setup even bigger. Optically the lens is fantastic but regarding practicability it is poorly designed.
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO900)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO1100)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO720)
Despite the masses everyone remained calm and it was surprisingly relaxed. I was euphoric because I already made some of my favourite photos earlier that day but most of all because I finally was here on vacation on a beautiful, warm and sunny day in November. In Austria November is clearly the worst month of the year but here November feels like a perfect late summer day.
What also helped is that we were in no hurry. If there is one thing we learned on all our travels so far it’s: less is more. If you come here and plan to visit four, five or even more temples in one day: good luck with that! You will be rushing through everything and at the end you will see nothing at all. There are 1.600 temples in Kyoto. You can’t see them all no matter what you do. So relax and take your time to enjoy the experience.
That’s the advantage when you don’t travel in a group: there is no tour bus waiting. We go back to Osaka when we want. There is a train every couple of minutes.
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO1000)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO800)
We finally made it to the top and to the entry gate of the temple. You need to get a ticket to get inside the temple and on the famous platform overlooking Kyoto. Like with most attractions you need to pay a small fee to enter but I think Kyoto also needs some additional measures in order to reduce the amount of visitors. When we visited the Arches NP in Utah last year we had to book our time slot in advance. Not ideal but I understand why it is necessary. Kyoto needs to think about something similar in order to manage the masses. This is also true for some hotspots in Tokyo.
But as bad as those images look it was far less stressful than it seems. The people in Asia are used to crowds but I’m sure most would appreciate less busy attractions.
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO640)