Hanami is a Japanese tradition of enjoying the view of flowers especially the sakura or cherry blossoms during spring season. The word ‘hanami’ is almost synonymous to outdoor picnicking or partying.

(Hanami was first used as a term analogous to cherry blossom viewing in the Heian era novel Tale of Genji. Whilst a wisteria viewing party was also described, from this point on the terms “hanami” and “flower party” were only used to describe cherry blossom viewing. — Wikipedia)

In Japan, sakura trees are everywhere – in parks, river banks and road sides.

Hanami is a great time for lovers. Isn’t it just lovely walking beneath those beautiful sakura trees with your special someone?

And also for the families…

Hanami is all about enjoying the company of others…

But, one can still enjoy(?) it alone, like this old man sleeping…

Or, this kid climbing up the tree.

…

Note: The photos are taken in Meguro-gawa (Pic 1-3) and Shinjuku Gyoen (Pic 4-7).

“The parade of the white balloon people!”

Last weekend at the Roppongi Art Night, I’ve witnessed an amazing dream-like street performance by Compagnie des Quidams. The whole act is called “Rêve d’Herbert“, which means “Herbert’s Dream“.

“The slim, human-like shadow-beings, wander around the streets seeking out light. In the quiet of night, these figures gesture to each other, coming close and moving apart in a dance-like dialog.”

“They also beckon to passersby. Before you know it, you are swept up in their mysterious world.”

“Step by step, they are transformed into voluminous 4m height characters. Deformed and majestuous at the same time, clumsy and ethereal, as come from another planet, their heads light up.”

“Then the enormous silhouettes take us off around a luminous star.”

“To a strange and bewitching music, the characters make a magic rite which make the star rising up in the sky…”

“As a wick at the moon… As in a dream…”

Quotes from:
– Roppongi Art Night Website
– Herbert’s Dream Website

Special thanks to:
– Mika for the special French dinner/snacks prior to this performance.
– Raku-chan for his super duper big lens, AF NIKKOR 180mm f/2.8D IF-ED.

Japan, as a non-Christian country, does not celebrate Christmas. December 25th is not a national holiday. But Japanese people, as great lovers of festivals and celebrations, try to celebrate it in a commercial way. Local government and big companies decorate parks and buildings with colorful illumination.

Last Saturday, I went to Tokyo Midtown, Shiodome, and Tokyo Tower to see the illuminations in these places. (Click here to check where you can see more illuminations).

Grass Square “Starlight Garden” in Tokyo Midtown

Illuminated balls in Sakura-dori in Tokyo Midtown

Capturing the sea of illumination in Caretta, Shiodome.

Also, Christmas in Japan is a perfect day to spend with your lover.

Caretta OCEAN Xmas 2009 in Shiodome

Tokyo Tower’s Light Down Story

0-0-0
Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

–Jesslee

Harajuku – one of the most visited places in Tokyo. The place where you can see the most extreme (weirdest and cutest) teenage fashion styles. The styles include punk, goth, lolita, ganguro, and others. Also, cosplays happen here every weekend, mostly on Sundays.

Below are some of the photos I took two years ago.
Note: I used to over-process photos when I was starting photography. ^_^

Princess Manzon, the Sassy Vamp, is one of the housemates of Pinoy Big Brother Double Up.

I had a chance to do a photo shoot with her before she left Tokyo for the show’s final casting. The shoot was spontaneous. It was past 2:00am, right after our karaoke session in Roppongi.

I’ve only known Princess for three months but, coming from the same province, Cebu, in the Philippines, we’ve developed a quite solid friendship.

I know she’s gonna do great in the show. I personally wish her goodluck!!!

******************************************
Here’s how you can show your support to Princess:
* Become a Fan on Facebook.
* Follow her on Twitter.
******************************************

Two weekends ago, I, with 3 photo buddies, had an early morning photowalk again. This time in Kabukicho at around 5:30 in the morning.

Kabukichō is an entertainment and red-light district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Kabukichō is the location of many hostess bars, host bars, love hotels, shops, restaurants, and nightclubs, and is often called the “Sleepless Town”. The district’s name comes from late-1940s plans to build a kabuki theater: although the theater was never built, the name stuck. — Wikipedia

There are still nanpa activities in this early morning. A nanpa is a way to pick up girls in Japan. To know how it works, check Nampa – Japanese for Picking Up by Neil Duckett.

