B&C arrived in Japan for the trip of a lifetime. They set aside three weeks to live in and explore the country properly — to walk, to wander, to get lost, and to let the days unfold at an unhurried pace, before getting married in a secret mountain garden in Kyoto at the end of their trip. Three or four weeks in Japan changes the way you experience it. It gives you time to stop chasing highlights, start noticing the smaller things, and soak up the atmosphere of day-to-day living. It’s certainly how I like to travel!

And B&C wanted their photographs to reflect that pace.

Tokyo is an incredible place to photograph — electric, peaceful, modern, ancient. But in recent years, something has shifted. As tourism has surged, so has resident frustration with photographers, influencers, and visitors who sometimes treat Japan more like a stage set than a living city. Some of this frustration is understandable. Pathways get blocked. Moss and flower beds gets trampled on. Private homes become props. And in a city where space is already tight, even small moments of thoughtlessness add up quickly.

In this scannable guide I aim to bring together everything you need to know — written from my perspective as a photographer who has lived in Tokyo for more than twenty years, and as someone who sees each session as a chance to share their adopted city; a place I have come to love (almost) as much as I love London!