Photographs from a small group of islands
From the outside, this little ramen shop looked like it had tales galore to tell.
And it did. Or more accurately, its elderly owner did. Opening the restaurant at the relatively sprightly young age of thirty-eight, she has been working behind the counter ever since. For fifty years to be exact, doing two shifts a day, six days a week, with no thoughts of retiring just yet.
Some streets are most definitely more welcoming than other streets.
With 2019 nearly done and dusted, it’s time, just like last year and the year before that, to choose my favourite photos from the last 12 months.
Even by recent standards, this year has been an absolute shocker, but in a world seemingly gone mad, photography has once again been an incredible source of joy, and to a certain extent, escape. The gift that without a doubt just keeps on giving. What’s more, the constant desire to photograph the city, and indeed the country I live in, has taken me to all sorts of places, and in doing so, allowed me to meet all sorts of different people.
In this sense I’ve been doubly lucky, as 2019 has also seen my freelance photography and bespoke Tokyo photowalks business experience its best year yet. Most notably in a pure photography sense, I achieved a long-term goal of having a photo series in The Guardian, and photowalk-wise I’ve done more than ever before. The latter providing the chance to meet a huge variety of people, from a whole host of different countries. Visitors who have happily proven that there really is hope after all, as contrary to how it sometimes seems, the world is actually full of interesting, open minded individuals who are intrigued by the world around them.
And on that unusually positive note, these are the photos I like the most, or in some cases, simply mean the most — each with a link to the original post below. A set of images that wrap up Tokyo Times for the year. So until January 3rd, when normal posts will resume, Merry Christmas and all the very best for 2020!
A Tokyo salary man emerging from the shadows
A photogenic Tokyo subway station at night
A truly lovely old Tokyo bar owner
The loveliest of lovely old couples
Tokyo wildlife, laughter and working life
Portrait of an old Tokyo bar owner
A wonderfully old Tokyo tofu shop and its owner
A slightly odd, elderly lady in old Tokyo
The Tokyo quiff of all quiffs?
A really young Japanese newspaper reader
Tokyo urban art zip, and urban style looks
Huge, Hello Kitty-related urban art
The self-confident swagger of a Tokyo salaryman?
An old Tokyo chef at his grill
Tokyo rainy season lights and reflections
Dramatically downing a beer in a dingy Tokyo bar
Distinctive Tokyo taxi looks, and lines
A disused Tokyo tram in the middle of nowhere
The sad, silent beauty of an abandoned Japanese train platform
A Japan photo essay: Looking for the lost
Abandoned scenes from a faded Japanese hot spring resort
Thoughts on Tokyo past and present?
Standing out, and yet at the same time almost completely blending in.
This wonderfully old tofu shop has appeared on these pages before. On my Instagram account several times as well. But when a store front looks as fantastic as this one does, then resisting further photographs is utterly futile.
And if that wasn’t enough, a peek inside proves that both the owner, and interior, are equally intriguing.
