PLACES – Limited Japan Photography Artbook on Kickstarter (MAKE/100)

PLACES – A Photography Artbook of Japan’s Beauty (MAKE/100)

Independent photography projects live and die by trust. When you support a photographer on crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, you’re not only backing a creative idea—you’re supporting the experience, dedication, and artistic vision behind it.

My newest project, PLACES – A Photography Artbook of Japan’s Beauty (MAKE/100), is the result of years of traveling, photographing, and exploring the visual identity of Japan. The book focuses on the atmosphere, landscapes, and cultural locations that make Japan such a fascinating destination for photographers and travelers alike.

A Limited MAKE/100 Photography Artbook

This project is part of Kickstarter’s MAKE/100 initiative, which celebrates limited creative productions with a maximum of 100 editions. Each copy of PLACES will therefore be part of a small, exclusive print run, making the book both a photography collection and a collectible art object.

The concept behind the book is simple: capture the beauty of Japan through carefully composed photography—from iconic landmarks to quiet moments that reveal the country’s unique atmosphere.

Instead of focusing purely on famous tourist spots, the project aims to present Japan through the eye of a photographer who values composition, light, and storytelling.

Experience from Previous Photography Artbook Projects

While I may still be considered an independent or emerging photography artist, this project is not my first experience with publishing photo books on Kickstarter.

I already had previous successful campaigns which helped establish the workflow and reliability behind my projects, here are two examples:

• Masked – Cosplay Portrait Artbook
  A MAKE/100 project focusing on artistic cosplay portrait photography, combining costume design, lighting, and character expression.

• Japan in Black and White
  A photography book exploring Japan through monochrome imagery, highlighting architecture, streets, and landscapes through classic black-and-white photography adding written stories to each and every picture therefore sharing the creation of those pictures

These projects allowed me to gain valuable experience in artbook production, printing logistics, campaign management, and delivering rewards to supporters worldwide.

Why Support an Independent Photography Artist?

For independent creators, crowdfunding isn’t just a funding method—it’s a way to build a community around creative work.

Supporting projects like PLACES helps photographers:

• publish carefully curated photography collections

• produce high-quality printed artbooks

• continue documenting unique locations and cultures

• maintain creative independence

In return, supporters receive exclusive, limited-edition photography books that will never be printed in large commercial runs.

Capturing the Beauty of Japan

Japan offers an incredible range of photographic inspiration—from historic temples and modern cityscapes to seasonal landscapes shaped by cherry blossoms and autumn foliage.

Through this project, I want to share the visual diversity and atmosphere of Japan in a curated format that invites readers to explore each image slowly, away from the fast pace of social media.

Photography books remain one of the best ways to experience visual storytelling, and PLACES aims to deliver exactly that.

Support the Kickstarter Campaign

If you enjoy photography, travel imagery, or limited artbook editions, you can support the project here:

PLACES on KICKSTARTER

Every supporter helps turn this photography project into a tangible book and supports independent artistic work.

Autumn leaves at Ōsaka-jō

Flying a Drone at Ōsaka Castle During Momiji Season

At first glance, that title may not sound particularly special. But if you combine it with flying a drone, it quickly becomes something extraordinary.

For 2025, I had planned to visit a few new places from my bucket list. However, I’ve become increasingly critical of the typical “bucket list mentality.” The fear of missing out (FOMO) has led to massive overtourism in many places. Too often you see long lines of people waiting for the exact same photo spot—not because they truly appreciate the location, but because they want the obligatory selfie for social media or to farm followers.

Still, there are places that are worth experiencing properly.

Applying for a Drone Permit in Japan

Just like in 2024, I applied for permission to fly my drone at Ōsaka-jō.

The first step is applying through the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). The application itself isn’t too difficult, but it’s strongly recommended to submit it at least one month in advance. The review process can take time, and if authorities have questions about your flight plan, you may need to adjust your schedule.

My goal was to capture the famous momiji autumn colors around Ōsaka Castle.

