Waiting for lunch while also offering withering looks.
The silence of an abandoned Japanese village
Abandoned buildings have the ability to conjure up a whole host of sensations. Some are terribly sad. Others can be genuinely nice places to spend some time in. But one thing they all have in common is their silence. A lack of sound that can actually be a little unsettling at times, especially so after escaping the incessant noise of Tokyo.
In the case of this particular little cluster of houses, however, it was simply nice and peaceful. A quietness that was accentuated by the things left behind. Objects with a sense of stillness they generally don’t posses; devoid, as they now are, of the people who once had a purpose for them.
So in a rather ambitious attempt to try and replicate that atmosphere, along with what it’s like to actually find such things in the first place, here’s a small set of photos without any text or further interruptions.
Tokyo: A daily struggle
Each day is clearly a struggle, but it’s also equally clear that the resultant challenges are very stoically taken on.
Little Tokyo bar looks
A face that is arguably as full of questions as the bar is customers.
Tokyo tourist trap?
An old Tokyo bar and its similarly aged owner
Tokyo is almost constantly in flux. Buildings go up and down, businesses change and the gentrification of so much of the city is utterly relentless. Mercifully, however, the more Tokyo changes, the more little pockets of it somehow remain just the same. Like this traditional old bar not far from the capital’s more central hubs.
Opened over 50 years ago, it’s only had one owner — a man who is now in his 74th year. Yet despite his age and the daily 8 hour grind, he shows no sign of slowing down, or indeed losing any of his infectious enthusiasm.
A genuine sense of character that is not only reflected in the bar’s surroundings, but also in those who frequent it.
