I recently photographed a beautiful surprise proposal at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto. As many of you may know, Fushimi Inari is one of the most popular and crowded tourist destinations in Japan. To avoid the crowds as much as possible, we planned the proposal early in the morning. Even so, the shrine was already quite busy with visitors, and I was honestly worried about finding the right spot for the moment.

Fortunately, since this proposal was planned during the end of the year, there were a few quiet moments when the path of torii gates wasn’t too crowded. During one of those moments, he got down on one knee and proposed. His girlfriend was completely surprised and burst into tears of happiness—it was such a heartfelt moment.

They were traveling in Japan with their friends, and their friends were also overjoyed, celebrating their engagement with big smiles and laughter. After capturing the proposal, we moved to some quieter areas nearby to take more photos together. They told me how much they loved the photos and the locations I suggested, which made me really happy.

Thank you so much for choosing me as your photographer to capture such an important and emotional moment in your lives. Congratulations again, and I hope to see you in Japan someday soon!