Part of a series based on our journey to Japan and Indonesia, beginning September 13, 2017. In each post we use our presence in Asia as a broader background to the usual exploration of our fit into this world. Welcome to our private life.

In a room with a paper shade we slept on roll-out bedding over tatami and the morning was bright. Besides the sunlight, waking up for the first time in Tokyo was disorienting: my boss was just asking me incomprehensible questions in a dream I was having just before opening my eyes, and I wasn’t expecting to find myself in Japanese austerity. It felt more like I had been working at home for a week than sleeping overnight here in Tokyo, beginning our first full day overseas.

Unfortunately the disenchantment from my jet-lagged awakening lingered while we explored the city, and my mood was clearly affecting the group as we walked around Kanda. Seeing my emotions affecting everyone made me feel selfish for even caring about the work I was missing — how annoying that, while trying to enjoy myself in Japan, I would realize just how much time I spend working. And the snafu that cut me off entirely from its email only made things worse.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my job… how else would we have bough tickets to come here? And yes, it’s given me irreplaceable experiences, but I often wonder if that’s enough to pay for its diffusion into our family life. Are we settling for the convenience of my profession? Maybe. Probably. But it’s hard to justify shifting the momentum of our lives just so that walking through the streets of Tokyo isn’t a bittersweet experience ruined by emails collecting in the background.

Tokyo was more humid than we expected. After all, I don’t know what we were thinking, Japan is an archipelago in the North Pacific (and there are 6,852 islands, to be exact). All the tourists were in shorts, but around Shibuya most Japanese wore full business suits even though the weather really wasn’t that much different than Houston’s.

I have a burning desire to see what things look like photographed by me.

Sometimes I think of Winogrand quotes when I’m shooting. He didn’t care about an audience, and now that we both shoot mostly for ourselves, we appreciate the freedom he described.

It took time to digest the environment before I understood how much the Japanese culture is embedded in every detail, right down to the vending machines on nearly every street corner. These things are everywhere, and they sell anything from drinks to cigarettes to ramen. And, despite the convenience, we never saw rubbish on the streets.

When I’m out with a camera, I’m generally not making images of people, although I do occasionally shoot them. My preference is for graphic elements because the intentionality is more challenging than the volume needed for capturing momentary facial expressions. I have a lot of respect for the masters who didn’t have modern options available.

Ueno Park was around the corner from our flat, so we walked there the first morning. That was before we adjusted to the new time zone, so we were up too early to find breakfast: in Ueno nothing is open until about 8am. While we looked for food, discovering the Toshogu shrine provided an opportunity to see how in Japan old and new are woven together. And still no trash, anywhere.

For about ¥500, the national Museum of Art is a bargain. The MOMAT Collection photography exhibit is in room nine, part of the series “The Afternoon” by Akihide Tamura is there. But go to the third floor — room 10 — and see the paintings because it is an impressive assemblage, our favorite pieces are in there.

In the end, maybe the correct language would be how the fact of putting four edges around a collection of information or facts transforms it. A photograph is not what was photographed, it’s something else.

Jet-lagged and tired, we stumbled into Mitouya for our first ramen late in the day after we landed. This isn’t their door. Anyway, if you’re ever in Ueno, go there and get the ramen with 2 porks, it will change your life. By the way, we read a lot about how expensive it is to eat in Tokyo, and most of that information was wrong.