Al Polston
patreon
Japan Trip + Store Update
🕑 Added 2025-01-14 21:20:06 +0000 UTCHappy new year! I'm back from my Japan trip and wanted to share some of the photos and sketches I made. I'll be posting a video on my youtube this sunday about my trip if you want the talking moving version of this experience. Scroll to the bottom if you want the info on my store update and some patreon updates!
We started our trip in Tokyo, the first few days I was getting up earlier than the other people in our group so I went on walks by myself. I stopped by some temples and went to the Gyoen National Garden. I realized pretty quickly its not worth it to walk around early in the day because your feet are dying by the end of the day.
Despite it being winter time, a lot of the trees were still in autumn foliage, the gingko leaves littering the streets was really special to see.
We spent Christmas just visiting shops, its not a big holiday in Japan so everything was open.
The next day was my birthday and I went to the Pokemon Center and got a tattoo to remember my time in Japan. I often get tattoos when I travel.
This was the artists flash and I had him add a gingko leaf to the frogs back. The tattoo artist was concerned it wasnt a very japanese tattoo, but that was ok with me. I associate these frogs with japanese media since they were very viral for a minute, and the gingkos remind me of all the gingko around Tokyo. It is also one of my favorite trees. (Gingko are native to china, but have been introduced to Japan for a little over 1,000 years)
One of my favorite parts of the trip was visiting the snow monkeys near Nakano. This is one of the unique winter experiences you can have in Japan and we got super lucky and it happened to be snowing like crazy that day. The monkeys ran right past us and acted as if we werent even there. It was really cool to see. Even with lots of tourists it was refreshing to see nobody being disrespectful or trying to touch them. 
On our way back up the trail leaving the park we stopped by an onsen where you can bathe with the snow monkeys. I hadnt seen anyone online mention this onsen (we just happened to notice it when we saw a naked man walking up on the hill) and even with all the tourists it was relatively empty. We had the pool to ourselves for a good half hour before two others joined. It was a really cool experience but kind of scary when the troop leader would circle the pool making sure no monkeys who didnt belong were bathing. But they didnt seem to care much about the people bathing in the pool.
After the New Year we headed to Osaka as our second home base. Which leads me to my second favorite experience which was the infamous Nara. I heard from many people how overrated it is and how mean the deer are, but I don't agree at all. The main area was overwhelmed with tourists and tons of deer just laying down, having gorged themselves on all the crackers they could handle. This deer was funny to me because he so clearly isnt hungry and people keep leaving him food.
But once we left this area and headed towards the temple/forest area the crowd thinned out and the deer become ravenous for our precious deer crackers. There was still plenty of people since it was New Years (temples are very busy this time of year) but it certainly wasn't as bad as where the bus drops people off.
I got plenty of deer to bow for me. As far as the rumors about them being rude, its sort of true. But I didnt think it was that bad. If they were rude I'd just walk away and they moved on. I imagine during the rut season you'd wanna watch out for hormonal deer, but in winter I don't think that was a factor.
The temple was beautiful and I got my New Years fortune from a little deer statue. At the end of the day I visited a restaurant in town that serves Japanese deer meat to complete the cycle of life.
From here I'll just post a photo dump of temple stuff and sketchbook pages so I don't yap your eyes off. But wanted to share my favorite experiences! We spent time in Tokyo, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto for the most part. If I went back I'd spend more time in the countryside. The cities are cool to see but I was so inspired by the animals and nature I saw.
Ironically the BEST taiyaki I had the entire trip was this magikarp one... I bought 2 more after this one.
Also this scrumptious little delicacy. I stumbled across her, tasted her perfection, and will never get to have her again.
An all horse meat restaurant. The vibes were immaculate, but I did not partake. There are certain lines I can't cross.
Really cool cluster of shrines, the photo doesnt do it justice. There was an onsen and a waterfall where we could hear someone doing some ritual chanting but couldnt see them... it was very creepy. 
I didn't have a ton of time to live sketch in Japan, so most of my sketches from this trip were done on trains, planes, and lobbies. Sadly the big city cafe scene in Japan wasnt a vibe to draw in.
I saw a statue of this one testicled cat from an obscure cartoon, when I asked how much it was the store owner laughed and said not for sale. How foolish I was.
I visited a 7 story art store in Shinjuku and it was really cool. I bought some "watercolor" markers that you can blend with water if you want. They are some of my favorite markers right now. Hunter wanted to test them out too so he left this doodle in my sketchbook. I also bought a ton of washi tape, which I put samples of in my sketchbook.
The temple on Inari mountain had sooooo many kitsune statues. A lot of the temples had a specific spirit or a handful you could pray too, and this one was hyper focused on kitsunes. My translate app wasnt very good at giving me all the info I wanted to learn more. There was also a little shrine with a giant horse statue with a foal, but it was behind glass and panelling so it didnt photograph well. ANYWAY I wanted to draw a variety of the kitsune faces I saw, including one that looked more like a shiba than a fox.
This last page was a bit sparse, but it was the end of my trip and it was time I just digested what I saw and experienced and let go of strict Japan drawings. I will likely fill this page in more later, but wanted to upload the scan where the true trip drawings end.
I have so much more I can say about the trip which I may cover in my video, but I'd be here forever if I detailed every little thing. Overall, it was nice to get away and experience a culture so different from my everyday. I really like the shinto religion and appreciate the cohesive aesthetic of everything. The art and media in Japan is also super inspiring and I got myself a lot of books and some figures. I grew up watching DBZ but never really appreciated Toriyama's cartooning til this trip. Seeing the figures of his characters and how he designs cars and animals really sparked a new found interest in his work. The whole experience was rejuvenating and really made me appreciate all that I have in my life at home. I missed my animals and being able to work in my studio. And after being around so many people, I really really missed the solitary country lifestyle I live.
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PATREON UPDATES
Are coming! I want to make more content and art this year than last. I'll be uploading exclusive mini vlogs, updating more about my animals, sharing sketchbook pages regularly that you cant see anywhere else, uploading high quality images for phone backgrounds, Q&A's, first dibs/exclusive artwork sales, and selling a collection book of my sketches with a discount for patreon members. I will also continue to upload the occasional blog. In addition, I am renovating the old barn on our property this year to make it a functioning place for my horses to use, so I'll be uploading exclusive photos and updates of the barn as it transforms, as well as a historical photo and info on the barn. Let me know what else you'd wanna see!
SHOP UPDATE
I will be updating my shop soon and opening it for a limited time. The date is TBA, but patreon members will be the first to know and get first dibs, as well as a discount code for certain tiers. I will be clearing out all my current inventory and will not be reprinting any of it. Stay tuned for updates!
