Japan, 2025 — Narcis Gallery

Japan was the second destination of The Big Break. We had already been there a year before, mostly visiting the key tourist attractions — Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka… — but also going a bit off the beaten path, with a tour of Shikoku and the north-east of Kyushu, both of which made us promise ourselves to come back for more. So we did. We had to go back to Tokyo for a few days, to walk some of the neighbourhoods we hadn’t had time to see on the previous trip, and then off we went, further south. We started in Enoshima, to tick the “surfed-with-Mt-Fuji” box, and then quickly made our way down to Kyushu. After exploring it thoroughly, we didn’t really know where to go, and given the proximity of the Amami and Okinawa islands we thought it was the perfect occasion to try those out. Below is a quick description of how everything was and felt, and I hope the pictures do justice to the beautiful places we saw.

This Japan trip kept changing climate and scale. It began on the Pacific side with Enoshima and the Izu Peninsula—surf, rail crossings, fishing towns, cliff paths, and winter light—then moved west into quieter landscapes where old streets and geology took over: Hagi, the limestone plateau and caves of Akiyoshidai, and the long coastal roads toward Itoshima, Karatsu, and Ikitsuki.

By southern Kyushu the landscae became increasingly volcanic. Kirishima traded towns for crater rims, sulfur steam, and exposed mountain ridges, while Kagoshima was organized around the constant presence of Sakurajima, seen from ferries, buses, backstreets, and viewpoints across the bay.

Then the palette shifted south again. Amami Oshima was wet roads, a tiny 4x4, windblown beaches, and scattered roadside details; Ishigaki opened into coral water and subtropical green; and Iriomote closed this part of the journey under a much denser canopy, with waterfalls, dark forest, river mouths, and beaches that felt increasingly far from mainland Japan.

01 — Tokyo24 frames

A city built around movement

We had to go back and experience Tokyo: canals in winter light, trains cutting through the city, quiet gardens, crowded crossings and long shadows between towers. The camera stayed mostly at street level, where the city feels less like a skyline and more like a sequence of small, precise moments.

02 — Enoshima24 frames

Surf with Mt.Fuji

A coastal start beneath an imposing Mount Fuji, where the surf was much about taking waves as siting on the board and staring at the Mount. Behind the beach, quiet neighbourhoods were cut by the Enoden, level crossings opening onto the sea and winter light stretching everything into long shadows by late afternoon..

03 — Izu Peninsula29 frames

Cliff paths, wasabi terraces, and blue Pacific coves

A loop through the Izu Peninsula where steep headlands dropped into clear water, old fishing towns hugged the shoreline, wasabi terraces filled narrow mountain valleys, and torii gates, harbors, and coastal roads kept pulling the route back toward the sea.

04 — Hagi12 frames

White walls, timber houses, and rain-softened streets

Hagi at its quietest: white plaster walls, dark timber facades, tiled roofs, bicycles left against old houses, citrus hanging over garden walls, and almost-empty lanes preserving the measured scale of the former castle town.

05 — Akiyoshidai & Akiyoshido11 frames

Karst hills above, underground rivers below

A detour inland from Hagi through the bare limestone folds of Akiyoshidai and into Akiyoshido, where immense chambers, terraced mineral pools, still water, and dripping rock traded the open plateau for a darker subterranean landscape.

06 — Itoshima & Karatsu18 frames

Fishing harbors, windblown beaches, and a castle at dusk

A west-coast drive through fields and small fishing ports, then along exposed beaches and seawalls before the day narrowed into Karatsu—arcaded streets, river bridges, and the castle rising above the water in the last warm light.

07 — Ikitsuki9 frames

Hollywood sunset road

A short island road trip: weathered harbor buildings, ferry infrastructure, steep green-black cliffs, and ribbon-like roads folding through the landscape with almost nothing between the asphalt and the sea. The road is known to have been used in several Hollywood movies for its unique shape and sunset light

08 — Nagasaki13 frames

Trams, water and working ships

Nagasaki opens toward the harbour. Streetcars, bridges and waterfront buildings sit beside ferries and working boats, with hills closing the horizon. A compact city with a distinctly maritime rhythm, photographed in crisp winter light.

