Tokyo Film Camera Diary
I really like the grainy look that film cameras produce. I don’t know why, but Japan just feels like a film-camera kind of place to me. Maybe part of it is also because I’m not very good at taking photos, so the unique tones and grain of a film camera make even ordinary pictures feel more interesting.
This trip was a freedom trip after finishing military service. Over a little more than a week, I went all over the place in a rather ambitious way — Tokyo, Hakone, Kamakura, and Karuizawa. The one thing I miscalculated was spending too long in Karuizawa. Although Karuizawa is a large area, after watching the Karuizawa arc in Maison Ikkoku, I thought I definitely had to make the most of it. But without a car, the center really was just a shopping center and a ski resort, so for several days I could only wander around near the station.
Kamakura, Enoshima
The first stop was Kamakura. The owner of the guesthouse who handled our check-in was very kind, and when we came back at night, we sat at the bar, ordered drinks, and chatted with the owner. Kamakura is famous for its long history, with places like the Great Buddha, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, and Kotoku-in. But because of time constraints, this time we only spent time around Enoshima.
Enoshima is a place surfers go in summer. When we visited, it was early February, and the weather was still very cold. Still, Enoshima would probably be a lot of fun in summer, especially walking around the Enoshima Lighthouse area, where the sea breeze is really pleasant. But in winter, all you can think is how cold it is. Also, there are shirasu rice bowls everywhere around Enoshima. To be honest, they taste pretty average, basically exactly like what you’d imagine whitebait would taste like, and they’re sold at a pretty high price.
After that, we headed to Hakone! Our itinerary was:
- Visit the Little Prince Museum
- Take the ropeway to Ōwakudani
- Head to Tōgendai Port and take the pirate ship
- Go to Hakone Shrine and see the Heiwa Torii gate
Ōwakudani is famous for its black hot-spring eggs. It’s said that eating one adds seven years to your life.
After the Hakone trip, we had originally planned to go to Gotemba Outlet, but since we were already in Gotemba, we figured we might as well go take a look at Lake Kawaguchi, so we hopped on a bus and went there.
The photos from Lake Kawaguchi weren’t taken with a film camera; I’ll post them later if I get the chance.
Tokyo
After that, we went back to Tokyo. We visited the University of Tokyo and also had a really delicious Sichuan meal nearby.
Karuizawa
And then there was Karuizawa! Even though the places you can go without a car are limited, you can still have a very full one- or two-day trip there. Our Karuizawa itinerary included:
- Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza
- DELiCiA: the supermarket featured in Maison Ikkoku Karuizawa arc, with an insanely addictive announcement jingle
- Hawaiian burger
- Village restaurant and Kyu-Karuizawa Ginza
- Maruyama Coffee
- Old Ginza Street
This time, because I stayed in Karuizawa for too long, I ended up having nowhere else to go for the next few days and could only wander around the shopping plaza area.