Field notes from a life in transit ●  currently: Japan

Sofia Costa

I photograph slow mornings, long light, and the places in between.

October 2026

№ 226  ·  Japan  ·  5 October 2026, 2:05 am

Zazen at Kennin-ji: A Still Morning in Kyoto's Oldest Zen

11:04 in Kyoto, cross-legged on tatami, the raked garden framed in the shoji screen. Some mornings you just sit and let the ache teach you something.

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kennin-ji zazen kyoto: Woman sitting cross-legged in a tatami hall at Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, raked zen garden visible throu
Sofia Costa · 35mm№226 → Japan
yanaka tokyo morning: Narrow wooden backstreet in Yanaka, Tokyo, soft early morning light, a cat asleep on a low stone wall.
8:28am in Yanaka, Tokyo. № 225 · place study · 3 October 2026
golden gai tokyo bar: Dimly lit six-seat bar in Golden Gai Tokyo, shelves of bottles to the ceiling, bartender pouring a drin
Sofia Costa · 35mm№224 → Japan

№ 224  ·  Japan  ·  3 October 2026

Golden Gai at Night: Tokyo's Tiniest, Most Honest Bar

Six stools, vinyl jazz, and a bartender who stopped being a stranger by the second drink. This is Golden Gai after dark, the Tokyo nobody photographs

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yanaka tokyo morning: Narrow wooden street in Yanaka Tokyo at early morning, soft gray light, a cat asleep on a low temple wa
Sofia Costa · 35mm№223 → Japan

№ 223  ·  Japan  ·  1 October 2026

Yanaka Morning: Old Tokyo's Quiet Streets Before the City

A quiet walk through Yanaka at dawn, wooden houses, a sleeping cat, and a senbei shop older than memory. Old Tokyo, before the crowds.

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September 2026
meiji shrine morning: Wooden torii gate and forested gravel path to Meiji Shrine, Tokyo, in early morning mist, stacked sake
Sofia Costa · 35mm№222 → Japan

№ 222  ·  Japan  ·  30 September 2026

Meiji Shrine at Dawn: Tokyo's Quietest Hour on Film

Empty gravel path, mist in the cedars, sake barrels waiting. Tokyo before it wakes, shot on 35mm at the Meiji Shrine torii gate.

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asakusa night photography: Glowing red Kaminarimon lantern lighting a narrow Asakusa street at night, rickshaw passing, warm
Sofia Costa · 35mm№221 → Japan

№ 221  ·  Japan  ·  30 September 2026

Asakusa at Night: Lantern Light Through Tokyo's Old Streets

Midnight in Asakusa, the red lantern still burning, rickshaws passing, grilled mochi in the air. A quiet walk through old Tokyo after dark.

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shibuya coffee morning: Woman seated at a minimalist Shibuya café counter watching a barista pour hot water over coffee groun
9:44am in Shibuya. № 220 · place study · 29 September 2026
tsukiji market morning: Woman eating tuna sashimi on rice at a standing food stall in Tsukiji outer market, Tokyo, early morn
Sofia Costa · 35mm№219 → Japan

№ 219  ·  Japan  ·  27 September 2026

Tsukiji Market at 6AM: Tokyo's Best Breakfast Ritual

6am at Tsukiji, standing at a stall eating tuna on rice while Tokyo's fish market wakes up around me. Cold hands, no chairs, no regrets.

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yurakucho yakitori tokyo: Tiny six-seat yakitori counter under Yurakucho train tracks, cook grilling over charcoal, warm smok
Sofia Costa · 35mm№218 → Japan

№ 218  ·  Japan  ·  27 September 2026

Yakitori Under Yurakucho Tracks: A Tokyo Night at the Grill

Six seats, charcoal smoke, and a train overhead every few minutes: an intimate Tokyo yakitori counter at Yurakucho, one highball at a time.

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shibuya crossing night photography: Aerial view of Shibuya scramble crossing at night, Tokyo, neon signs and giant screens re
Sofia Costa · 35mm№217 → Japan

№ 217  ·  Japan  ·  26 September 2026

Shibuya Crossing at Night: Tokyo's Chaos From Above

Above the Shibuya scramble at 21:40, neon bleeding into wet asphalt, no single face in focus. This is Tokyo at its loudest and most anonymous.

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sumida river tokyo: Sumida River in Tokyo at golden hour, a barge moving upstream as low sun lights each bridge in succession
Sofia Costa · 35mm№216 → Japan

№ 216  ·  Japan  ·  25 September 2026

Golden Hour on the Sumida River: A Slow Walk Through Tokyo

Golden hour along Tokyo's Sumida River, a slow barge, bridges lit one by one. A quiet walk, camera in hand.

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tokyo kissaten coffee: Woman at a wooden counter in a dark Tokyo kissaten, watching siphon coffee brew over an open flame, wa
An afternoon inside an old Tokyo kissaten, siphon coffee over open flame, dark wood, velvet seats, and a jazz record nobody skips. № 215 · place study · 24 September 2026
Where the film has been
"I travel slowly, shoot on film, and write down what the light was doing. This journal is where the frames land, two a day, wherever I happen to wake up."

Sofia Costa · film photographer · permanently in transit

Follow on Instagram → @sofia.costa.traveler