A commenter recently suggested that photoblogs might be a good way for people outside of Japan to get a feel for what’s going on here. Photoblogs and “blog blogs” written by Japanese photographers definitely exist, but I think by and large they are independent and personal (if not almost private) endeavors; not many Japanese photographers have taken to social media.

With that in mind, I want to heartily direct you to Aya Takada’s new Tumblr. Aya is a thoughtful photographer with a deep and personal knowledge of Japanese photography, especially the Shinjuku street scene. She is in tune with online media (she’s an active Twitter user too), and so far she’s posted a number of interesting things I hadn’t seen before. These kinds of sites both need and deserve your attention.