Tokyo Times

This particular little spot is at the station I often use when heading back home to Tokyo’s western suburbs. An old school enclave that I can never resist a look at even when it’s not the most convenient entrance. That said, most of the time it’s a disappointment. In fact almost every single time would be more accurate. But now and again there’s someone there who briefly makes the countless detours feel worthwhile.

Sadly there hasn’t been anyone of note for the longest time, so the first photo is from a fun setup on a Tokyo photowalk — the result and colours of which I really quite like. It also gives me another chance to show some of those aforementioned candid moments I’ve captured over the years, as well as the slowly evolving line up of phones. The last of which remains my out and out favourite.

There was a lot of rain this year around peak cherry blossom time, so that, and other, more personal reasons, meant I didn’t really photograph any hanami scenes at all. I did, however, capture some suitably topical urban pinks in a favourite old setting. A photo that also provided me with an excuse to once again show the older, but similarly colourful painted sakura shot.

Last year I posted several photos of a Tokyo home that has both intrigued and shocked me for over a decade. This is what I wrote and saw:

This tiny building has fascinated me since I first found it over a decade ago. Its size, shape and dilapidated state are intriguing enough, but added to all that is the fact that somebody may actually live there. And even if they don’t, it’s certainly somewhere they spend a lot of time, as more often than not there’s a light on inside and the door, for want of a better description, is open. On top of that, the house behind it was recently demolished, providing a proper look at the rear of the property, although in many ways that has created more questions than answers.

That said, I finally do have one answer, and that’s whose property it is. When walking by alone, I always stop for a little while in the hope of someone appearing, and at long last that happened the other day. It doesn’t confirm whether it is indeed a home or not, but at least I now have a face to add to the building’s incredible facade.

Now, a year on, I actually have some real answers. Bumping into the owner on one of my Tokyo photowalk tours, I got the chance to talk with him for a little bit. He’s a lovely old fella who’d just returned from a spot of fishing, and he had some tiny fish and shrimp to show for his efforts. Something he clearly does quite often, as I’ve seen a variety of aquatic life in those tanks over the years.

When asked about the building, he confirmed it is indeed his home. Not only that, but it has been for the last 75 years. His time there starting when he was just 6. Facts that I did, and still do, find hard to fully comprehend.

Needless to say it’s severely lacking in even the most basic amenities, so for bathing he uses one of the local public bath houses. A common thing in the past, and still a daily necessity for some in the area. His toilet though is the one in the nearby park. That, needless to say, is far from common. A truly extraordinary lifestyle made even more shocking when it’s lived in a city as prosperous as Tokyo, in 2023.

Photographing in the rain isn’t something I do all that often. My camera isn’t fully weather sealed, and so an umbrella is necessary. That in itself isn’t such a big deal, but then attempting to focus manually while also keeping a brolly wedged between my neck and shoulder is far from ideal and similarly uncomfortable.

Inclement weather does have its advantages though, and the other day, with spring very much in the air, the dampness did bring out the colours. Below then are some of them, and even better, a few of the scenes are also old favourites.

Community life in most of Tokyo’s countless apartment buildings is distinctly lacking. People generally keep themselves to themselves, and after over a decade of living in my place, the most I get from the vast majority of residents is the briefest of greetings or a cursory nod at best. That said, one older lady has always chatted, and knowing my wife died she’s made a real effort to check I’m doing ok, offering advice and encouragement from her self-proclaimed role as my Japanese mum, which as you can imagine feels absolutely lovely.

In the city’s older, and more traditional neighbourhoods, however, it’s possible to see much more in the way of interaction. Particularly so with the elderly residents, as many of them have quite possibly known each other their whole lives, or at the very least for many decades. And so below then is one such example.