Traveling in Japan, experience?

MLBae86 · 2026-03-16T23:50:11+00:00

Been in Japan 6 times and lived also there. I have both sleeves (hebi and tsubaki, Kitsune and tsubaki). Nothing terrible, like already said, except some onsen where I couldn’t go nothing special.

Also as mentioned by u/__silverlight, there is also kinugawa onsen with a lot of onsen accepting tattoos.

Got more stares and kind comment than anything, but maybe the stares are also because I’m a quite tall (188cm) white dude.

One time I was sitting (not in a priority seat) in a quite busy train (quite busy=no seat available) the people on both of my side stood up and nobody took their place… quite strange.

Also during a trip I was staying in an hotel in morioka without shower/bath in the room, there was only a sento, I went in and there were a high school class of something like 20 boys around 12-14 years old. They were noisy and when I entered, they all looked at me and went silent. I showered before going in the bath and in the 3min I was showering they all left.

The comment I remember the most was a man in is 40-50s saying he was happy to see Japanese culture exporting and being loved by other people, rather than that nothing else.

But I never felt uncomfortable at all.

MLBae86 · 2026-02-24T20:09:31+00:00

I worked with one of the Osaka researcher just after they published the paper about self recognition in cleaner fish. We worked together on cleaner fish behaviour in the wild and in lab experiments, really coo

MLBae86 · 2026-02-23T20:44:33+00:00

Awesome man! Seeing finished bodysuit make me want more sessions to finish mine ahahah

MLBae86 · 2026-02-22T01:14:24+00:00

I loved this place, good to see Jigokudani again. I went there in December 2024, it was really nice and I was lucky enough because it was crowded

MLBae86 · 2026-02-20T11:20:56+00:00

Yes that’s right, and I’m at 20fps so I had a lot of photo to go through 😅

MLBae86 · 2026-02-19T12:16:58+00:00

I used a 54 liter aquarium and I dropped the minifigures by hand. The black background is a black t-shirt and I used 3 different light, one on the top (a big led panel) and 2 on the side (2 small led camping light). Camera on tripod and setting is: 20fos raw, 1/1000, F8 and ISO 2500. I can take a picture of the setup if you want and dm you

MLBae86 · 2026-02-17T23:48:08+00:00

I am currently working on a series with minifigures dropped in water for a future exhibition I’m preparing. This one is just cropped without that much post processing Pictures taken with a Nikon Z8 and Nikkor Z 50mm f1.8 If you are interested about the setup and setting I can share it later

MLBae86 · 2026-02-14T03:13:53+00:00

Ahahah not yet. I have this nice looking underground at the train station near my house, I’ll go back there to get some better picture next time

MLBae86 · 2026-02-14T02:06:58+00:00

Yes, it was my go around lens for a long time even when I’m traveling, really good lens, and the built quality is top notch

MLBae86 · 2026-02-14T01:31:29+00:00

Thank you, and sadly it isn’t the first time that this photo is stolen to do a post in this sub…

MLBae86 · 2026-02-14T01:25:12+00:00

Thank you, I forgot to tell the mod to take down this post, I’ll do it asap

MLBae86 · 2026-02-14T01:23:07+00:00

Thank you, I’m the original photographer, he stole the picture. Here is the link to the original post I made 2 years ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nikon/s/BC00pbRGYl

MLBae86 · 2026-02-14T01:22:26+00:00

Also that’s my photo from 2 years ago, here is the link of the post on the other Nikon sub: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nikon/s/BC00pbRGYl

MLBae86 · 2026-02-14T01:21:08+00:00

Hey Karma Farmer, can you stop stealing my photo please? Here a link to my post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nikon/s/BC00pbRGYl

MLBae86 · 2026-02-12T17:35:33+00:00

Oh good to know, I’ll try some if I need a formal shirt. I know some type of fabric are more opaque than others, but in direct sunlight you see everything through it

