When discussing my Niigata Autumn Leaves Photography Tours/Workshops with fellow photographers, those that know of Niigata’s natural beauty mention Yahiko and its beautiful Japanese Maples in their breathtaking reds, oranges, and golds that span the mountainside and nearly the entire hamlet.  And I know a region in Niigata that has dozens of purple Japanese Maples.  This is an amazing introduction to some of Niigata’s autumnal beauty, but over 90% of my Japan Photo Tours including my annual Hokkaido Steller’s Sea Eagles Birding and Wildlife Photo Tour that also includes Hokkaido minimalist winter landscapes and cultural themes focused on the First Nations People the Ainu with the oldest shrine complex in Japan, also known as a power vortex. However, my focus is on Autumn; winter is still one season away.  Autumn or winter, or any season in Japan includes Snow Monkeys.  Sasagawa-Nagare, like the snow monkeys, is something you can enjoy in autumn or any time of the year in Japan. My photo tours have something to offer the casual photographer, the professional photographer, and anyone in between.

Sasagawa-Nagare is famous for sea stack oceanscape photography, but the Sasagawa-Nagare coastline is also a magnificent location for camping, bonfires with moonlight swims, fishing, diving, and pretty much any outdoor activity that you could imagine enjoying.  There are only a few locations I know on the planet that are as pristine as this one, and the most compelling difference I describe when I talk about these amazing seaside locations is the area’s natural aroma.  The Sasagawa-Nagare coastline is exceedingly rich in seaweed which is a natural shelter for organisms and filters the water of unwanted toxins, making it rich in marine life, and seaweed is an excellent detox food.  Also, in Sasagawa-Nagare, there are salt factories that craft their salt using the old, traditional method, boiling water which they pipe directly from the ocean and use wood fire to heat the water and extract the salt.  The Sea of Japan has worked since the last ice age with the ebb and flow of the crashing waves to create breathtaking crevices and recesses in the cliffs facing the ocean so that you can capture the perfect compositions.  On a clear day, you will also be able to enjoy Awashima Island in the background of your seascape photos.  As a photo workshop leader with over two decades of experience photographing in Niigata, I can help turn amazing photos into gallery-worthy, once in a lifetime photos.

In autumn, the mountainsides slowly shake off their verdancy and begin to accept the multi-colored accents encircling the seascapes, and with perfect timing, you can see the JR Uetsu train passing directly through the center of a naturally framed visual smorgasbord with sea, land, beach, mountainside, and steely transit all represented in one photo.  Leave the timing, angles, and locations to me.  I’ll happily help you as part of your Niigata Photography Workshop.  Bring your camera and a healthy sense of adventure, and I guarantee you’ll be satisfied with your photographs and having ventured a little off the beaten path.