In summer, the chances of capturing rain footage decrease dramatically. However, I set my sights on "thunderstorms." These tend to occur especially in mountainous areas, and if you're lucky, you can capture thunder and foggy scenery. This time, I headed to Tsubojiri Station, a remote station in Shikoku. This station is difficult to access and has very few passengers, but I was able to capture a miraculous thunderstorm and foggy scenery
- The deciding factor for this photoshoot was "Evening Shower" and "Remote Station"
- The train journey to the station
- Rain started falling unexpectedly
- Encountering a "second thunderstorm" that exceeded the weather forecast
- A record of approaching thunder and experiencing the power of nature
- Reflections for the next time and a sense of new possibilities
- The journey to the iron bridge and the waterfall to be continued in the next post
The deciding factor for this photoshoot was "Evening Shower" and "Remote Station"
The rainy season is over, and this is the time of year when evening showers are one of the few chances of rain. Having previously failed to photograph evening showers at Bitchu Matsuyama Castle, I checked the weather again and found that the best place to see evening showers was around Tsubojiri Station in Tokushima Prefecture. When I consulted ChatGPT, they suggested that of the two stations that were on the list, Hashikura-ji Temple and Tsubojiri Station, Tsubojiri Station would be a good choice, which was the deciding factor.
The train journey to the station
I finished work early that day and left Takamatsu Station on the 12:13 train. I changed to an express train at Tadotsu Station and headed to Awa-Ikeda Station. Since very few trains stop at Tsubojiri Station, I passed through there and then changed to a local train to return.
If you pass through your destination station and return, you would normally have to go through the station ticket gates and buy a ticket from your boarding station to your disembarking station again. However, JR Shikoku operates an app called " Shikoku Smart Eki-chan ," which allows you to buy tickets on the train.
This time, I purchased my ticket from Takamatsu Station to Awa-Ikeda Station and my limited express ticket in advance before departing. Then, before arriving at Awa-Ikeda Station, I used the "Shikoku Smart Eki-chan" app to purchase my ticket from Awa-Ikeda Station to Tsubojiri Station on the limited express train. This way, I was able to transfer smoothly on the platform without having to go through the ticket gates at Awa-Ikeda Station.
Rain started falling unexpectedly
From inside the express train heading to Awa-Ikeda Station, I could see heavy rain falling around Tsubojiri Station
While in the car, I checked the raincloud radar on my weather forecast app and saw that it wouldn't rain at Tsubojiri Station for a few minutes. Having confirmed this, I was about to give up on filming, but then I asked ChatGPT, "Is it possible for a sudden shower to occur twice in the same place?" The answer was, "There's a good chance!" I changed my mind and headed straight for Tsubojiri Station.
Encountering a "second thunderstorm" that exceeded the weather forecast
I was the only one to get off at the unmanned station. The rain had already stopped, but thanks to the previous rainfall, a mystical mist hung over the mountains around the station. The raincloud radar also showed signs of rain coming again. It was the silence just before the start of a dramatic natural event
A record of approaching thunder and experiencing the power of nature
After walking a short distance from the station and entering the forest, the sounds of thunder gradually approached. There were countless claps of thunder, and at times I found myself stopping in my tracks. While it was frightening, we were able to capture some precious sounds, and the resulting footage left a strong impression
In fact, the thunder and rain sounds recorded at Tsubojiri Station were
recorded as video but also as sound material The sound of the heavy rain hitting the roof of the station building, the rumble of thunder in the distance, and the silence unique to an unmanned station all combined together made this environment extremely valuable as sound as well.
As a result, some of the sound sources recorded during this time are being sold on
"Pond5," an overseas sound market for creators These field recordings are intended for use in a variety of applications, including video production, documentaries, games, and background sounds for video works.
Rain And Distant Thunder At A Remote Japanese Mountain Station (Tsubojiri)
It's also an attempt to "convey, not just with images, but with sound alone," the atmosphere of Tsubojiri Station enveloped in thunder and rain that I experienced myself.
If there are people out there looking for real Japanese natural sounds for their creative work or other purposes, I'd be happy if they knew that we're delivering sounds in this way.
Reflections for the next time and a sense of new possibilities
If possible, I would have liked to have taken an earlier train to arrive at the site. That might have allowed me to capture more dramatic footage. When photographing nature, timing is everything. I was reminded once again of the importance of predicting the weather and being prepared
The journey to the iron bridge and the waterfall to be continued in the next post
The goal for this shoot was to get from Tsubojiri Station to the railway bridge to the north, but the lightning was so close that it felt unsafe, so we gave up on filming midway. We only managed to get footage up to an artificial waterfall that we came across by chance. In the future, we plan to introduce "How to get to the waterfall at Tsubojiri Station" as well as drone footage of the waterfall as seen from the train window during the switchbacks, so please look forward to it!
