3× JAPAN – Japan Days 2026 Photo Contest
Slow down for a moment, look around and try to see Průhonice through a slightly different pair of eyes.
Japanese culture offers many ways of thinking about beauty. It does not always look for perfection, splendour or things meant to last forever. Beauty can be found in irregularity, naturalness, traces left by time – or in a moment that is about to disappear.
During Japan Days, we invite you to take part in our photography challenge 3× JAPAN.
We have chosen three ideas connected with Japanese perceptions of nature, beauty and impermanence:
🌿 WABI-SABI 侘寂 – the beauty of imperfection
🍃 SHIZEN 自然 – the beauty of naturalness
🌸 MONO NO AWARE 物の哀れ – the beauty of a fleeting moment
Your task is not to create a technically perfect photograph. Instead, try to discover one of these ideas around you and capture it as you see and feel it.
🌿 WABI-SABI: The beauty of imperfection
A crack. A worn surface. A crooked branch. A withered leaf. Moss growing on an old stone.
Things we might normally consider imperfect, old or ordinary can have a beauty of their own.
Wabi-sabi is associated with an appreciation of simplicity, irregularity, impermanence and the traces that time leaves behind. Perfection does not necessarily mean something flawless, symmetrical and new.
Sometimes, it is the imperfections that tell the story.
📸 Look for:
old wood, irregular shapes, weathered stone, fading plants, signs of use, textures marked by time or a detail you would normally walk past without noticing.
What is beautiful precisely because it isn’t perfect?
🍃 SHIZEN: The beauty of naturalness
The Japanese word shizen can be translated as both “nature” and “naturalness”. For our photography challenge, it is especially this second meaning that we want to explore.
Beauty does not have to feel artificial or forced. Sometimes it appears when things simply seem to belong exactly where they are.
In Japanese art and garden design, we often find carefully considered human interventions that nevertheless avoid an artificial appearance. A garden may be meticulously composed while still feeling natural; flowers may be arranged without losing their individual character.
And Průhonice Botanical Garden is an ideal place to look for moments like these. 🌿
📸 Look for:
the natural line of a branch, sunlight filtering through leaves, a plant growing into its surroundings, reflections on water, harmony between several subtle elements or a moment that simply feels effortless and natural.
Where does human intervention end and nature begin?
🌸 MONO NO AWARE: The beauty of a fleeting moment
Some things are beautiful precisely because we know they will soon disappear.
Cherry blossoms fall. Summer comes to an end. A leaf changes colour. A meeting ends with a farewell. The light shining through the trees right now will look completely different in just a few minutes.
This sensitivity to the impermanence of the world is closely associated with the concept of mono no aware. It is not simply sadness. Rather, it is a gentle emotional awareness of things and moments whose beauty is inseparable from the fact that they are temporary.
And perhaps a festival is the perfect place to experience this idea. For two days, a small world full of people, music, flavours and encounters appears among the trees – and on Sunday evening, it disappears again. 🌸
📸 Try to capture:
a falling leaf, fabric moving in the wind, a fleeting expression, light and shadow, a brief encounter, a moment during a performance or anything that makes you realise:
“It is here right now. Soon, it won’t be.”
📷 How to enter
You do not need to complete all three themes. One photograph inspired by just one of the three ideas is enough.
Of course, you can also explore two or all three. And if you manage to discover wabi-sabi, shizen and mono no aware in a single photograph, even better. There is no single correct interpretation.
We want to see Japan in Průhonice through your eyes.
How to submit your photo
- Take your photograph during Japan Days at Průhonice Botanical Garden 2026
- Share it on your social media profile or Stories and mention which idea – wabi-sabi, shizen or mono no aware – inspired you.
- Tag the Czech-Japanese Association and Průhonice Botanical Garden.
- Then send the Czech-Japanese Association a private message containing:
a screenshot of your published post or Story
the original photograph
We need the screenshot to verify that the competition requirements have been met. The original photograph will be used for the subsequent public vote for the Heart Award.
⏰ Submission deadline: Sunday, 6 September 2026 at 13:00
🏆 Three photographs, three winners
After the competition closes, we will select three winning photographs.
We are not simply looking for the most technically perfect image. We will be interested above all in the idea behind the photograph, the interpretation of the chosen theme, its atmosphere and the photographer’s individual perspective.
The winners will receive valuable prizes from our Japan Days partners.
The winners will be announced on Sunday, 6 September at 14:30, during Japan Days.
❤️ HEART AWARD
The festival may end, but our photography contest will continue for a little longer.
After Japan Days, we will publish the competition photographs on the Czech-Japanese Association Social media page – and this time, the fourth winner will not be chosen by us.
You will decide. ❤️
The winner of the Japan Days 2026 Heart Award will be determined by the number of reactions received by each photograph.
📅 Voting closes on 30 September 2026
🏆 The winner will be announced on 1 October 2026
And contestants are, of course, welcome to give their chances a little boost. 😉 Share the voting post, invite your friends and followers to join in and show them which photograph to look for. Every reaction counts!
🌿 Look. Slow down. Notice.
You might find your photograph among the flowers of the Botanical Garden. During a performance. On the bark of an old tree. At a tea ceremony. Or in a completely ordinary moment shared between two visitors.
Don’t look for the photograph you think we want to see. Show us the one that you saw. 🇯🇵🌿
