Perhaps surprisingly, Tokyo, or at least its western suburbs, has a fair few farms, although the likes of cabbages and cucumbers are invariably crammed between buildings or have to coexist with cars. The kind of contrast that is also continued by the old folk that actually care for the crops; a hardy bunch who effortlessly combine mechanised tools with far more traditional tech.
Or at least as far as the latter is concerned, not so effortlessly, as the work looks not only burdensome, but utterly back-breaking.
Quite literally.
an englishman in osaka says
Did she ever get up again or did someone call an ambulance?
Lee says
Nah, after a lifetime on the farm, she’s been in that 90 degree position since May 1976. Great for pulling up potatoes and the like, but not so good when it comes to shopping or watching TV.
Mike says
Nice pics Lee – what camera and lenses do you use btw? Am looking into buying a higher quality system with interchangeable lenses (probably the new Olympus EP-1) but I want to be able to achieve that shallow DOF.
Lee says
Cheers Mike. I use a Nikon D300, and this was taken with the Nikkor 85mm f1.4. A fantastic lens and no mistake. I also have Nikkon’s 35mm f/2 and the 80-200 f/2.8.
For great DoF and bokeh, the 85mm really takes some beating.
Tornadoes28 says
This is why there are so many question mark shaped obachans in Japan.