Japan & Boudoir Photography: Pt. 1
Some of you may have noticed that I’ve traveled quite a bit this year-the first place being Japan. Disclaimer: It will take four blogs to even *mildly* begin to flesh out the magic of this place (because there is SO much magic)...but we’ll eventually get through it. I’m mostly writing this because a lot of you have questions regarding the international photography opportunity I posted about here and I completely understand why.
Here’s the short version-Meagan O Photography is partnering with AdventureWomen to create one epic trip that includes a photography session as a part of the itinerary. That's it. Because I'm not completely sure what cost/place/time frame works best for everyone, AdventureWomen and I are currently collaborating around 5 possible options. Shells of itineraries, if you will. These 5 trips will include the where, when, how much and photography locations. We'll release these options October 17th to be voted on by YOU! The one with the most votes is the spot we’ll go that year! Until then, I’m sure you’re wondering what that will look like/what types of things will be included in those trips. I can tell you it will be once-in-a-lifetime and epic, but how so is tbd. So let's walk through my experiences thus far as an example…
Let's start with Japan-the entire reason I went there was to meet the owner of AdventureWomen. I wanted to experience a trip as a patron if I was going to potentially partner with this company in the future. To sum it up in a word, Japan was magical. I've got to be honest, Japan wasn't originally super high on my travel list. Don't get me wrong, I want to go EVERYWHERE...but Japan was just a bit lower on my list than other places. Boy, was that backwards. My experience in Japan-from the people, to the nature, to the culture-absolutely blew me away. This blog has been a frustrating one to write, mostly because I know my descriptions of my experience are going to fall short. But I'll try. And, even for this long-winded lady, it'll still have 4 parts...that helps.
The day I arrived in Japan was...different. I’ve traveled a lot, but I’ve never officially been in a country where everything is different. The language is different. The characters are different. It’s the first place I traveled where it’s obvious that I’m not from there purely based on the way I look. There are exactly 1,234,309,304 rules, but the people are SO graceful when you break all 1,234,309,304.
The first few things I observed immediately upon arrival: we lucked out and cherry blossoms were everywhere (blooming season only lasts about 10-14 days and was 9 days early this year), Japanese wear long sleeves/sweaters a lot-even when it’s so warm I’m sweating, there are so many tiny dogs, the toilets there will change your life, the food is incredible and there is a lot of bowing, which is a beautiful way to respectfully greet one another.
At the welcome dinner, we got to meet all 14 of the women who would be on the trip. The trip was going to be 12 days long, so to me this was a super important moment. I mean, what if they were a bunch of crazies?!? I first noticed the range between ages, which I love. The youngest person was in their late 20s and the oldest was in their mid 60s and everyone else was sprinkled in between. As the conversation picks up, I realize that these women are impressive, bright, funny, talented, and full of awesome stories. Of all the incredible things we did and experienced, getting to know these ladies was one of my favorite parts of the trip.
One thing about AdventureWomen’s itineraries is that they are packed with epic, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Our first full day there we went on a walk along the philosopher’s path, visited the Ginkakuji Temple AND met a real life maiko (a geisha in training)! The other thing I love about AdventureWomen, is that they aren’t just travel agents. They don’t just figure out your flight/hotel info, book you a few dinner reservations and a ticket to a show or two. They are curators of an adventure experience. A lot of what we got to do was through their specific contacts they’ve built over the past 40 years.
For example, there are only 230 or so real, working geishas in the world and about 80 maikos. And she didn’t just perform on a stage in front of us-she performed for us and then chilled with us at lunch where we got to ask her a ton of questions. She told us (through our adorable translator and guide, Yuki) about how they only get 2 days off per month, they aren’t allowed to have social media and they can have a boyfriend, but if they want to get married, they have to quit being a geisha. I asked if there were physical height or weight restrictions (I dunno...kinda like models or something) and she giggled explaining that she actually gained 30 pounds because the costume looks better on someone with a fuller figure. And you know I asked to have a mini-photoshoot with her...which she was totally excited about!
All of that in the first 24 hours! Look for part 2 next week where I’ll talk about visiting the bowing deer and getting naked with strangers…