The far west of Tokyo is far different from many images of the capital. There’s no neon. No immense swathes of concrete either. Not even many people. Instead, there are trees, mountains and also an abandoned train line. All of which make for an incredibly refreshing contrast. And on a day when a storm is fast approaching, those differences are made all the more striking.
Al says
Whoah that’s stunning! Tokyo too?!? 😮
Lee says
Thanks!
Yeah, not that far away, and yet it really is a world away.
YTSL says
Not the kind of picture I expect to see on your blog, Lee — but wonderful all the same. 🙂
Lee says
Thank you!
Yes, very different from my usual stuff, but when a moment like that presents itself, it has to be captured. Always nice to have a change too!
Scruffy says
Nice. Did you take any other photos of this? Let’s see!
Lee says
Cheers. Nah, that was it unfortunately. Driving down the mountain as the sky darkended, this one viewing spot appeared. Just in time too, as after taking the photo, the heavens well and truly opened.
LAObserver says
Monochromatic shots always have a way of drawing the viewer into them. Thanks for posting this one.
Lee says
Yes, couldn’t agree more. And you are more than welcome. I post whatever photos I personally like or have a connection to, so it’s always good to hear if somebody else gets something from one of them.
Squidpuppy says
Gorgeous. Kind of a pun there… But really, I can lose myself in that image. Nice.
Japan is one thing, because it’s so mountainous, but most places where we all live it doesn’t take that much to find seemingly trackless wilderness; you just gotta get out of the city. This could be thirty minutes outside of Silicon Valley in California, or an hour out of New York City in the Appalachians. We get our heads so stuck in our cityscapes, we forget. Thanks for the reminder.
Lee says
Thanks. Very good to hear it produced such thoughts. That alone made the photo worth taking.
Totally agree. It’s all to easy to forget, isn’t it? And all to easy not to bother making the effort to get out of the city sometimes too. I know I’m very guilty of that. And with scenery such as the mountains above so incredibly near, I really have no excuse not to visit them more.
John says
Beautiful shot! Calm and stimulating at the same time. Looks like you were pretty high up when you shot this? I am always dreaming of Japan and yet have never been outside the airports (you know… even the airports are interesting and fascinating to me). Maybe you like the mystery but my preference is to take a virtual tour each time you give a hint of your whereabouts. Maybe you could tag the photos with a location? (Maybe you have and I don’t know how to read it?)
Lee says
Thank you!
I’ve never even thought of marking the location of a photo. Well, unless it’s a bar that looks interesting, or a spot in an unfamiliar area I want to return to. As I’m always on the move it’d be a bit of a pain to be honest. I’d need to keep using my phone a lot which is something I try not to do when out walking. Sorry about that.
But this location is easy. A parking area on the road down to the lake. Here it is: https://goo.gl/maps/8YaNzuZ4LwE2
John says
Thanks Lee – I’ll spend my lunch looking up and down the road!
Lee says
No problem. Hope you enjoyed it!
cdilla says
I’m an urbanite myself, but that doesn’t stop me appreciateing the wilds of nature, and you have certainly captured something wild in this photograph.
It looks as if you were hang-gliding.
Lee says
Thanks. It was an incredible moment. Just before the heavens opened. We timed it just about perfect!