Dries Buytaert

Japan 2025

A woman wearing a traditional kimono sits and smiles during a tea ceremony in Tokyo, Japan.
Dressed in a kimono for a tea ceremony in Tokyo, Japan.
Himeji Castle with its white walls and layered rooftops, showing traditional Japanese architecture and its well-preserved structure through centuries.
Himeji Castle is one of the few major Japanese castles that survived fires, earthquakes, and World War II bombings.
People walk through a busy intersection surrounded by brightly lit buildings and shops in an urban area of Kobe, Japan.
I've been to Japan four times to visit our Acquia office, meet with customers and partners, and speak at Drupal events. Over the years, I've come to appreciate the country's "quiet energy". There is something about it, and this photo from Kobe captures that feeling for me.
A chef seasons a thick slice of raw Kobe beef with pepper on a hot teppanyaki grill at a restaurant in Kobe, Japan.
Tasting A5 Kobe beef in Kobe, Japan, seared in front of us teppanyaki-style. The photo was taken at Misono, the restaurant that invented teppanyaki in 1945.
A woman wearing a traditional kimono smiles while standing in front of colorful paper umbrellas during a tea ceremony in Tokyo, Japan.
Dressed in a kimono for a tea ceremony in Tokyo, Japan.
A woman in a kimono prepares matcha tea while another woman watches during a traditional Japanese tea ceremony in Tokyo.
We learned to make matcha as part of a traditional tea ceremony in Tokyo. Every gesture has meaning, even the way you hold the bowl.
A crowd gathers outside a busy mochi shop in Nara, Japan, where workers in aprons hand out fresh rice cakes to waiting customers.
A small crowd in front of a popular mochi shop in Nara, Japan, where fresh rice cakes are made on the spot.
A small grocery store in Setoda with crates of produce and goods displayed outside under a canopy.
We stopped at this small grocery store in Setoda, run by an elderly woman. She struggled to lift a bottle of water into a shopping bag. Setoda is beautiful, right on the water, but many young people have left. It's kept alive by the people who stayed, most of them older.
People walk near the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, a damaged building that survived the 1945 atomic explosion.
We visited the A-Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, one of the few buildings that survived the 1945 atomic blast. Everything around it for more than a mile was destroyed, but the Dome remained standing because the bomb exploded almost directly above it.
Visitors, including schoolchildren in yellow hats, look at a photograph of an injured child at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
Inside the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, visitors look at a photograph of a child hurt in the atomic bombing. The yellow hats belong to schoolchildren on a field trip. I wondered what goes through their minds in such a heavy place.
A large crowd walks through a brightly lit street in Dotonbori at night, surrounded by restaurants and colorful signs.
A busy night in Dotonbori, the famous entertainment and street food district in Osaka.
Large red torii gate stands in the water near a boat carrying people, with mountains and buildings in the background.
The great torii gate on Miyajima Island marks the entrance to the shrine's sacred area. It's one of Japan's most recognizable landmarks and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I would love to come back one day to photograph it at sunrise or sunset.