Thank you for visiting my site!

Allow me to give a short introduction to PhotoGuide Japan to help you understand this site better. Just keep reading this intro page until you can wait no longer to explore this site.

PhotoGuide Japan started out in 1996 as a guide to photography in Japan, becoming the world’s most comprehensive (but far from complete) English resource on photography in Japan.

You won’t find any single Web site or book that covers the topics and content that PhotoGuide Japan provides. It is basically a resource site to educate you about Japanese photography. It covers the cultural and historical aspects of photography in Japan. For example, you can find a history of Japanese photography, biographies of Japanese photographers, photo book reviews, and listings of camera shops, labs, bookshops, etc.

It does not provide product information such as equipment reviews, camera prices, new product announcements, etc. Such information is readily available from many other sources.

From 2004, the site was complemented by a sister site called PHOTOGUIDE.JP which focuses on introducing Japan through photographs to promote tourism. Both sites at photojpn.org and PHOTOGUIDE.JP share common resources such as online photo galleries and blogs so you will see both domain names used interchangeably and seamlessly.

PhotoGuide Japan has three main objectives:

1. To introduce Japanese photography to the English-speaking world. It aims to rectify the lack of information in English on the cultural and historical aspects of Japanese photography.

2. To promote better understanding of Japan through photographs and the written word.

3. To conduct and promote international exchange on a grassroots level through photography.

Since PhotoGuide Japan first went online in spring 1996, the site has grown and improved along with the Internet trends and technologies that have become available.

In spring 1998, we delved into e-commerce by selling Japanese photo books to overseas customers (see PhotoReviews and iStore). This service has proven to be very valuable to people unable to access Japanese bookstores outside Japan. Then in late 2002, we started an auction proxy service, now called iStore, to buy stuff at Japanese auction sites for overseas customers from Japanese sellers who would not ship overseas. You can also buy stuff from other online Japanese vendors through us.

From 1999, PhotoGuide Japan started organizing public events (slide shows and exhibitions). PhotoGuide Japan also hosts the world’s largest online directory of English-speaking pro photographers in Japan at Photographers Japan.

The site continues to rank toward the top in key word searches related to Japan and photography and it is usually ranked toward the top in terms of popularity under the Japan > Photography category at popular directories such as Google and Yahoo! (in both English and Japanese):

http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/Japan/Arts_and_Humanities/Visual_Arts/Photography/
http://www.google.com/Top/Regional/Asia/Japan/Arts_and_Entertainment/Photography/
http://www.google.com/Top/World/Japanese/アート/写真/

We hope to continue expanding the Web site and helping people learn about Japanese photography and Japan.

· How is the site content organized?
First of all there are two domain names: photojpn.org concentrates on Japanese photography, while PHOTOGUIDE.JP serves as a photo guide to Japan with numerous images of temples, shrines, festivals, etc., from all over Japan. (Images available for licensing.) It also provides Japan tourist information in English.

PhotoGuide Japan at photojpn.org is divided into five Zones:

1. iStore - Our online shop offering proxy services for auction bidding and shopping in Japan.
2. NewsZONE - News and information (text-oriented content).
3. DirectoryZONE - Addresses and phone numbers (online address book).
4. PhotoZONE - Images (online photo exhibitions) at PHOTOGUIDE.JP.
5. PhotoBBS - Message boards.

Each Zone has various “Photo” topics or sections. Just click on each one to see what’s there. There’s something for everyone.

The most popular sections include iStore, PhotoReviews, PhotoHistory, PhotoWho’sWho, PhotoWords, and PhotoSpaces.

A basic navigation bar of links is provided at the top and bottom of most pages. And you can always return to the home page by clicking on the PhotoGuide Japan logo on the upper left corner or clicking on “Home.”

Meanwhile, PHOTOGUIDE.JP consists of three basic sections:

1. Japan Photos - Online gallery of thousands of Japan photos from all 47 prefectures.
2. Japan Articles - Text articles about Japan, centering on the prefectures, cities, towns, and villages. Still largely under construction.
3. Japan Blog - Comments about Japan by Philbert.

· Who is behind this site?
It’s just little ol’ me. A lowly commoner and gaijin peasant in Japan, and not some big company or organization. Name’s Philbert Ono.

I opened the site in spring 1996. I operate and maintain the site all by myself here in Tokyo, Japan. (It’s a lonely job, but loads of fun.) I’m totally independent and have total control over all content and management of this site.

I work as a translator, photographer, and online proxy seller (see iStore). I’m a Japanese-American originally from Hawaii.

