Kameido Tenjin Wisteria at Night: 2023 Festival Review & Photos
Kameido Tenjin’s wisteria are always beautiful. But in 2023, I saw them after sunset, under lights. That was a new experience for me. I got great memories and photos, and snacked on a new food.
How did the lights make Kameido Tenjin’s wisteria different? The early evening brought out the purple in the flowers. They became more vibrant. Of course, they were difficult to capture with a camera in those conditions. It was low-light flower photography after all.
The highlight of this beautiful evening
Judging by where most cameras and phones seemed to point, I’d say Tokyo Skytree. Everyone wanted to get that tower behind the wisteria. I’m not surprised, as it was beautiful in the clear night sky.
How to photograph wisteria
These flowers aren’t huge, and they hang from trellises. So if you enter the shrine over one of the drum bridges, you won’t be faced with a sea of purple. You’ll see green. Get under them and photograph upwards.
The wisteria were hard to photograph in the dark conditions, of course. I had to walk around and find the best patches of light. A high ISO was also needed.
A flash would have been a good idea. I didn’t have one, but I might take one in the future. The results should be much better!
What was the new food?
The festival has stalls that sell street food. One had Sharpin (シャーピン). Curious, I asked the vendor about it, and he described it as being similar to gyoza. That sounded delicious, so I bought one and wasn’t disappointed.
My wish for the festival
Early in the evening, the flowers looked great in the fading light. But as time went on, the sky got darker. The flowers got harder to photograph. Fix that problem and more people will come.
Conclusion
Kameido Tenjin’s Wisteria Festival is good. I highly recommend it, especially after sunset. Please note that the grounds can be dark, so be prepared for that. If you go, hopefully, you’ll get nice shots of these fantastic flowers.
More wisteria festival
External related websites
- Kameido Tenjin (official website)