His experience as a painter contributed a great deal to his later work in portrait photography. At the age of 20, Lin took off for Japan, where in a matter of months he found himself down-and-out and with no place to turn to. By sheer luck, his landlord recommended him for a job with a prestigious photographic society in Tokyo and he got it.
廿歲那年，他跑到日本，在遊晃數月、典當一切，幾近窮途末路的當兒，僥倖地得到房主的推介與做保，進入東京「日之出寫真株式會社」服務。