Early Morning at Ōsaka Castle Park

When I arrived very early in the morning at the castle grounds, several sports groups were already there doing morning exercises and gymnastics. Fortunately, they left before my approved drone timeslot began, so they weren’t an issue.

Unfortunately, something else was.

Another drone pilot was already flying in the castle park—without permission. Not only did he ignore the drone regulations, but he also violated several safety rules, including flying directly above people.

Effectively, he had stolen my carefully scheduled timeslot.

Waiting for the Illegal Drone Flight to End

I waited for nearly an hour while the other pilot continued flying until both of his batteries were empty. By that point, I had almost given up on my plan because I originally wanted to capture the sunrise over Ōsaka-jō.

My motivation was pretty low. I also knew that bystanders who had already seen the earlier drone flights might assume that I was responsible for them once I launched my drone.

However, my official permit allowed me two hours of flight time, so I was completely within the rules.

Eventually, I decided to move to my preferred launch spot, the same location where I had started my drone flight back in 2024.

Capturing the Momiji Colors from the Air

Although I missed the sunrise, I was still very satisfied with the results. The vibrant red and orange colors of the momiji leaves created an incredible atmosphere around Ōsaka-jō koen.

The aerial shots and video sequences turned out beautifully, and the autumn colors made the castle scenery even more impressive.

Photography with the Canon R5

After finishing the drone flight, I walked around the park a bit longer. I even tried to find the mysterious “imposter” drone pilot—but of course that was impossible.

Instead, I focused on taking more photos with my Canon EOS R5 using my Samyang tilt-shift lens to create some unique perspective effects.

I also brought my DJI Osmo Pocket, which I’m still getting used to. It’s a great little camera, but it will probably take some time before I start using it regularly.

Searching for Copic Markers in Namba

After leaving Ōsaka Castle Park, I walked to Namba to look for some Copic markers at Hands.

Finding the store was surprisingly confusing because Tokyu Hands recently rebranded to Hands and also moved to a different location inside the mall.

Ending the Day with Pokémon

Back at the hotel, I relaxed for a bit and played Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

After feeling some overtourism fatigue during the previous days, this turned out to be a very productive and rewarding day, capturing new drone footage and photos around one of Japan’s most iconic landmarks.

Enjoy the pictures!

2024 in comparison

日本の城 - Launching next week

After setting up everything we will finally launch 日本の城 - Japanese Castles next week.

I've been working on this artbook about Japanese castles for a few months now and after receiving copies for proof reading last week we can finally go live next week. In this book I share over 400 pictures of 19 Japanese castles on 292 pages.

The Kickstarter campaign will be launched next week: https://lnkd.in/dxFyw86 Please join and support my project to help me publishing this book and make my dream of self publishing come true. Thank you for your support

Only 4 castles left

Still Working on my Picturebook for my upcoming Kickstarter campaign, a few more castles are finished now, currrently there are ~40/290 pages left: Fukushima, Nagoya, Matsumoto and Kishiwada

To finish up that entry I hereby present Fushimi castle with a mixed abstract Background and the family crest of Toyotomi mixed with Matsudaira.

Join my project on Kickstarter - coming soon - April 2021 - https://lnkd.in/dxFyw86

Bushido Virtue #1 GI

義
The first virtue of the samurai code is Gi, its meaning is justice or fairness. It's far beyond the rule of not cheating in battle, it's also about decisions, not judging by personal favor but by quality. The samurai culture is very often still alive in Japan's modern day society especially in old corporate companies that still take care of traditions. This way it's about giving fair chances to everyone in every situation in life. One movie example where you can see this virtue is "Last Samurai" where the lead actor is captured after a battle, making hi a prisoner (Shuujin), but still the lord Katsumoto is giving him a fair chance to get to know each other though they are enemies he is threating him with respect.

Although Gi is part of the Bushido - the way of the warrior - in some cases the samurai had double standards, especially in realtion to other casts or ranks. They sometimes exploited their right to weild a sword in public by killing civillians if they were displeased by them, neither fair nor respectful.

That's it so far about the 1st of 7 virtues of the Samurai.