Photographs from a small group of islands
Last month, I posted a series of photos documenting the demise and pre-demolition abandonment of an old Tokyo danchi, or social housing complex. A sight that signalled the ageing nature of the buildings, as well as the generation that first moved into them.
Photos that fortunately were taken at just the right time, as the fences are now up, meaning the end of a certain era really is nigh.
A quizzical stare, supermarket bread rolls, and the oddly reassuring ordinariness of suburban Tokyo on a quiet Sunday morning.
Back in February, I wrote this to accompany a series of photographs depicting some long-defunct vending machines:
“Japan is well known for its vending machines. With good reason too, as despite the ever-increasing number of convenience stores, the vending machine is still ubiquitous. Yet seeing one that’s no longer operational, let alone left to rot, is surprisingly rare.”
The ubiquity of such machines, of course, is most definitely still true, but the rarity of busted and forlorn looking examples, it turns out, is very much open to debate, as on walks in the last month, I’ve had the genuine pleasure of seeing the sad beauties below.
Clutter and crap everywhere appear to be some kind of legal requisite for Japanese garages and bicycle shops, but even by the usual standards, this one is quite special as there’s now barely space to do any actual repair work.
After finally declaring a state of emergency a couple of weeks ago, the Japanese government also announced a series of financial initiatives to ease the strain on those suffering economically due to the coronavirus. The exact details, and perhaps more importantly, eligibility, haven’t been fully disclosed yet, but there is already a refreshingly public campaign to include workers from Japan’s varied world of adult services, as just like so many other industries, they have seen incomes plummet. It’s a group, however, that the government seems intent on excluding, citing the involvement of organised crime and legal issues.
What the result will be remains to be seen, but one person who doesn’t have to worry anymore is the woman photographed below. A well known old school face in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho red light district, it’s probably fair to assume that not only will she have retired from the business, but she’ll have retired full stop.
