Category: Nature Photography

Mono No Aware: Stills from Japan (Part 4 of 4, Minato City & Sailor Moon Destinations)

10/24/2025

If you are starting here, this is the last installment out of a 4-part series. I recommend you scroll down to part 1 & start viewing from the bottom up.

This last set of photos was from one of my last days I got to spend in Tokyo. I remember it was grey & gloomy, & I was still processing a lot of emotions from being in the Philippines for a month prior.

I knew it was likely going to be my last time there for a long time, maybe ever, so I wanted to make it something special & do something my inner-kid self would have loved.

When I was growing up in the 90s, I was obsessed with Sailor Moon as a kid. It was easily my fav Japanese cartoon, & I still have fond memories of rushing home to watch it afterschool on Toonami. Ahhh, those were the good old days... At a young age, I was already obsessed with the dreamy aesthetics & space-themed stuff. It's no wonder why as an adult, I love astrology so much now, haha!

I remember doing a search for Sailor Moon destinations in Tokyo, mostly expecting to find shops or something. Which, I would have been fine with, to buy some souvenirs. There was a Sailor Moon shop in Harajuku, but what I learned about was way cooler...

Here's a Google Map guide with some places I recommend in Minato City! Make sure to check out the notes I left in the locations. Not much on this map, but it at least gives you an idea for how I planned my day.

All blogs in this series can be found in the Mono No Aware tag. All photos were made using my Nikon ZF.

BEST VIEWED FROM A COMPUTER FOR THE FULL EXPERIENCE. CLICK ANY IMAGE BELOW TO ENLARGE.

AZABU HIKAWA SHRINE

The Azabu Hikawa Shrine is a destination many Sailor Moon fans visit. It influenced the home of Rei (Sailor Mars) in the anime, & the red used in Sailor Mars' uniform is a reference to the red structures in the property. I was lucky when I visited, I was the only one there! I thought maybe it would be filled with tourists for this reason.

ARISUGAWA-NO-MIYA MEMORIAL PARK

After the temples, I walked over to Arisugawa-no-miya Memorial Park, since it was walking distance. This park was one of the most beautiful urban parks I've ever visited. I didn't even feel like I was in the city anymore. I felt like I was transported somewhere else, it was unreal.

Before heading over to the temple, I'd actually ridden a bike over to Fruits and Season to get vegan fruit sandwiches one more time & enjoy them at the park. This park is special, because it's a backdrop for a location Usagi (Sailor Moon) & Mamoru (Tuxedo Mask) used to meet as well as have dates in the anime. It was so cute & I really felt like I was in the anime at some points.

And that's the end of my Japan blog series, until I can ever go back again someday... Recently I was feeling really down, because instability just does that sometimes. When I finally got the motivation to start sorting through and editing all the digital photography I made in Japan, it made me so happy to revisit. I started to think about how lucky I was to have been there, to actually live my life, ride a bike everywhere like I used to, & get to reconnect with long distance friends. I even got to do something I really wanted & I rented a Japanese micro apartment. I was really excited about it because I love watching videos about micro apartment living in Japan, to wind down before bed, haha!

I know there's a lot of negative things to say about a Filipina-American vacationing in Japan... I get it... TRUST ME, I GET IT.. Discourse is welcome, but I won't have anything to argue because I'm already aware. So judge away & assume what you want about me.

Anyways, the end. Thank you for checking out my digital photos from Japan! I'll get to the film when I get to it. 🥴

Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram, or subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates on my blog posts.

If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.

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Return Call Part 1: San Juan & San Fernando, La Union 2024

9/26/2024

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It's been exactly 5 years since I've returned to the motherland. The last time I was in the Philippines was to bury my father back in 2019. I'd been wanting to return more frequently since then, but the pandemic suddenly came out of left field. Even on my way over, I can't say I was comfortable being trapped in multiple airports & planes with herds of unmasked & coughing people for what turned out to be over 24 hours of commuting. But, I knew if I didn't do this now, it may be a long time until I could return.

After losing my full-time employment in early September, I answered the return call to come home once again...

Here's the first installment of some pics pulled from my Nikon ZF. I no longer have a Lightroom subscription, so I imported these lower-res pics over to my mobile via the Nikon SnapBridge app & did some light edits through the photos app on my iPhone.

More to come, & film photos will be available when I get back to the states, process & scan them all. Can't wait to tell you all about my new film scanner, too. Stay tuned!

Enjoy! Feel free to leave a nice comment & let me know what you think. ;)

View from a computer for the full experience. Click an image below to enlarge.

Some public transportation watching in San Fernando (top right & bottom) & San Juan town proper (top left). I love the public transportation in the Philippines. There's nothing else like it! And I love all the names people give their jeepneys. This one, for example, was named Alaska Halibut. 😆

The following photos are of the church my father was baptised in, & where we also held his mass before we buried him. It turns out St. John the Baptist Church was built sometime in the late 1600s or early 1700s. It is where most of my family on my father's side were baptised, married, &/or also had their mass before burial. This church is very special to my family. 🙏🏽

Please note — I, myself, do not identify as religious. Throughout my work, I document colonial legacies specifically relating to religions & their iconography, more specifically Christianity & its lasting influences through contemporary times. It's probably one of my fav themes to explore!

Not a great pic at all because of the glare, but this creepy display was motion censored & abruptly lit up when my niece & I walked close to it! Scared the shit out of us & I just wanted to share a crappy photo for you to all see what we were looking at. We weren't exactly sure who the figure inside was supposed to be, because there was no signage indicating who it was. However, we believe based on the stigmata on the feet, that maybe this is supposed to be Jesus? 🤷🏻‍♀️

🌾 Rice harvest season: Life in Dangdangla, San Juan, La Union, Philippines.

Dangdangla is a small barangay in the municipality of San Juan. It has a population of roughly 1000 residents.

For those of you who don't know, the simplest way to translate the word barangay (ba-ran-gy) to English would be village or community? The word originated from the balangay, which was a type of boat used by the Austronesians when they sailed & settled in the Philippines. The word was originally pronounced ba-la-ngay.

My first time to see a carabao out in the wild & close up! The carabao (kalabaw/karabaw) is a type of water buffalo & is known as the national animal of the Philippines, symbolising hard work. Carabao were often found helping with rice cultivation. 💪🏽🐂

Lastly, I ended my river excursion in Dangdangla with a rare double rainbow sighting. 🌈 To me, one rainbow is already remarkable. But to experience a double rainbow in the land my ancestors once thrived in felt like a blessing, & hopefully a good omen.

In pre-colonial Philippine culture, there is a belief that the soul is transported to the afterlife through maritime travel by a boat that flows down a river, & is then returned to nature to guide their descendants. I'd like to think maybe this was a sign from my father, saying "Welcome home, kid. I'm here if you need me." 🤲🏽

Stay tuned for digital pics from my upcoming adventures to Baguio & Cebu! 📸

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Mono No Aware: Stills from Japan (Part 4 of 4, Minato City & Sailor Moon Destinations)

AZABU HIKAWA SHRINE

ARISUGAWA-NO-MIYA MEMORIAL PARK

Return Call Part 1: San Juan & San Fernando, La Union 2024

NICA AQUINO

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