# Japan - Hawaii Travel: gear advice



## eddiemrg (Aug 14, 2014)

Hello CanonRumors!

I have booked my honeymoon from 20th sept 14 to 15th oct 14: first week Tokyo, second week Takayama, Nara, Osaka and Kyoto. Then we travel back to Honolulu and Maui.

Any advice while travelling by plane? I know that in US border I have to charge all my batteries (laptop, camera, tablet etc) in order to demonstrate it's not a "black device"... anything else? Any documentation or declaration before checkin?

Thanks a lot!

(I'll bring a 7d + 2 batteries and charger, 4 CF, 15-85 and 70-200)


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## eddiemrg (Aug 15, 2014)

UPDATE: 
Do I need to bring the bill from the shop where I bought my camera to demonstrate that it's mine?


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## Yeayea (Aug 15, 2014)

I've never had any issues flying domestic or international with my batteries. I wouldn't worry about bringing the bill of sale. Most times you'll just pass through security and they won't even look at you twice. Hope this helps.


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## lion rock (Aug 15, 2014)

Eddie,
Have a great honeymoon!
Enjoy your time in japan, it's really my favorite place to visit, though a bit expensive.
I would highly recommend trying the street food there, the food hygiene is truly excellent, I may say that it is even better than Singapore's.
I traveled to HongKong many times and from there to various countries in Asia. I have never encountered issues regarding my photographic gear, from 40D to 5DII to 5DIII, lenses 24-70, 70-200II and 100 f/2.8. Just the normal X-ray inspection. Never been stopped for proof of ownership or purchase. Regarding Li batteries, I carried extra in my gear bag, and the charger went in the checkin luggages. And no issues with them, too.
These are before the time they require powering up electronics. I'll see what it would be like this November/December when we go to HK/NZ.
Lastly but not least, enjoy the main reason you're going on the trip. Focus ( literally and figuratively ) on your new wife!!! This is your memory and life for the rest of your life.
-r


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## eddiemrg (Aug 15, 2014)

This was ghe best advice I have ever experienced! Thanks a lot!

She will be in the centre of the frame, always! Wandering if 22 gb are good or do I need more


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## lion rock (Aug 16, 2014)

Japan has so many different architectures, landscapes, people and the places you're visiting are so diverse that if I was visiting as a tourist, I would basically shoot till I drop. But, that's for me.
Memory cards are not terribly expensive, so you may consider getting a couple more. As I wrote earlier, it is and expensive country to visit, and airline tickets are quite expensive, make the best of your trip. If I dare say, it may be your tenth anniversary before you go again (don't get upset at me), so take as many photos as you can.
As a honeymooner, shooting one another is not quite romantic. Maybe, consider a lightweight tripod and a remote shutter release to get both of you in the scene. I guess I'm contradicting my earlier suggestion, I just am very fond of the country that I like to shoot as much as I can.
-r


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## eddiemrg (Aug 16, 2014)

Don't worry,I'll be moderate in taking pictures...! Sometimes my fiancee steal my camera and start taking pictures like a maniac (more than I!).

I'll buy a cf when needed,aaaaand...yes, one more cf is the right suggestion..!


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## Straightshooter (Aug 22, 2014)

You probably don't care, but allow me to warn you about the fact that there is a lot of bad stuff going on here in Japan in regards to cheating with contaminated food (rice and fish especially), so if I were you I would be very careful as to what I eat and where I eat it... Maybe skip the sushi, sashimi this time around...

The situation in Kansai (South) is better than around Tokyo, but still...

Hope you enjoy your trip ???


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## eddiemrg (Aug 22, 2014)

can you post here some press news about it?

Thanks


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## Straightshooter (Aug 22, 2014)

eddiemrg said:


> Don't worry,I'll be moderate in taking pictures...! Sometimes my fiancee steal my camera and start taking pictures like a maniac (more than I!).
> 
> I'll buy a cf when needed,aaaaand...yes, one more cf is the right suggestion..!




Eddie,


Will check for you (most stuff I get my info from is in Japanese...) but will see if I can find something usefull in English...
Sorry for maybe making you feel a bit worried, but the world is ignoring what is going on here, and that is sad!

Anyways, you won't die of eating one or two things contaminated, it just boils down to not eating bad stuff for two weeks in a row!

