Sunrise at Mt Fuji on this April morning was at about 5:10am. I arrived at 4:30am to set up and capture the gorgeous predawn colour as the skies filled with morning light. At such an early hour, you don’t expect to run into many other people, and in a non-English speaking country, ever rarer is it that you’d find someone to chat to.

On this morning, not long after I had propped up my tripod, a couple came down to the shoreline and started setting up their own equipment. Initially, as we were all in the dark and working by torchlight, I just imagined that it was likely a couple of locals who had popped down to capture the vista. But as the darkness faded and voices raised, I realised it was in fact another couple of Australians. Travel photographer Nige Ki and his wife. We shared stories and travel plans and discussed the very wins and losses we’d experienced on this trip. It was a wonderful morning.