Food and Drink

That Monday morning feeling during Friday night drinks?

An extra beer that might well have resulted in the following morning being rather fuzzy round the edges — possibly even a little painful. But, when the surroundings are as wonderfully unpretentious as this, then it’s probably a price worth paying.

This bar has bags of character, but it’s arguable that some of its customers have a good bit more.

As drinking spots go, it’s arguably about as welcoming as the looks.

Despite the less than salubrious settings, this is actually a popular area for those whose drinking sessions go well beyond the standard evening. No last train dash for these boozers. No first one back in the morning either. Instead, it’s much more like a mid-afternoon mosey home. Excesses that understandably can leave some participants a little worse for wear to say the least. Examples of which can be seen here, here and here.

On a site related note, I’ve made a few changes over the weekend, implementing some redirects, and rather more importantly, HTTPS security. So if you have Tokyo Times bookmarked, you can change the link to https://www.tokyotimes.org, although the old address will still work just fine.

Despite being 90 and still running her half-century old suburban sweet shop, this lovely lady somehow seemed as happy as the day she first opened it all those years ago.

For years now I’ve been semi-regularly passing by, and invariably through, Shinjuku’s famous Omoide Yokocho, or Piss Alley as it’s also known. Most of the time there’s nobody of interest to photograph, but now and again a scene or someone in particular stands out and I attempt to get a shot. Efforts that have resulted in a growing number of images, and these monochrome suited ones make up a small series of sorts — one that hopefully captures some of the alley’s atmosphere and character. Or perhaps more accurately, former atmosphere and character, as the huge increase in visitors to Japan over the last few years has understandably changed the area somewhat.

Now, whether that change has been good or bad is debatable. Yes, it’s not quite like it was, but at the same time it could also be argued that the drinking spot’s renewed popularity has allowed it to survive in a city that demolishes and rebuilds both regularly, and unemotionally. It should also be noted that some of the photos have been taken fairly recently, so in many ways it’s still the same, it’s just different that’s all.

Should you wish to see more photos of Japanese bars (and drinkers), these and many of others can be seen on my portfolio site, here.