Postcards and commemorative photos at modern souvenir shops in Japan usually feature full-color high-res images of Tokyo Tower or Mount Fuji framed by cherry blossoms. At around 50 yen (US$0.50) a piece, they’re an inexpensive way to show off your recent trip or give someone a gift. Flashback nearly 150 years and those same souvenir photos start to look a little different. Let’s take a look at 23 hand-colored albumen silver prints of Meiji Era Japan that were sold abroad and to foreigners visiting Japan.
photography (Page 11)
We realize there are as many photos of the Blood Moon Eclipse online as there were people who looked up in the sky and exclaimed, “Cooooool!” but we just had to share these ones featuring Tokyo Skytree, the newest icon of Japan’s capital city. As the tallest tower in the world, Tokyo Skytree is often photographed, but the addition of the huge scarlet moon made for breathtaking views. Check them out after the jump!
Underwater photography can produce some pretty spectacular images of everything from exotic fish to magnificent submerged landscapes. It can also give us a new spin on old ideas–like the images of girls in knee-high socks underwater that were so popular last year.
In anticipation of a new photo collection of more models underwater in knee-high socks, photographer Manabu Koga has posted more photos of an underwater model–this time wearing a school uniform.
For those of you who need a little break from Japanese cute culture and pampered internet stars from the animal kingdom, French photographer Alexandre Bonnefoy’s photobook may be just the ticket. Neko Land: Une vie de chat au Japon (A cat’s life in Japan) reveals the many faces of street cats, communally owned cats, pets, and cat café residents found all over Japan, from Okinawa to Hokkaidō.
Read on to view a large sample of the elegant and expressive work that resulted from his two-year stay, which portrays cats from many walks of life in a frank, but no less loving, manner. As Bonnefoy gives equal importance to their unadorned surroundings, let these felines guide you and immerse yourself in the often overlooked nooks and crannies of the varied communities around Japan.
It’s that time again, folks: the polls are now open for this week’s Pic of the Week!
Join us after the jump to see our 10 favourite photos and to choose the one that you think most deserves to win.
Ladies and gentlemen of das internets, we have a winner!
This week’s contest was the closest yet, with just one percent of the vote between the photos that claimed first and second place. Our Pic of the Week, plus two honourable mentions, await you after the jump.
It’s Monday evening here in Japan, and that can mean only one thing – it’s time to vote for our Pic of the Week! Join us after the jump for 10 superb photos taken by our very own readers and to vote for the one you think deserves to be crowned Pic of the Week.
Babies and gentlephlegm, noise and churls, it’s time to announce the winner of our weekly photo contest!
This week, we mixed things up a little by asking you, our dear readers, to vote for which of our 10 favourite photos you thought most deserved to be crowned Pic of the Week, and the results are in! Join us after the jump for our overall winner and two very special mentions!
As mentioned at the end of last week’s Pic of the Week, we’ve decided to open the contest up and make it as fair as possible by asking you, the good-looking, intelligent, art-appreciating people that you are, to decide this week’s overall winner.
So join us after the jump to see this week’s photos and vote on which you think deserves to win the right to be called Pic of the Week.
If you’re anything like us, you love old stuff from Japan. The temples, shrines, centuries-old festivals, and museums are some of our favorite things to check out when we have free time. There’s just something absolutely captivating about all the relics of the past that live on in Japan–but they’re just not quite as good as time travel! Come on, scientists, we want to hang out with Nobunaga! Well, while we’re waiting for Doc Brown to get back with the DeLorean, we can still at least look at old photos of Japan.
Though you might think there aren’t many–after all, it wasn’t like the samurai were running around with smartphones, snapping selfies–it turns out that there may be quite a few more than we realized! After a few hours clicking around the Internet, we’ve come up with our six favorite sites for finding old photos of Japan. Be sure to check them out and see what life was like over a hundred years ago!
Hey, you! You like taking pictures don’t you? Well how would you like to have your best snaps up on RocketNews24 for all the world to see?
Every Wednesday, we’re running a fun little contest called Pic of the Week. All you have to do to enter is send us an Asia-related photo that you’re especially proud of or think your fellow readers would enjoy. If we like it, we’ll feature it on our site and maybe even say nice things about you.
Toyokazu Nagano is no ordinary photographer. Whereas most kinen shashinka, or commemorative photographers, will have their subjects don traditional attire and adopt the exact same poses as the hundreds of patrons before them, Nagano is instead on a mission to commemorate the moments in our lives that all too often go uncelebrated, building whimsical scenes around his subjects that let their true personalities shine out.
It should come as no surprise, then, to learn that the idea for setting up a portrait studio that celebrates life’s little moments and does away with the kimono, sombre expressions and set poses should have come from a series of genuinely adorable, laugh-out-loud-funny photos of his daughters taken on a place that quickly came to be known as the “Magic Road”…
On Saturday night, July 12, you may have noticed that the moon looked unusually large.
That’s because it was the “supermoon,” which happens when two phenomenon occur at the same time: the full moon and the “perigee moon.” The perigee moon is when the moon passes closest to earth causing it to look about 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual. It looks even larger when it hangs low over the horizon, as it does when it is rising, for reasons scientists can’t completely explain.
Don’t worry if you missed it though. You can catch another supermoon on August 10 and September 9.
Until then, check out our favorite pictures from this past weekend below:
Hundreds of shopping malls across the U.S. have been forced to shut down following years of debilitating declines in consumer traffic.
In many cases, the shuttered malls are left to decay for years before developers or local governments raise the funds to bulldoze or renovate the space.
