Regularly returning to certain areas is a key part of my photography. For starters, the scenes involving people are always going to be different, plus, and particularly so in recent years, rampant demolition is constantly changing how those locations actually look.
This long-term stay hotel in Tokyo’s poorest neighbourhood, however, has barely changed at all. Well, apart from a recent trim that is. A sight that never ceases to amaze, so when the light is on the softer side, it’s impossible not to wait outside for a while to try and photograph any activity. Invariably there isn’t any, but occasionally things do happen, and opting to shoot with a slightly wider lens the other week, the results look a little different from previous efforts.
Here then is a mixture of those recent shots, along with some of those from the past. An ongoing document of this incredible structure, and another record of how truly resplendent it looks covered in its full summer foliage.
Sean says
Wild in every way! 🙂
Lee says
Haha, it really is!
Tagomago says
Wow, I didn’t know what exactly I was looking at until I reached the high-angle shot. Also, first I thought it was abandoned, but there’s actually people living in there!? Amazing…
Lee says
It really has become so overgrown that it’s hard to work it out. Only in winter can you properly make out the actual structure. And yeah, people still living there. Quite a few it would seem as well.
Richard says
Hard to believe that people are living in that building. What must it be like inside?!? How is it that it has not been condemned by the health department?!?
Lee says
I know eh? All I can say is that having peeked in when the door was open, it’s as dark as you’d imagine. Patched up with tape all over the place as well. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, it didn’t smell very nice at all.
The existence of structures like this I always think highlights the many contradictions of Japan. A nation built on endless rules and bureaucracy, and yet at the same time places like this not only survive, but they are actually lived in.
Steve says
You know eventually you’re gonna have to stay a night there! 🙂
Lee says
Haha, you may well be right, but I need to pluck up the necessary courage first!
cdilla says
It looks so alive in the first photograph I wouldn’t have been suprised if it had given itself a shake and shambled off down the street.
Living in the tiny rooms within you must hear a continual buzz/scratch/click/rustle of the outer skin’s ecosystem.
Our memories , and photos, of seeing it for ourselves when you walked us to it are priceless treasures.
Lee says
I know eh? It really is a truly incredible sight. Especially so at this time of year.
Hard to imagine what it must be like living there. The bugs too. I get bites all the time here, so god knows how I’d manage for even just a single night.
Very glad to hear it. It was a treat as always to show you.