We walked through Shinjuku Golden Gai and we could still hear people laughing while having some chat inside the shanty-style bars and clubs.  Learn more about the Golden Gai here: Old-world left in a Big City, Shinjuku’s Golden-gai

Kabukicho is a notorious place known for a lot of illegal activities like prostitution, illegal drug trafficking, and other crimes. A number of business establishments here are owned by yakuzas and Chinese triads. The photo below is the most famous police box throughout Japan for having been featured a couple of times in TV documentary shows.

Thanks to my friends: Mika, Kyoko, and Naoto for joining me in this walk.

This is what most people don’t know about Japan.

Homelessness was largely unknown in Japan until the economic bubble burst in the early 1990s and unemployment began to rise. – BBC

At the beginning of the 1990s, the homeless in Japan were viewed as nuisance. The government tried to get rid of the street people “because the environment there needed beautification”. – Wikipedia

According to street-papers.org, there are 25,296 homeless people in Japan.

Some of these homeless people live in the side of the street with their card-board houses.

Some in tunnels and underground stations.

The homeless prefer to freeze outside rather than be frozen by officialdom’s coldness.  – share-international.org

Note: The photos were taken in Fujisawa, Ueno, Yoyogi and Shibuya.

Enoshima is a small island that sits at the mouth of the Katase River, and is just south of Fujisawa City. This island is the center of Shonan, a resort area along the coast of Sagami Bay known for its scenic beauty. From the island, you can see a very nice view of Mt. Fuji.

Enoshima is also the favorite place for lovers. There is an interesting story behind this.

Once upon a time, a bad dragon with five heads settled in the bottomless swamp among the mountains of Fukasawa, Kamakura and tormented the people. They called the place “Koshigoe”, and feared the dragon, because he would steal their children.

For many days, dense clouds enveloped on the sea in front of “Koshigoe”. For a short time, heaven and earth quaked violently. After that, a heavenly maiden appeared sudenly, the clouds cleared and an island appeared. This island is known today as Enoshima.

Today, the heavenly maiden is worshiped as Benzaiten in Enoshima. The dragon with five heads is worshiped as Ryukomyojin in Koshigoe Kamakura City.

A bell has been placed here in memory of this legend by Fujisawa Tourist Association. To keep the legend alive, couples who wish to express their undying love for each other can have their names printed onto a plate which will be permanently attached to the bell’s structure.

(Story from the Fujisawa Tourist Association)

You can visit Enoshima – Wikitravel to know how to get there.

Look what I found in my mailbox today!

I just got the contributor copy of the Gym Class Magazine Issue 02 which has a 4-page feature of my Harajuku photographs. I also received the “Chosen Last” pin, and Gym Class stickers. Very cool.

If you want to read the full feature, click here.

****
Aside from this, I’m also happy to announce (or remind) you that the Bayanihan Photo Exhibit will start tomorrow (March 25th) at 13:00 in Art Garden Kawasaki. I will be in the gallery on the 28th from 13:00 to 19:00. Hope to see you there.

****
Also, tomorrow’s a payday, and so i sing, “Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow, You’re always a day away!!!”

[begin]

After almost a week of trying to resolve the domain transfer from Yahoo! Small Business to JustHost, now my ever personal website, JessleeCuizon.com, is ONLINE at last! *phew*

The homepage is still under construction. I still have to finalize everything– the content, design, layout, etc. Keep posted for updates here in my blog page.

To start this “first” post with a *bang*…

Believe it or not! I am being featured on the 2nd issue of  Gym Class Magazine, a London-based zine that tackles  “a whole lot of random stuff”. This is the magazine “For the Guy Chosen Last.”

The four-page  feature is more about Harajuku and a little something about me as a “photographer”.

I would like to personally thank the cool guy behind Gym Class, Mr. Steven Gregor, for the feature.

If you want to read the full feature, click here, but if you want the full copy of Issue 02 , you can order it  here.

Thank you for reading.

[end]