A Moment Like A Dream

Toshiyuki Hirota and Nippon’s Salmonids

Toshiyuki Hirota can rightfully be called Japan’s most gifted underwater photographer when it comes to capturing Nippon’s local fish fauna in their habitat!
He introduces us to Japan’s beautiful salmonids in this Big Picture and we drift through crystal clear underwater worlds with these enchanting creatures.

“As the trees in Hokkaido began to change the colors of their foliage, the trout drew my eye in the sparkling waters.
Only with little hope did I cast my fly, the name of which I did not even know, into the gurgling stream.
In the shimmering sunlight after the big rain the trout appeared, gobbled my fly and disappeared again from view. This moment, like a dream. It nurtured my deep union with these still river spirits, filled me with the melody of the flowing water and left me fascinated and devoted.
Without being aware of it, I replaced my rod with my camera, to capture these wraithlike creatures of the Japanese waters. “