Tokyo Times

Sep 23 2022 16 Comments

An old school Tokyo barber shop and its elderly owner

There is absolutely no shortage of barber shops in Tokyo, but it feels fair to say that very few look as lovely as this one. Simply finding it was special, then to make the moment even more memorable, the owner appeared at the window and kindly popped out for a quick chat.

The current building it turns out has stood there for 70 years or so, and the man himself has been in charge for the last 4 decades. However, at 81, his thoughts are finally turning to retirement, and he was philosophical about the shop’s inevitable closure — well aware that what appealed to him all those years ago is a far less attractive proposition today. And so, with nobody to take over, he’ll be the third and final generation barber to ply his trade there.

Sep 20 2022 6 Comments

The ghosts of old Tokyo past

What is, was, and likely won’t be for long.

Sep 16 2022 11 Comments

Late summer nights in the city

This photo was taken almost exactly 10 years ago to the day. A shot I decided to post as another from the same evening (albeit from a higher vantage point) is in my new photobook, Tokyo Conversations.

The street is still there, and mercifully it hasn’t changed much at all, although the wonderful little seating area with the kettle is sadly no more. The world in general, on the other hand, most certainly has changed, and looking back at this scene, the lack of masks and smartphones in particular make it feel like a very different time indeed.

Sep 13 2022 17 Comments

Broken and abandoned Japanese vending machines

Last year I posted some photos of old and broken Japanese vending machines. A set of fascinatingly sad metal boxes that I rather ambitiously suggested had their own distinct personalities, or at the very least a sort of quiet dignity all their own.

The more I see, however, and the more that does seem to ring true. There really is something about them. It could be simple nostalgic value, or perhaps it’s because they still stand tall as if ready and willing to serve once again. Whatever it is though, they are always an absolute treat to encounter, and objects I’m more than happy to go well out of my way to photograph.

All that said, some of these newer finds are distinctly more dilapidated than dignified, but I did get to shoot a kind I’ve been hoping to stumble upon for the longest time — the formerly elusive film version. A wonderfully rare blast from the past that compared to some of the others is still in surprisingly good shape.

Sep 09 2022 14 Comments

Tokyo Conversations, a new photo book

In the last couple of posts I’ve briefly mentioned the new photo book my friend Giovanni and I put together. However, after all the work that has gone into it, and the lovely responses it has received, I had to write something proper. Amazingly it is actually going to happen, as within 5 days of going live on Kickstarter, we hit the funding target, meaning any money we get above and beyond that initial goal can be used to make the book even better, with the likes of embossing, more expensive paper etc.

To be honest, our initial idea wasn’t wholly original. We basically decided to have two visual conversations. With the colour section, I sent Giovanni a photo, and he replied with one in return — an image that to him complemented, or somehow commented on mine. I then did the same with his reply, and so on and so forth. The only rule being that each and every photo had to have been taken in Tokyo. Then, once we hit our 20 photo limit, we went through the same pattern with black and white, only for the monochrome set it was Giovanni who got the ball rolling.

It turned out to be a fascinating process. With some images, an idea for a response came quickly. Almost immediately on a couple of occasions. But invariably it took time. Weeks for many of them. Thoughts that would be forever circulating in the back of our minds until the answer presented itself. A creative endeavour that was as interesting as it was distracting, which for me in particular was hugely beneficial after the tragic loss of my wife Akiko. It provided me with something to get completely lost in, while at the same time produce something that seemed worthwhile in a world suddenly bereft of meaning.

All that said, two photographers sending each other photos is one thing, but making them into an attractive looking book we could both feel genuinely proud of is another thing altogether, This was especially the case considering we really wanted to do something different by making it a flip cover, 2-in-1 book. An idea we had, but at the same time had no idea how to implement. This is when Holger Feroudj, a professional photo book designer working for the prestigious German publisher, Steidl Verlag, stepped in. And to see the transformation from half-arsed idea and rough PDF file to fully formed and fantastic looking book was nothing short of mind-blowing. Feelings that were enhanced even further when visual image developer and photographer Elena Bertocchi created mock-ups, enabling us to see that somehow, and sometimes seemingly against all the odds, we had managed to create something that as a whole was both special and really quite unique.

So, if you’d like to get involved, and get a copy of the book at the same time, this is the link to the Kickstarter page: Tokyo Conversations.

Down the line it would also be lovely to have an exhibition featuring a selection of the photos, which is something we are beginning to look into, but for now it’s all about the book, and this is a small selection of my shots:

Sep 06 2022 16 Comments

The colours, decay and increasing emptiness of Japan’s countryside

Japan’s ageing demographic and urban migration mean that many of the nation’s smaller towns are slowly, and very visibly dying. Places one can find all over the country, from faded tourist spots to once thriving communities. A seemingly irreversible change that has understandably hit much smaller, and more rural settlements especially hard. Like those in the the photos below, which despite the decline, are only a few hours out of Tokyo.

Our original plan had been to visit some abandoned buildings we knew the location of, but a closed road due to tunnel repairs unexpectedly put paid to that, and with no Plan B in place, we decided to drive round some nearby roads and see what we could find.

That, perhaps unsurprisingly, turned out to be lots more abandoned and long since locked up houses, along with glimpses of what had once been. There were no people out and about, and the few we did see inside their homes were all elderly. A day of exploration that was also contributed to by bright sunshine and some truly ferocious storms, which considering what we saw, seemed wholly fitting.

Completely unconnected, but just a quick mention again of my new book project, Tokyo Conversations, that has very recently gone live on Kickstarter. I’ll do a proper post on it, but in the meantime it’s a collaboration with my friend Giovanni, and is a unique, flip cover, 2-in-1 book featuring 20 colour and 20 monochrome photos. A visual, Tokyo focused back and forth we had over the course of quite a few months.

If that sounds interesting, and you’d like to join in, help us out, and get a book in the process, here’s a link to the campaign: Tokyo Conversations.

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