Tokyo Times

In the previous post I put together a series of faded scenes from a few coastal towns not far from Tokyo, so as a small addition to that, below are some of the similarly dated hotels from the same trip. A couple of them I stayed in (photos 1-4 & 10), and the others I simply found interesting.

It’s the kind of accommodation that is perhaps surprisingly still plentiful outside Japan’s bigger cities and tourist hubs. Places to stay that may lack the comfort and sometimes even cleanliness of their modern cousins, but they invariably make up for that in character and retro charm.

There are more than a few series of faded towns and locations on these pages. That’s partly due to the fact that I find them so fascinating, but also because outside Japan’s cities and major hubs, so much of the country is very visibly stuck in the past. A combination of economic factors, urban migration and a rapidly ageing population.

Below then are photographs from a short trip along the coast in Shizuoka prefecture. A region not far at all from Tokyo, but despite the proximity, it sometimes felt like a very different world indeed.

It’s impossible to know if it had simply been one of those mornings, a horribly busy one, or something else altogether, but which or indeed whatever it was, it was very clear that this man most definitely needed a break and some tobacco.

My recent 3 week or so return to England didn’t involve a lot of photography. Primarily it was to see family and spend some quality time together, as due to distance, quantity simply isn’t an option. That said, I did take my camera, and the pictures I took seemed to compliment the enjoyably quiet vacation it was.

Along with that, the photos were in many ways reflective of my past. Or at least my childhood spent in and around the local area. Places that were also well and truly in the collective past before I came along. That latter element in particular providing some similarities with those I take in Japan.

The one exception of sorts is the last photo. It’s a train line that used to be somewhere to explore, as at the time it was no longer in use. Since then, however, it’s been resurrected for steam and diesel train journeys, and on one particular day, there was a visitor from many millions of people’s past. A now global face in a once very unexpected place.

I should also add that I’m now back and settled into Tokyo life, so the usual Tuesday and Friday posts will resume once again.