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Mar 04 2014 9 Comments

A wonderfully expressive Japanese face

Walking round Tokyo, and especially when riding the city’s trains, it’s common to be met with a myriad of blank, impassive faces. An experience that the regular use of surgical masks only adds to.

This man, however, is different. Quite wonderfully different.

expressive Japanese face

Categorized: Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hans ter Horst says

    3/4/2014 at 3:24 pm

    He’s not really sure yet what to think of you 🙂 But you’re right, in the large cities it is all about not showing any expressions, the countryside is quite different.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      3/4/2014 at 5:45 pm

      I’m happy to say that his expression wasn’t caused be me. It was the very same look that made me aware of him further up the street, and luckily he maintained it long enough for me to get the shot. Well, either that or he’d actually seen me before I saw him!

      Yes, couldn’t agree more about the countryside. A very different place.

      Reply
  2. Willy says

    3/4/2014 at 8:27 pm

    I can almost hear raspy words emerging from under that pout … ‘ore wa ne.. chiisai toki wa ne.. ‘ (well, you know, when i was young…) …and there begins an unwritten story that is getting closer to its end, but nevertheless a very real story… What a picture!
    thought provoking…

    Reply
    • Lee says

      3/4/2014 at 10:00 pm

      That’s a great way of looking at it. He certainly seems like he has a few stories to tell. No doubt a few good ones still left to live, too.

      Reply
  3. Bernadette Marchetti says

    3/5/2014 at 1:21 pm

    I like it. Great pic. It’s a bit strange to see a grown man with duck lips. But I hear duck lips are out and sparrow face is in.
    http://kotaku.com/the-successor-to-duck-lips-is-sparrow-face-1444758736

    Reply
    • Lee says

      3/5/2014 at 4:39 pm

      Cheers!

      And thanks for the link. I knew about duck lips, but sparrow face is a new one. Not that I’d attempt to distinguish them!

      Reply
  4. Evan says

    3/7/2014 at 6:35 am

    Ongoing rictus / uncontrollable facial expressions; clenched pollex; slight unnatural head angle.

    It seems likely that he is experiencing a malady, probably not, but similar to Multiple Sclerosis.

    As I understand it, Japanese culture is acutely uncomfortable with personal abnormalities; It must be tough to be an unintentional outcast.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      3/7/2014 at 10:48 am

      Oh, that’s good to know. I saw him as interesting in a positive way. Still do. But that puts things in a very different light. Thanks a lot for letting me know. And kindly, too.

      Reply
      • Evan says

        3/11/2014 at 4:03 am

        Your photo is an opportunity to celebrate our differences.

        Reply

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