I always left this trip behind because of the prejudices of being an expensive country. But thanks to my friend, Shuko Fujimoto, who I met on a trip to Vietnam in 1995 and he surprised me that being Japanese he didn’t have a camera. When he liked a landscape he would take out the drawing block and capture it there. Well, Shuko kept insisting that I should visit his country and in the end it was the best decision made on a trip. How I liked it!! With him who was able to spend a week with me enjoying Japanese cuisine, his friends and places that only locals go.

I have discovered a different Japan: its varied nature, from the islands of Okinawa in the south to the rugged snow-capped volcanoes of Hokkaido in the north. Japan has offered me an almost unattainable succession of scenes barely altered by man: boreal forests that reach the ocean itself, lonely beaches closed by palm trees and coconut trees, craters from which incessant tongues of lava and fire sprout.

Japanese sensibility is transformed into exquisite gardens that seem to culminate in natural creation. Its delicacy reaches the maximum expression in the monasteries and sanctuaries built in singular harmony with the environment. It is a culture that brings out refinement in the details. Knowing it has been a pleasure and unexpected surprise. Arigato gozaimasu Shuko!