Tokyo Times

Jun 21 2022 12 Comments

Tokyo dingy alleyway fruit and vegetables

When looking for some photos the other day, I found this old shot of a distinctly grungy looking Tokyo fruit and vegetable shop. It’s a business that always fascinated me. Partly because of how it looked, and partly due to its location in a dark and dingy Shibuya alleyway.

But that was then and this is now and sadly it doesn’t exist anymore, so seeing the photo again brought back how truly out of place it always seemed. Almost everything was wrapped in plastic too, which is unusual for such a small shop. However, when passing by one evening, that aspect at least suddenly made sense, as I saw the owner frantically trying to shoo away a couple of rats that were clearly not going to give up on a fresh fruit buffet without a fight.

Jun 17 2022 12 Comments

Tokyo underpass parasol blues

I’ve posted a photo of this spot before, but with the sun’s intensity rapidly rising, it seemed like the perfect time to head back and hope that the right person with a parasol would walk by.

Jun 14 2022 13 Comments

A long-abandoned Japanese movie theatre

It’s not all that uncommon in Japan to find, and be able to photograph, the likes of abandoned homes and holiday resorts. Long out of business movie theatres, on the other hand, are without a doubt much rarer.

Opened in 1950, the cinema below was one of two that stood side by side, but the other structure burnt down, meaning it was left to entertain the locals all alone. With a capacity of about 400 people and a decades-long operational run, it must have more than managed that, but nothing lasts forever, and it eventually closed down in the early 1980s.

Since then it has stood silently in a slow, gradual state of decline. It hasn’t, however, been left untouched, as the interior is piled high with boxes. So many boxes. Even stranger is they are almost all empty. Some are obviously from many years ago, with others much more recent additions. Why they are all there is anybody’s guess, but without all that clutter, the auditorium would have looked truly incredible with row after row of empty wooden seats.

That said, it’s still a fascinating place, and while old telephones are always a treat to discover, massive and pristine looking vintage projectors are something else altogether. The room they were in was almost pitch black, but the smell of oil suggested we had found what we were looking for, and in the dim torch light, the appearance of those two machines was as amazing as the movies they once played.

Jun 10 2022 17 Comments

An amazingly decayed Coca-Cola vending machine

Last year I posted a set of old and no longer functioning Japanese vending machines. From booze, cigarettes and even batteries, those one time dispensers now stand empty and unused — their former necessity usurped by convenience stores and a rapidly changing culture.

Some of those machines I still have a real soft spot for. They look incredible, plus they also have an impossible to describe character. I even went as far as saying they possess a quiet dignity of sorts, which despite sounding a bit far-fetched isn’t all that difficult to imagine.

Since then I’ve been lucky enough to find several more, but the one below deserves a post all of its own. Design-wise it’s not all that different to its more modern cousins, but the decay and rust stains really set it apart. Now whether any of that means it has dignity or not I don’t know, but what isn’t up for debate is how truly unique it looks.

Jun 07 2022 11 Comments

An old and unique Tokyo coin laundry

This old, rundown laundrette is in a similarly rundown part of Tokyo. Its interior isn’t wholly unique, as despite a relatively recent boom of fancy new ventures offering coffee and comfy chairs, it’s surprising how many rough and ready places still exist.

It’s the old school lift-like scissor doors that really set this one apart, and as such it has fascinated me for ages, so below is a small series of photos. Some taken just the other week, with others from quite a few years ago.

Jun 03 2022 10 Comments

An old Tokyo restaurant and a telephone call across the decades

When entering an old Tokyo bar or restaurant, there’s often no way of knowing what it’ll be like on the inside. With experience I can now make a fairly educated guess, but there are still lots of surprises to be had — both good and bad.

The little Chinese place below was much darker than many, but most of the standards were reassuringly all present and correct. Best of all though was the wholly unexpected multimedia phone call from a different time and place altogether.

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