HOKKAIDO, May 26 (News On Japan) –
While working as a civil servant in Sapporo, Mitsuhiko Kamata spent many years capturing the pure fantastic thing about Hokkaido via his lens. Now, having taken early retirement after 35 years, he has devoted himself full time to pursuing the fleeting, miraculous moments present in nature—moments he believes should rise to the extent of artwork to really transfer the viewer.
Kamata has gained consideration for his gorgeous photos that resemble scenes from a portray—misty soba fields in Horokanai, stormy nightfall skies in Wakkanai, and uncommon gentle phenomena on snow-covered plains. These should not likelihood discoveries. He returns to the identical places again and again, typically enduring freezing temperatures and lengthy hikes, ready for the proper confluence of sunshine, climate, and composition.
His first main outing of 2025 befell in March in Rikubetsu, generally known as Japan’s coldest city. “If the temperature drops below minus 15°C and the sun comes out, there’s a good chance we’ll see it,” he stated, focusing on a uncommon winter phenomenon referred to as diamond mud. That morning, with situations aligning at minus 18°C, Kamata captured a spectacular solar pillar—daylight refracting off suspended ice crystals to kind a glowing vertical beam—titling the photograph “Sun Pillar Pouring onto Frost-Covered Trees”.
Later, a second journey in May took him to Muroran. There, at a secluded coastal spot referred to as Houraimon—reachable solely at low tide and after descending a rope-lined mountain path—he photographed jagged volcanic rock formed by waves right into a pure arch. As the solar set, the scene reworked, and Kamata famous how the panorama’s moods shift every time he visits.
On the drive again towards Sapporo, Kamata stopped at a stream close to Chitose identified to anglers however hardly ever photographed. As daylight filtered via the forest cover, illuminating the Mamachi River, he captured what he described as “a moment that glowed while I was driving past”.
In early summer time, Kamata visited Shūjitsu Hill close to Asahikawa, a sweeping vista backdropped by the Tokachi mountain vary. There he met up with Fumiaki Nishikawa, a youthful photographer who as soon as shadowed Kamata and now calls him his mentor. Together, they photographed expansive hills at daybreak and nightfall—golden fields dotted with working herds of Ezo deer.
One of Kamata’s remaining pictures of the day got here unexpectedly: a tractor churning soil, smoke drifting throughout a dusky farm subject. “That haze from tilling—there’s something painterly about it,” he remarked. In his fingers, even an atypical rural scene turned a bit of visible poetry.
Though Kamata used to spend about 70 days a 12 months on images whereas working, he estimates solely three or 4 pictures yearly reached the extent he strives for. Now, with extra time and fewer constraints, he hopes to extend that quantity and commit each free second to the craft. “As long as I’m healthy, I want to keep chasing those rare, breathtaking moments,” he stated.
Kamata’s pursuit of the extraordinary continues to rework the on a regular basis into one thing timeless—fragments of nature captured with the attention of an artist and the persistence of a seasoned hunter of sunshine.
Source: 北海道ニュースUHB