Impetus to take action comes in interesting ways. I had been returning to the idea of starting a blog and website many times in the past few months, but I really did not get the needed motivation to start until I was traveling around Kyushu during this past winter break. That motivation came when the phrase “Picture in Every Prefecture” came to my mind. It was not only the catchy alliteration, but it was also the alignment of multiple goals I’ve been working towards recently that led me to start this project.

In the past few months I’ve had the growing idea that I want to visit every prefecture in Japan, and the sooner the better because I don’t know where my life will go next. When the phrase “Picture in Every Prefecture” got stuck in my head, I decided I wanted to collect an image from each prefecture I have visited in Japan and put them together to mark my progress in traveling around Japan. Looking at these photographs now, I still can’t believe I visited all these amazing places in such a short time.

I unknowingly started my journey to visit every prefecture in Japan in the summer of 2015 when I came to study Japanese for three months. I visited quite a few places in Japan during that time, but I barely scratched the surface. Little did I know that a couple years later I would move to Japan and not only be able to revisit those sites, but also add many more to my experience of Japan. In total I have visited 25 of the prefectures now. With 22 left to go, I am more than halfway there, and I have plans in place to visit and photograph many of the remaining ones this coming year.

Visiting every prefecture in Japan is more than just checking off a list for me. In all these areas I have met people and had experiences that shape my view of the world. I always do a bit of planning before each trip to decide what I want to see and fit it into my time limits, but the majority of things I have experienced are things I didn’t know existed before I left home or even my hotel or hostel the day of experiencing them. For me, traveling to every prefecture represents how much I don’t know, and how much I can still learn. It represents my interaction with the world. The world with its complexity is more amazing than we can ever imagine. And we won’t notice it if we don’t step out of our own expectations and plans to become open to seeing and experiencing the unexpected. Assume in every interaction and experience you are only touching the surface, and you won’t be far off. There is always more than you know now.

Visit Picture in Every Prefecture for your own inspiration to do something unexpected and experience something beautiful.