09 — Kirishima25 frames

Crater rims, sulfur steam, and a winter volcano

From broad rural roads and waterfalls into the Kirishima volcanic range, climbing past shrine gates and exposed crater slopes to ridgelines of ash, rust-red vegetation, blue crater water, and steaming peaks stretched across southern Kyushu.

10 — Miyazaki18 frames

Japan's surf Mecca

Palm trees, long empty promenades and the broad Pacific around Aoshima. The beach feels almost off-season, while the shrine brings red timber and dense greenery into an otherwise blue, open landscape. Unfortunately it was flat for the entire 5 days we stayed there - big frustration

11 — Kagoshima & Sakurajima36 frames

The mighty Sakurajima

Kagoshima revolved around Sakurajima: ferries crossing the bay, the volcano changing shape with every viewpoint, buses tracing its rough lower slopes, and the return to streetcars, shopping arcades, vending machines, and hard afternoon light in the city.

12 — Yakushima48 frames

Greenest island on earth?

Yakushima shifts the trip from coast to forest: macaques and deers living in harmony on mountain roads, waterfalls, suspension bridges and cedar trails swallowed by ferns and moss. The island feels wet, vertical and ancient, with every road eventually folding back into the trees. We had rarely see forests and nature that dense before.

13 — Amami Oshima40 frames

A yellow Jimny, empty beaches, stormy weather

Amami Oshima was the first of the Amami islands, a set of islands just before Okinawa. We were lucky to find an old-school 4x4 Jimny to rent, and drove past cattle sheds and radio masts, along wet coastal roads, down to pale beaches under fast-moving clouds, with palms, roadside cabins, old trailers, and turquoise water appearing between showers. I chose a warmer, pastel-like film simulation, given the ongoing stormy weather and grey clouds, hoping to bring some colour into all of it.

14 — Tokunoshima17 frames

Slow days on Tokunoshima

A wooden house under palms, rough coral coastlines, butterflies, footpaths and beaches under changing weather. Tokunoshima is one of the most quiet of the Amami islands, with more scare accomodation for tourists, and the one available often old traditional houses renovated by locals for that purpose. We were lucky to find one available, the "Turtle House".

15 — Zamami · Kerama Islands18 frames

Blue from every angle

Zamami is part of the Kerama islands, right next to the Okinawa main island. It is all about viewpoints and water: bicycles and scooters, white beaches, layered islands, clear turquoise bays, and a sunset that slows everything down. Small enough to cross in a day, expansive enough to keep you stopping. I don't have many pictures of the Okinawa main island itself, and I won't make a section on it on this page: it is large and very developed, much less charming than all the others we visited.

16 — Miyakojima24 frames

Reef lines and storm light

EEven if we still got our fair share of grey skies and rain, the weather on Miyakojima was starting to become milder and more pleasant as we advanced south through the Ryukyu archipelago. The landscape and flora started to change slightly, with longer sand beaches and more tropical flowers and trees, while still keeping some of the typical limestone edges and reef shelves visible through the water that we had seen so far on the Amami islands.

17 — Ishigaki33 frames

Coral water, lighthouses, and subtropical green

A brighter island chapter of stone-walled lanes, jungle paths, white lighthouses, wide views over reef-fringed bays, and beaches shifting from pale sand to impossible turquoise—Japan gradually giving way to the subtropics of the Yaeyamas.

18 — Iriomote41 frames

Ferns, waterfalls, and the wild edge of the Yaeyamas

Dense forest took over on Iriomote: giant ferns, moss-covered roots, boardwalks disappearing under the canopy, waterfalls hidden in dark ravines, calm river mouths, empty beaches, and small nocturnal details that made the island feel much wilder than the rest of the route. The waterfalls were simply jaw-dropping, with trails going up the river to reach them, and the nature was so dense it felt like something out of this world.