I Always Carry My Camera With Me as if It Is a Part of My Body

The theme for my photos is my family and the scenery in Toyama prefecture where I live. So, my advice is to decide on a theme for your photography before anything.

1. Tell us about your background and journey.

I was born and brought up in Imizu city, Toyama prefecture where there is beautiful nature, amazing scenery, and great seafood. I began my career as a hairdresser and then started getting interested in other fields, and now I work in E-commerce at a local selected store.

In the beginning, it started as my hobby to share photos I had taken on SNS such as Twitter/Instagram, but soon I got a boost in SNS followers. More than that, as I won many awards through photo contests, I started getting more job requests from companies.

Now I enjoy photography on my day off work or whenever I get a chance.

2. How and when did you realize your passion for photography?

Since I was little, I used to play with cameras such as film cameras, and compact digital cameras. It was when my child was born, I bought a real camera such as Canon EOS 5D Mark III. Since then I began to take many photos.

Around 2019 spring, I kind of started to be aware of exhibiting my photography to people rather than just doing it for myself.

3. What are some tips you would like to share with amateur photographers?

First of all, I think, taking as many photos as much as you can is very important. Second, you don't want to miss any beautiful moment, so for me, I always carry my camera with me as if it is a part of my body.

And third, those of amazing artwork photography taken by others on SNS also give me good inspiration.

4. What are the important skills one should have to be a successful photographer?

To find the overlapping part of those 3things below would be a key to be a successful photographer, I think.

1.Photography you can enjoy

2.Photography you can take better than others

3.Photography you can entertain people

It is important to know what you are best at, or photo skills, but also studying what people would expect for your photos, what they could relate with, and what would inspire them would be very important too.

5. What are the various opportunities available for aspiring photographers?

There are many various opportunities out there if you search on the internet, but what I think the most important is to decide on a theme for your photography. If you decide on a theme for your photography, it gets easier to reach people who you think you can entertain.

For me, the theme for my photos is my family and the scenery in Toyama prefecture where I live. So, my advice is to decide on a theme for your photography before anything.

6. Which is your favorite book and why?

My favorite book is The 100-Year Life – Living and Working in an Age of Longevity.

It is about what we need to do in our 100-year life and has many great tips to survive.

This book made me rethink what I really wanted to do in my 100-year life, and made my eyes open to an idea that age doesn't really matter when you want to try a new thing, and as you keep trying a new thing that you are interested in, you can always improve yourself every single moment.