Beyond the Snow to Inubosaki, the New Year's Holiday Isn't Over Yet
Photography Diary: January 3, 2026
This year's New Year's holiday is a whopping six days long.
It's a length I can barely remember since I started working.
The 2nd and 4th were for relaxing at home and working on my PC. That means the 3rd, sandwiched in between—I had to get moving.
On this day, I planned to shoot the sunrise at Inubosaki, Chiba as I had previously intended.
However, it started snowing heavily in Kawaguchi City on the evening of the 2nd.
Plus, my car doesn't have studless tires. I was in 'give up' mode for a moment, thinking, 'This is impossible...'
But it rained during the night, and then it cleared up.
The road conditions seemed fine. This... I can do this.
So, I woke up at 3:00 AM again. I definitely wake up earlier on my days off.
There was surprisingly no snow on the highway.
Just as I thought, 'See, it's easy,' the closer I got to Inubosaki, the more the landscape turned into a snowy scene.
I had to be careful... no, super careful. I proceeded slowly and surely, arriving safely just before sunrise.
Since it was the 3rd, there were fewer people than I expected.
And the scenery spreading out before me was just incredible. The snow that fell during the night remained, and
the sea, the lighthouse, and the snow. This rare combination really got my excitement levels up.
Before I knew it, I couldn't stop my finger from pressing the shutter.
The cold? I didn't feel it. Probably.
After the shoot, I stopped by Mangan-ji Temple, which I had visited in the summer, to photograph the quiet temple grounds before heading north.
Next, I visited Kashima Jingu Shrine to pray. Here, it was a complete turnaround: people, people, and more people. It lives up to its popularity.
I continued heading north to Hitachi Seaside Park. While walking through the park, I photographed the ice tulips and wintersweet.
Winter flowers aren't flashy, but they are deeply, truly beautiful.
I didn't push too hard that day and headed home early. Looking back,
I really feel like I was constantly on the move from the end of the year through the beginning of the new one.
I'd like to keep this momentum going for the rest of the year, but
there is one practical problem. I took too many photos. The organizing... it never ends.
Even though I thought, "The 4th will be a full day of organizing photos,"
it was, after all, a wonderful day.