Why am I doing this? Well, it’s mostly a labor of love. Most artists spend much time and energy promoting themselves, but I don’t care to go that route. I’d rather spend my life doing something that benefits people in practical ways. I’ve always believed in public service, not necessarily in government, but doing something beneficial for the public.

Also, I’m into promoting better understanding of Japan, and photography is my main means to this end. And nobody else is doing what I’m doing, so it makes my site important enough to be worth my time and effort.

Knowing that it is helping a lot of people around world, from the casual foreign tourist/shopper in Japan to Ivy League university professors and students, also keeps me motivated. It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun and a learning experience for me.

· What is PhotoGuide Japan’s URL?
We currently use these two domain names and URLs:

http://photojpn.org/
http://photoguide.jp/

You might also see shiga-ken.com which is my site dedicated to Shiga Prefecture, where my ancestors are from.

You can also insert “www” in front of the domain name, but it is not necessary. We also own “photojapan.org” and “photoguidejapan.com” and both will go automatically to our home page at photojpn.org.

· Explain the technical aspects of the site.
Our Web server is hosted by a highly reliable Web host company in the United States’ East Coast.

We use several content management systems (CMS) within the site. The CMS we are using are software programs written in a popular, open-source language called PHP. It resides on the Web server and links up with an online database (based on MySQL) to serve up the content you see on your computer screen.

We use a different CMS for different purposes. For example, we use a photo gallery program to show images, an address book program for DirectoryZONE where you can look up addresses and phone numbers. And PhotoBBS uses a message board program.

· Who is your target user?
We target the following people:

- Amateur and pro photographers.
- People interested in Japanese photography or photography in general.
- People interested in Japan.
- People doing research on Japanese photography.
- Foreign tourists and residents in Japan.
- Clients wanting to hire a photographer in Japan.
- Japanese wanting to learn English.

· How many hits do you get?
We estimate that at least a few thousand people visit the site every day. And each person views about 10 to 15 pages per visit.

· How do you use the site search engine?
On the home page, our search engine is powered by Google, and it can search for all pages within the site or on the Web. You can even search for a message board post.

Just click on the “Search” link on the navigation bar provided on the top or bottom of most pages.

· How often is the site updated?
The site updated on an irregular basis. Usually, once every few months there is a major update. Otherwise, there are minor updates in-between.

Updates are announced under the “What’s New” sidebar on the home page as well as on the What’s New page.

· Is there a Japanese version of the site?
Yes, there is a Japanese home page at http://photojpn.org/indexj.html. However, only a few pages are actually in Japanese. Usually, there is only an introductory page in Japanese such as for PhotoWho’sWho. In DirectoryZONE, addresses are usually provided in Japanese as well.

· What other services do you offer?
For a complete list of our services, see PhotoGuide Japan Services.

· Do you accept advertising on your site?
Yes, we accept ads on the site (besides Google ads) in various sections and Web pages. More info here, or Contact us for details.

· What’s the meaning of PhotoGuide Japan’s logo?

The circles were designed to look like the front of a camera lens. The three circles represent photographers in their own worlds orbiting this thing called photography. And together with the two straight lines on the bottom, it looks like a roll of film. The logo was designed by Utako Minamino and Philbert Ono.

· Acknowledgements
I want to thank everyone visiting PhotoGuide Japan, customers of PhotoGuide Japan’s online mail order service, and all the great people I’ve met online. I also want to thank the people who invented the Internet and WWW and made them accessible to the masses.

· Disclaimer
Although utmost efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in PhotoGuide Japan, all information is presented on an “as is” basis. Use the information only at your own risk. The author and PhotoGuide Japan’s Internet Web presence provider shall not be liable to any person or entity with respect to any liability, loss, damage, accident, or inconvenience caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by any of the information contained in PhotoGuide Japan.

The mention of companies, service providers, and other vendors in PhotoGuide Japan is for informational purposes only and does not constitute any endorsement.

· Copyright Notice
Unless stated otherwise, all text, graphics, and photographs are Copyright (c) 1996-2008 by Philbert Ono. All rights reserved.

No part of this Web site may be reproduced, transmitted, or translated into any language in any form or by any means without the written permission of the author or artist. The information presented may be stored in a storage or retrieval system only for personal reference purposes and not for redistribution in any form.

· How can I contribute content to the site?
You the can contribute to the site as follows:

- If you see any errors on the site, please contact us.
- If you want to post any exhibition notices or pertinent announcements at PhotoBBS, contact us.