Kageaki Smith grew up in Bermuda, but always longed to experience more of his mother’s birthplace in Japan.

The photographer is now living and working in Tokyo, the country’s capital and largest city.

He considers it a worthwhile move both personally and professionally. He’s found part-time work in a kitchen, but also enjoys more high-profile gigs taking pictures for business magazines and international travel site, Trip Advisor.

“TripAdvisor sent me to Seoul, Korea for two weeks recently where I was photographing hotels in the city,” the 28-year-old said.

“I also photograph locations in Tokyo sometimes for them.”

He’s learnt that while Japan is rife with competition, the job possibilities are endless there.

“As hard as you want to work or to push yourself you can do it in Japan,” he said.

“You are not limited by anything or anyone. It’s a massive city and one of the major cities of the world so they have anything you can think of.”

Mr Smith packed up and left his post as a photographer for Bermuda Sun two years ago in search of greater adventures in the island nation in East Asia.

One of his biggest motivators? His dream of mastering the language.

“I spoke Japanese as a child from the time I was born until school age, but over time I lost a lot of it,” he said.

“I have family who live in Nara, Japan so I would go and visit them every now and then and always wanted to get the language back.

“So when I first got here I went to school for six months to learn Japanese. I wouldn’t say I’m fluent now, as I can understand it better than I can speak it.

“But it’s impossible to be here and not speak the language. Coming here for vacation it’s almost like you are locked out of the city so to speak.

“You are limited to those small touristy spots and can only go to certain places where people speak English, like major department stores.”

These days Mr Smith does most of exploring on his pedal bike. He said he cycles anywhere between 18 and 31 miles a day.

“When I was in school they took me to all the tourist spots because they always have those outings. But from the beginning what I would do is pick a place in the country and go exploring on the weekend,” he said.

“Now that I ride everywhere I get to see so much more. I don’t need Google maps, I just know the city.

“I have been doing it long enough that I know where everything is. I am not just going from A to B. I can see everything in between. Usually I stumble upon a cool part of the city, but that’s something I haven’t been able to do so much lately.”

Working hard is extremely common in Japan.

Mr Smith works from 6am until 6pm most days of the week, but in his spare time he tries to sample different bars and restaurants in the area.

“I don’t really hit the karaoke bars very much, but I have a few bars that I like if I really want to have a drink,” he said.

“By now I know the best places to go depending on what kind of mood I’m in. The great thing about Japan is whatever your preference they have it, you may just have to look for it.”

The photographer’s home is in a part of town called Kichijoji.

He picked it randomly because of its cool name and later found out it’s one of the most popular up and coming residential areas.

“It’s kind of west of the city, but has everything.

“It used to be kind of a hipster place so they didn’t have department stores and had lots of small alleyways with restaurants and bars. It’s very cosy.

“They have more of the big stores and things now, but it still has a lot of that same charm.”

Mr Smith said he found it fairly easy to adjust to the new way of life, but the biggest “culture shock” was the people themselves.

“The people in Tokyo are different from people anywhere else in Japan,” he explained.

“They are known for being reserved and might judge you, even if you don’t know it and it’s not to your face. They call it ‘reading the air’ so they read the atmosphere around you and react to that.

“For instance in Osaka [the second largest metropolitan area in Japan] they are more extroverted and will tell you what they’re thinking and are more outspoken.

“People will appear cold in Tokyo, but once you break that first barrier they are your friends. They don’t often make that first step to get to know you, so it’s up to you as a foreigner to do that.”

He said there was a certain etiquette for how to address people in Tokyo, but seeing that he didn’t know all the rules he just spoke to as many people as possible. That’s how he made friends early on.

“Overall it’s exciting living here,” he said. “Japan itself is a very long country geographically, so there is beautiful scenery in Okinawa, then you have snow-capped mountains in Hokkaido. You have everything in the city or if you want peace and quiet you can visit the mountains and see the rice fields.

“You can ride outside of Tokyo for two hours and it becomes slow.

“I went to Fukuoka last year and when I got out of the airport I knew I was in a different place. It felt like I was in the 1990s. The people down there are so much more relaxed.”

Mr Smith doesn’t plan to live in Japan indefinitely and might try his hand at a country in Europe or South America next. “The Japanese tend to work, work, work,” he said. “Of course, there are ups and downs wherever you go, but I’d probably try somewhere more laid-back next.

“I get asked all the time when I plan to stop and settle down or get married, but I haven’t done enough exploring or enough for myself yet. I have so much more I want to accomplish and for now I’m just having a fun time exploring and stretching my mind.”