In regards to your stay here: do not shop at 'Bicamera and / or Yodobashi' cause they have this totally weird points system but forget to mention that thise points are actually extra money YOU payed on top of the normal price which they ever so genorously give you back during your next transaction... Pay a visit to MAPCAMERA, in Shinjuku, where they charge you normal prices for things new and where they have MILLIONS of SECONDHAND bargains, enough stuff to seduce you to part with your money and ruin your honeymoon (angry spouce 

Anyway, if you would like any other input (about photography) I would be happy to assist you!


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## eddiemrg (Aug 22, 2014)

Straightshooter said:


> eddiemrg said:
> 
> 
> > Don't worry,I'll be moderate in taking pictures...! Sometimes my fiancee steal my camera and start taking pictures like a maniac (more than I!).
> ...



Ok, thanks in advice!

About shop advice: thanks a lot!!! I think I am going to buy all here in my town and nothing in Japan... I think! 

Did anyone know were can I RENT some lenses in Japan or Hawaii...? Is it possible for tourists from other countries?


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## lion rock (Aug 22, 2014)

It is really sad that the Japanese has this kind of behavior. They have the most ethical society in Asia. I just can't believe it.
This behavior is true in China proper, though in HK it is much less so unless the products are imported from China. We would not purchase Chinese foodstuff, even here in the US for fear of unapproved foodstuffs or additives (I'm Chinese living in US for 40+ years.
For what's worth, I sincerely hope that what StraightShooter wrote of Japanese food is not true!

As for purchasing camera gear is concerned, I would be hesitant to buy there. The cost is much higher there despite that the cameras and lenses are Japanese. (HK prices are just as high for camera, last Dec., I tried an EOS M in HK and it was nearly US$100 more there than B&H.) It is quite a bit lower in mainland US. I can't say about used gear, though, I have not checked that market as I had done so with new equipment.

-r


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## Straightshooter (Aug 22, 2014)

lion rock said:


> It is really sad that the Japanese has this kind of behavior. They have the most ethical society in Asia. I just can't believe it.
> 
> For what's worth, I sincerely hope that what StraightShooter wrote of Japanese food is not true!
> 
> ...


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## Straightshooter (Aug 22, 2014)

I know CR forum is not the place to post these things but for what it is worth, a letter from a doctor who evacuated from TOKYO (yes, Tokyo not Fukushima!!) 


So far for "most ethical society" 






*Why did I leave Tokyo?

Shigeru Mita ( Mita clinic)



To my fellow doctors,

I closed the clinic in March 2014, which had served the community of Kodaira for more than 50 years, since my father’s generation, and I have started a new Mita clinic in Okayama-city on April 21.

I had been a member of the board of directors in the Kodaira medical association since the 1990’s, the time I started practicing medicine at my father’s clinic. For the last 10 years, I had worked to establish a disaster emergency response in the city.

In Tokyo, the first mission of the disaster response concerns how to deal with earthquakes.

In the event of a South Eastern Earthquake, which is highly expectable, it is reasonable to assume a scenario of meltdown in the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka prefecture, followed by radiation contamination in Tokyo.

I have been worried about the possibility of radiation contamination in Tokyo, so I had repeatedly requested the medical association, the municipal government and the local public health department to stock medical iodine. However, every time my request was turned down; the reason given was that Tokyo did not expect such an event. Hence there was no plan for preparing for the event.

In the afternoon of March 11, 2011, Tokyo experienced slow but great motions in the earthquake. I thought, “now this is what’s called long-period seismic motions. The South Eastern Sea earthquake, with the following Hamaoka NPP accident, are finally coming”. Instead, the source of the earthquake was in Tohoku. The temperature of the reactors in Fukushima Daiichi NPP rose and it caused massive explosions, followed by meltdowns and melt-through.

It is clear that Eastern Japan and Metropolitan Tokyo have been contaminated with radiation.

Contamination of the soil can be shown by measuring Bq/kg. Within the 23 districts of Metropolitan Tokyo, contamination in the east part is 1000-4000 Bq/kg and the west part is 300-1000 Bq/kg. The contamination of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine, is 500 Bq/kg (Ce137 only). West Germany after the Chernobyl accident has 90 Bq/kg, Italy has 100 and France has 30 Bq/kg on average. Many cases of health problems have been reported in Germany and Italy. Shinjuku, the location of the Tokyo municipal government, was measured at 0.5-1.5 Bq/kg before 2011. Kodaira currently has 200-300 Bq/kg contamination.