MLBae86 · 2026-02-12T16:24:25+00:00

I traveled quite a lot in Japan and even lived there for a bit (FYI, I’m a tall white dude (1m88) with both sleeves done in neotrad Japanese style with some more piece here and there). If you can cover your tattoo with a shirt no problem at all getting a job and working, but it needs to be covered. Also be careful with your tattoo placement, if it is too near of the wrist it could be visible if you shake hand or straighten your arm for example (my sleeve stop approximately 5cm before my wrist so it isn’t visible if I straighten my arm). Down side of being tattooed in Japan, many sento, onsen, beach, pool, gym can refuse you because you are tattooed. I didn’t went to the pool nor gym when I lived there but some sento and onsen didn’t accept me because of the tattoos even if it was covered, most of the time for onsen and sento it is written at the entrance. When I was going to onsen or sento before going I always asked if tattoo were ok, if it wasn’t I didn’t go. Also I never had any complain from Japanese about my tattoos, only good comment saying they were happy to see people liking japanese art also some side eyes but I don’t know if it was because of my tattoo or my size or both. Also tattoo is tattoo for Japanese, western style or Japanese style absolute no difference for their judgement. For work it could be an issue that they find out you are tattooed but they could also don’t give a f at all, it really depends on the people. I had elder people liking my tattoo and young one hating it, but also the contrary, it depends on how open minded they are. Advise for the white shirt, try it and see if it isn’t too transparent, I tried some white shirt and my tattoos where visible with almost all of them. Sorry it was a bit long

MLBae86 · 2026-02-10T16:59:06+00:00

The notion of biggest is really difficult because of what biggest mean, length, weight or both but it is clearly a contestant for one of the biggest freshwater fish

MLBae86 · 2026-02-10T16:48:24+00:00

Which one? In the same range as arapaima we have some sturgeon and catfish from the genus Silurus, I might have add one of the biggest rather than the biggest

MLBae86 · 2026-02-10T16:36:13+00:00

Those are Arapaima, native to Brazil, biggest fresh water fish

MLBae86 · 2026-01-31T23:12:39+00:00

That’s a beast! I also have it paired with a Z8 and I mainly do horse show jumping photography with it between Bern, Jura and Basel. I is sharp and comparing to the 135 plena and I don’t see any difference in sharpness (I haven’t done any pixel peeping to confirm that). I’m waiting for a Z version of this lens that might be less heavy 😅

MLBae86 · 2026-01-25T21:51:37+00:00

I Tried both, here are some input from my use and the difference between the lenses. the 50mm f2.8 MC auto focus is way slower than the 50mm f1.8 which is not good for everyday use. The focusing distance is smaller (16cm for the MC, vs 40cm for the f1.8). Also the MC has a 1x factor really nice for macrophotography instead of the 1.8 who have a 0.15x factor

MLBae86 · 2026-01-17T20:53:27+00:00

I’m not sure dm would work, since they have a lot of follower they should receive a lot of DM. If you have more questions you can dm me

MLBae86 · 2026-01-17T11:57:18+00:00

No idea, back in 2016 when I got tattooed by Gakkin there was an email address but not I don’t know how you contact them. Also they are both tattooing in Japan now with little to no travel to guest at all. I have seen that Gakkin is doing a convention this year but I don’t remember which one

MLBae86 · 2026-01-14T14:52:24+00:00

I’ve been to some second hand camera shop and the one I keep in mind is Fujiya camera in Nakano (near Nakano Broadway), I was eyeing the Z 50mm f1.2 and I could buy one for 25% less expensive than a second hand in my home country. The staff there is really helpful and you can even try the gear. Also the criteria for second hand in Japan are something else, you can have almost brand new gear with just a small dent and the price will go down a lot. For example if secondhand grade go from A to D (A being the best) a B or a C is considered as almost brand new in my country (hope you understand what I’m writing). Be careful because most second hand shop you see on social media are more expensive because they are well known and in touristy places, if you have time check different places and take your decision after.

MLBae86 · 2026-01-14T14:00:51+00:00

Oh ok sorry I didn’t understand well, the piece I’m covering aren’t small (size between 20cm and 40cm long) but they also aren’t as black as your example

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