The crossing at Enoshima line's Kamakurakokomae Station was featured in the hit series "Slam Dunk." (©Jason Halayko)
A few weeks ago I was working in the Shonan/Kamakura area taking photos for a client. There, I noticed a lot of tourists taking pictures at what I thought was just a simple little train crossing along the coast. This crossing was close to the Enoshima line's Kamakurakokomae Station. From what I could see it was nothing special, just a regular train crossing that you see literally everywhere around Japan. My curiosity got the better of me though, and after a quick Google search, I understood what all the buzz was about. I found that this particular crossing was actually shown in the famous Shonen Jump anime and manga Slam Dunk.
The series recently had a movie in theaters and is very popular both here in Japan and around the world. It seems that many fans of the series (both Japanese and international) visit this crossing to take pictures and reenact the scene shown in the anime. Sounds like fun!
A Strategy for Solitude
Now I don't usually shoot photos of trains, but I am a fan of all things anime and manga. I decided I wanted to head back in my free time and try photographing the crossing and the Enoshima trains as they go through. But I really didn't want to have to deal with all the tourists when doing this. This is a big issue in Japan right now, dealing with the huge increase in inbound tourists. And the one way to deal with it is to arrive before everyone else.
So before the crack of dawn, I was off on my bike riding along the Shonan coastline. I was hoping to arrive at the crossing before the first train at about 5:40 am and before anyone else as well.
It was a cool morning and a great bike ride in the pre-dawn calm of Shonan. I was able to get there with plenty of time to spare before the first train, but I wasn't the first person there.
As I rode up and parked my bike, another photographer came around a corner and started to get ready to capture the first few trains of the day. Oh well, at least we were the only two people there, and the other photographer had their own ideas for shooting so we didn't cross paths for most of the morning.
Embracing the Early Hours
Since I was basically alone (except for the odd local heading to the beach) I really wanted to get back away from the tracks. From there, I wanted to try and capture the crossing and the train within the local environment. This would be something impossible to capture once all the tourists started showing up. They would be all over the place and for sure get in any images I wanted to capture.
So from that first train at 5:40 am till about 6:00 am, I was able to shoot and move and just enjoy capturing the trains coming through the crossing at my own pace. With each passing train, I changed positions and slowly moved down the street closer and closer to the crossing. This allowed me to get a surprising variety of images at such a simple location.
As I already said, I am not a "train photographer" but I had a very enjoyable and quite relaxing time while working in the area. Thanks to the train app I have on my phone, and the fact that trains rarely arrive late here in Japan, I always knew how much time I had to change positions between trains. Plus if I did happen to lose track of time, the crossing bells would remind me another train is soon to arrive! It was great fun!
Early Bird Gets the Worm
Unfortunately, as time went by and the sun rose above the houses behind me, the inevitable march of the tourists began. The crossing slowly started to get a little more crowded than I wanted. Jumping on my bike around 6:30 am to head home, I caught the eye of the photographer who had arrived at the same time as me. We exchanged nods of recognition while I rode off back down the Shonan coastline.
I really enjoyed my little morning shoot and learned a valuable lesson: the early bird does get the worm. As Japan is just extremely popular for inbound visitors, the only way to get photos of popular spots without a million people is to get there as early as you can. And I mean way earlier than you think. In the end, you may get sleepy in the afternoon like I did, but isn't that what the large coffees are for?
When taking photos in public, please be mindful of the rules and avoid causing any disturbance to the neighborhood.
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Author: Jason Halayko
Jason Halayko is a professional photographer specializing in action sports and portrait photography. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.
