Tokyo Times

Small workshops are common sights in Tokyo’s suburbs. Local operations producing unknown things for unknown companies. Yet whatever it is they do, they all seem to have been around forever, invariably employing a handful of people at most. And with its dimly lit interior and distinctive oil and metal smell, this one was no different. Well, except that it was, as very few are also home to beautiful and lovingly cared for bonsai.

Land in Tokyo may well be at a premium in both value and availability, but it’s always surprising how many abandoned buildings there are throughout the city. For one reason or another, many of them still have mail delivered too, resulting in stuffed post boxes that are suggestive of countless stories. So many possibilities that may, or indeed may not be true, but none of that detracts from the instinctive impulse of speculation.

Here then is a selection of photos from the last year or so. All are in Tokyo, and all were taken without any idea of why things ended up this way.

Tokyo’s old school taxis are rapidly disappearing from the city’s streets, with better equipped but much blander looking London cab-like vehicles taking their place.

Those dated designs were really quite something though, and the colours incredibly iconic. Elements that are now even more apparent as they fade from daily life, and something I felt strongly when discovering this photo the other day. It’s one I took a while ago, but for some reason hadn’t edited. So here it is now in all its green glory, along with a couple of previously posted takes on the orange variant.

Smoking is still very much a thing in Japan, but with the capital’s many convenience stores plentifully stocked, small tobacconists are slowly but surely disappearing. The sighting of a new and shiny one the other week then was something of a surprise. A reformed space that proved to be as unexpected as a curious foreigner was to the apparent owner.

Below then is that aforementioned shop, along with several faded and long-closed Tokyo cigarette sellers. Plus to round out the set, a rather comical frame featuring possibly the city’s most unrepentant smoker.

Over the weekend I lost my beloved pet bird, Bobby. He provided a huge amount of joy to my late wife and I, and since Akiko passed away, he’s been a truly incredible companion. Always there with a chirp at just the right time, or chatting contentedly on my shoulder — both of us simply happy to be together. He was also a good listener, although despite being bilingual, his vocabulary wasn’t the best, so his responses were rather limited. But that was ok. He was always there. That was the main thing.

Time, however, can’t be stopped, let alone turned back, and despite being as tough as he was terrific, age finally caught up with the little fella. A long life ended, but one that was filled with fun, and no small amount of naughtiness, just like it should be.

A loss that got me thinking about many things, but it also made me realise how important pets are, along with animals in general, in a metropolis like Tokyo. The capital may well have a truly massive population, but it can be a very lonely city for many of its inhabitants. All that concrete and steel sometimes creates an unhealthy detachment from the natural world as well, so below is a series of photos I’ve taken over the years of Tokyo residents interacting with their non-human counterparts. Several of the moments are poignant. A few may even be deemed inappropriate. In one way or another though, I think they all show a connection and simple pleasure that it’s all too easy to lose out on.