Photography

Old and faded Japanese shopping streets aren’t uncommon. Their sights, entrances and general dilapidation also make them as fascinating as they are faded, but this particular covered arcade in Hyogo prefecture is something else altogether.

Running alongside a newer, and far busier location, its best days are very much long gone, with only a small number of stores remaining. That said, a few spots have been stripped out and reopened as new concerns catering to a younger, more underground crowd, which will hopefully help preserve the surroundings. A truly tiny but also regularly booked music venue being one such example. Only time will tell as far as that goes, but for now at least, the shutters, decay and stretches of darkness make it a truly unique location.

With their enormously varied stock, convenience stores certainly live up to their name, and the sheer number of them in the Japanese capital only makes that moniker even more appropriate. None of them, however, look anywhere near as lovely as this little Tokyo shop. A wonderfully old school place that offers colour coordination opportunities for passersby, as well as the far more important element of community and conversation.

Back in April I posted a series of photos from Tokyo’s Shinjuku entertainment district. All of them were of quiet moments amidst the lights, crowds and general cacophony that is Shinjuku from early evening onwards. Scenes that don’t always spring to mind when one thinks about the area, but they are arguably just as relevant as the noise and sometimes almost absurd number of revellers. Little vignettes of life that I like to seek out and capture, so here are some more. All of them taken since the previous set. The latest being from last weekend, which also appeared to mark the beginning of the dreaded summer humidity. A time when the city will start to look and feel very different once again.