I recommend all of you to watch the NHK program, “ETV special: Chernobyl nuclear accident: Report from a contaminated land”, which is available on Internet. I think it is important to acknowledge what people who visited Belarus and Ukraine, and heard the stories of the locals, have seen and felt there, and listen to those who served in rescue operations in Chernobyl in the past more than 20 years.

Their experience tells them that Tokyo should no longer be inhabited, and that those who insist on living in Tokyo must take regular breaks in safer areas.

Issues such as depopulation and state decline continue to burden the lives of second and third generation Ukrainians and Belarusians today, and I fear that this may be the future of Eastern Japan.

Since December 2011, I have conducted thyroid ultrasound examinations, thyroid function tests, general blood tests and biochemical tests on about 2000 people, mostly families in the Tokyo metropolitan area expressing concerns on the effects of radiation. I have observed that white blood cells, especially neutrophils, are decreasing among children under the age of 10. There are cases of significant decline in the number of neutrophils in 0-1 year-olds born after the earthquake (4500). Patients report nosebleed, hair loss, lack of energy, subcutaneous bleeding, visible urinary hemorrhage, skin inflammations, coughs and various other non-specific symptoms.

Kodaira, in western Tokyo, is one of the least-contaminated areas in Kanto; however, we began to notice changes in children’s blood test results around mid-2013 even in this area. Contamination in Tokyo is progressing, and further worsened by urban radiation concentration, or the effect by which urban sanitation systems such as the sewage system, garbage collection and incineration condense radiation, because contaminated waste is gathered and compressed. Data measured by citizens’ groups showed that radiation levels on the riverbeds of Kawabori River in Higashiyamato and Higashimurayama in Tokyo have increased drastically in the last 1-2 years.

Other concerns I have include symptoms reported by general patients, such as persistent asthma and sinusitis. The patients show notable improvement once they move away.

I also observe high occurrences of rheumatic polymyalgia characterized by complaints such as “difficulty turning over,” “inability to dress and undress,” and “inability to stand up” among my middle-aged and older patients. Could these be the same symptoms of muscle rheumatism that were recorded in Chernobyl?

Changes are also noticeable in the manifestation of contagious diseases such as influenza, hand-foot-and-mouth disease and shingles.

Many patients report experiencing unfamiliar symptoms or sensing unusual changes in their bodies. Perhaps they feel comfortable speaking to me, knowing that my clinic posted signs informing of possible radiation-related symptoms immediately after the nuclear accident. Many young couples with small children and women worried about their grandchildren visit my clinic and earnestly engage in the discussion, and there is not a single patient who resists my critical views on the impacts of radiation.

Ever since 3.11, everybody living in Eastern Japan including Tokyo is a victim, and everybody is involved.

We discovered that our knowledge from the discipline of radiology was completely useless in the face of a nuclear disaster. The keyword here is “long-term low-level internal irradiation.” This differs greatly from medical irradiation or simple external exposure to radiation. I do not want to get involved in political issues; nonetheless, I must state that the policies of the WHO, the IAEA or the Japanese government cannot be trusted. They are simply far too distanced from the harsh realities that people in Chernobyl still face today.

The patients from Eastern Japan that I see here in Okayama have confirmed the feelings that I have had for a long time, since I was based in Tokyo. People are truly suffering from this utter lack of support. Since 3.11, mothers have researched frantically on radiation to protect their children. They studied in the midst of their hostile surroundings in Tokyo, where they could no longer trust either government offices or their children’s schools. Family doctors were willing to listen about other symptoms, but their faces turned red at the slightest mention of radiation and ignored the mothers’ questions. Mothers could not even talk openly to friends anymore as the atmosphere in Tokyo became more and more stifled.

I believe that it is our duty as medical doctors to instruct and increase awareness among the Japanese public. This is our role as experts, having knowledge of health that the general public does not possess. Three years have quickly passed since the disaster. No medical schools or books elaborate on radiation sickness. Nevertheless, if the power to save our citizens and future generations exists somewhere, it does not lie within the government or any academic association, but in the hands of individual clinical doctors ourselves.

Residents of Tokyo are unfortunately not in the position to pity the affected regions of Tohoku because they are victims themselves. Time is running short. I took an earlier step forward and evacuated to the west. My fellow doctors of medicine, I am waiting for you here. And to the people in Eastern Japan still hesitating, all my support goes to facilitating and enabling your evacuation, relocation, or a temporary relief in Western Japan.

(Translation by WNSCR team)http://www.save-children-from-radiation.org

*


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