A few months ago, I photographed and wrote about danchi, or Japanese public housing. Born in the 1950s and peaking around the early 70s, this massive building project created affordable and modern housing for the nation’s growing number of young families. Fast forward to the present day, however, and many of these once futuristic apartment complexes are more crumbling relics than sought after properties.
The same also goes for the little shopping precincts that were an integral part of some danchi. Once bustling with locals, a considerable number have gone the same way as the apartments above them. Changing habits, an older demographic and fewer residents making business not only harder, but in many cases simply unsustainable.
And below is one such shopping street. A few stores on the main road are bravely battling on, but while the days and weeks come and go, the sun has long since set on this particular part of Tokyo.
Stephan says
Great series. Totally not my image of Tokyo………..
Lee says
Thank you. Scenes like this aren’t everywhere of course. Many are disappearing too. But still a surprising amount still standing.
DavidT says
Very interesting! I really like the inclusion of the old couple they add so much more to the photos.
Lee says
Thanks, that’s good to hear. I was hoping somebody would walk past, and then just as we were about to head off, the old couple arrived.
cdilla says
A very clear documentary set of photographs. You can imagine that old couple having walked that route for decades, experiencing its slow decreptation as they experience their own.
The last scene though, shows a sunlit play field with young folk playing, which must be warming for them in more ways than one.
Ah yes, the incongruous bunting. Don’t get to use that word much these days. Bunting. Has a very period feel to it 🙂
Lee says
Thanks. Yes, it does make you wonder how many times they’ve walked that way, and what incredible changes they must have seen while doing so…
It does, although at the same time it’s still used a fair bit here. Very often with various national flags like above. Japan being ‘international’ I think. Just stick some bunting up and the job’s a good ‘un!
Rohan Gillett says
Great shots! This is completely my image of Tokyo. A lot of station along the Chuo line are quite rundown these days and the ones that have had some renovation done, I wonder if they are doing well. Kichijoji is a great place, but it feels old, as does Koenji, Ogikubo, Asagaya etc etc. I think anime and manga often give a false image of Japan as it isn’t all bright, shiny and modern. These failing/failed shopping streets (which I love by the way) make up a large part of the Tokyo landscape. Actually I was walking around Nishi-Shinjuku just last week with some friends from Laos who had studied here in the 1990s and they said not much had changed.
Lee says
Thank you!
Yes, I totally agree. The image of Tokyo in so many kinds of media doesn’t really give a true impression of the city. The shopping street above is a rather extreme example it has to be said, but a lot of the city is rather shabby, a bit rundown etc., and for me it’s all the better for it. Clearly though that’s not what people want to see. Or perhaps more accurately, what other people want them to see.
Rohan Gillett says
“Clearly though that’s not what people want to see. Or perhaps more accurately, what other people want them to see.”
I’d agree 100% with both of those statements.