Pseudonymous photographer Seph Lawless traveled the country for years to find these forgotten malls and document their decay from the inside.
The photos he captured are haunting and apocalyptic, featuring dead trees and abandoned shopping carts against landscapes of broken glass and crumbling walls.
He compiled the photographs in a new book, “Black Friday: The Collapse of the American Shopping Mall,” and shared some of them with Business Insider.
We’ve featured so many “before and after” cosmetic surgery photo collections here on RocketNews24 that I’m personally starting to lose count. And yet there’s something so undeniably compelling about images of the selfsame people looking markedly different after going under the knife that it’s hard not to look.
Rather than comparing pre and post-surgery photos, though, today we’d like to share with you a collection of images from acclaimed photographer Ji Yeo, which focus solely on the painful, decidedly lonely period that occurs between the two. Yeo’s “Beauty Room Recovery” collection shows a handful of South Korean women who have opted to change their bodies through surgery and, after waking up bandaged and sore, begin the process of recovery and transition into the version of themselves that they have long wanted to be.
Join us after the jump to check out these haunting, intimate images.
These days, many engaged couples usually choose their gowns and suits, and take a beautiful set of pre-wedding photos before solemnizing their marriage during their wedding ceremonies. In the past, however, not many couples had the privilege of having lavish weddings.
An elderly couple in Hunan Province, China, have been married since 1946, but it is only now, 68 years later, that they put on their wedding dress and tuxedo for the first time!
It seems that the road to perfecting a selfie doesn’t stop at getting a perfect angle or perfect face. There is a rising trend among brides-to-be to cosmetically enhance their hands for that perfect “I said YES! And btw, check out my sparkly diamond ring!” photo update.
Most couples would jump at the chance to have a free professional portrait taken, but what if the price for the picture was being put in a vacuum-sealed bag by someone you just met in a bar?
Seems like that would be a hard sell, but apparently Haruhiko Kawaguchi, otherwise known as Photographer Hal, has a way with words, because he’s photographed hundreds of strangers sealed in plastic on his search to capture the greatest theme in human life: love.
Photographer Miki Asai lives in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s four main islands. It’s an area known for its expansive natural beauty, and although Asai does sometimes turn her lens to the broad vistas Hokkaido has to offer, some of her most engaging work focuses on much, much smaller subjects like beads of water, bits of dandelion fluff and even the humble ant.
Says Asai, “Through a macro lens, I am trying to show the beautiful world of the small. I am always surprised when I look through the camera’s viewfinder to see things normally unseen.”



















Japan’s awesomely beautiful Alpen Route snow corridor is now open
Brand-new Pokémon manhole covers coming to help the recovery of a disaster-stricken part of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases FIVE new Frappuccinos in a day, and we try them all in 90 minutes
Soaking in glimmering water and the essence of prehistoric plants at a Hokkaido hot spring
Japan’s best conveyor belt sushi restaurant of seven years ago has now, finally, come to Tokyo
Day 2 of our quest to visit all the Pokémon manhole covers in Tottori【Photos】
Artist gives anime and comic characters stained-glass look — with stunning results!
7 reasons why you should visit Aomori Prefecture
Studio Ghibli releases Ponyo donburi bowl to bring anime ramen to life
Police in Japan warn of scam artists posing as cops to collect fines for breaking new bike rules
Wisteria season starts early with blooming of Japan’s Great Wisteria in its beautiful garden
Injuries on stairs in Tokyo highlight an overlooked design flaw
Lawson convenience store at popular tourist site is one of the most unusual in Japan
Japanese trains in Sapporo might be better than those in Tokyo, thanks to one special feature
Mt. Fuji decorated with a 500,000-flower pink carpet is Japan’s ultimate spring view
Japanese government wants overseas anime market to roughly triple in 10 years, but are they crazy?
Japanese bento shop sells croquettes for 13 cents, but are they any good?
30 Pikachus want to share a Tokyo hotel room with you that has separate Grass, Water, Fire spaces
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Pokémon and Ikea Japan cross over into each other’s worlds with collaboration events
Japan now has a special desk for people who work at home with a pet cat[Photos]
Famous Tokyo cherry blossom spot installs view-blocking screens to fight overcrowding[Video]
Uniqlo announces new T-shirts for One Piece, Naruto and more for manga publisher’s 100th birthday
Krispy Kreme releases Super Mario doughnuts in Japan for a limited time
Japanese onsen egg maker from 100-yen store Daiso needs to be on your shopping list
Starbucks Japan releases new My Fruit³ Frappuccino at only 34 stores around the country
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Day 2 of our quest to visit all the Pokémon manhole covers in Tottori【Photos】
Artist gives anime and comic characters stained-glass look — with stunning results!
7 reasons why you should visit Aomori Prefecture
Studio Ghibli releases Ponyo donburi bowl to bring anime ramen to life
Police in Japan warn of scam artists posing as cops to collect fines for breaking new bike rules
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura cherry blossom collection for hanami season 2026
Can you spot what’s odd about this Japanese classroom?【Video】
McDonald’s Japan now has Hello Kitty and Pompompurin drinks on the menu
Cutie Honey anime inspires three daringly sexy lingerie sets【Photos】
Sailor-style school uniform outfits for men are warm, fleecy and said to reduce stress
Injuries on stairs in Tokyo highlight an overlooked design flaw
What’s inside Japan’s super-rare, super-popular Nara bread?
Japan’s 54-year-old lingerie model is turning heads of multiple generations in new ads 【Video】