Tokyo Times

For better or worse, Tokyo Skytree now dominates the capital’s skyline, especially in the east of the city where I spend a lot of time taking photos, and doing photowalk tours. So with that in mind, when it comes to interesting views of the tower, I thought I’d pretty much seen them all, but this circular window offered up something new — or at least something new to me. A different perspective, and also a different kind of picture compared to what I usually post.

An ice coffee break in a not so nice back alley.

This colourful urban art exists on the corner temporarily, and so does the old lady who sleeps below it.

With rainy season now well and truly upon us, I was reminded of a photo from many years ago, taken in an alleyway I still frequent. Back then, I opted for contrasty black and white, and the resultant image can be seen here.

Returning to the original, however, it seemed a shame to miss out on the reds of the lanterns, and of course the reflections — an aspect of the colour version I really like. At the same time, it does miss some of the atmosphere that’s so unique to monochrome. But either way, it’s a photograph I still have a soft spot for, so without any further text, here is version two.

Tokyo is well known for its vast urban sprawl, but head out to the far west of the city, and it’s not only green, but also mountainous. An area that, along with those aforementioned mountains, is home to a couple of long disused cable cars and an abandoned train line with some wonderfully atmospheric tunnels.

To completely escape the concrete and crowds, however, one needn’t venture that far, as a good way before the mountains, and not far at all from the capital’s customary tower blocks, are scenes like the ones below. Little pockets of calm and natural colour that are worlds away from what Tokyo is synonymous with.