White, Red & Brown

08/02/2019 ~ 13/02/2019

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My first time traveling with my camera. This trip was full of experiments and trials of photography where we got to travel with many professional photographers. I felt quite intimidated that I didn't really know what to do with my camera. It's also one of the coldest weather I've experienced since Hokkaido, Japan, but I honestly think the cold and snow was what made it so memorable and the scenarios so beautiful.

With our destination set in Shirakawago, we ventured into this world heritage village to witness the preserved beauty of the light up event that happens about 6 times every year.

We got to try many traditional Japanese dishes like miso tofu, both sweet and salty red bean soup with mochi and Nagoya's specialty of ogura toast. I especially loved the ogura toast of both hot and cold, sweet and salty all together, with the hospitality the family. The famous 五平餅, despite the mochi being baked very chewy and crisp on the outside, were a little too sweet for me. I definitely enjoyed the 10 different tofu dishes I got to try: miso tofu, fried tofu, tofu salad, sesame tofu, tofu on its own, baked tofu, and tofu in a hotpot.

The village itself preserved the traditional architecture of gassho-zukuri, and some kept the structure of the insides that were open to tourists for us to get an insight on their past lifestyles. They were built to allow snow build-ups to shed from their roofs that creates a very unique aesthetic. The night of the light-up event were packed with tourists. It was really fun though, to both take pictures in from the top of the mountain, and to be able to walk around in the village. The entire scenery just appeared very magical.

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[Location: Kanazawa, Kago, Shirakagawo, Nagoya]