Tokyo’s streets are notoriously busy. Streets that’ll only get busier too, as more and more people move to the capital. But the continued growth of Tokyo, along with Japan’s other large cities, can obviously have a devastating effect on the surrounding regions — particularly so when coupled with a declining population. Not unusually resulting in streets where permanently shuttered premises way outnumber the people.
LAObserver says
A clean and well kept location in any case. The black and white format adds to the silence of this shot.
Lee says
Cheers.
Yes, it was very clean. New road surface too. Just a pity it won’t be used much…
We drank at a bar on the corner, further down the road. The only place that was open apart from the restaurnt in the shot. He said that slowly but surely everything around him closed down. Very sad, but not in the least bit unique.
Al says
Cool! If there had a been someone in window on the left, it’d be like a Japanese black and white Edward Hopper scene! 🙂
Lee says
Good call. A solitary figure would have been nice. Alas, there was nobody…
cdilla says
As has been mentioned already the cleanliness and neatness of the street jumps out as much as the desolation. Though without your intro the sparse peopling could have been just because it was dark.
It has a filmlot kind of look, a post-apocalyptic last man on earth feel.
The depopulation of Japans rural areas features in quite a few programs I’ve seen, but not so much fringe urban areas.
Maybe locations like this will blend into your haikyo site before long.
Lee says
To be honest, apart from the freshly tarmacked road, at the time I hadn’t really noticed the cleanliness. Or at least hadn’t thought about it. But yeah, despite having a huge number of shuttered and falling down buildings, it was spotless really. Quite odd now when I think back.
There were several abandoned buildings we came across that weren’t locked, but they were in such a dilapidated state that they sadly weren’t safe to explore. A couple of the locked up ones looked absolutely fascinating too. One in particular that had more vines growing inside than out. But sadly no hope of getting in…
Bernadette Siobhán Loftus says
That had happened in the US many times during the last two centuries. Not always because of people moving to the city. The Dust Bowl and areas during the Gold Rush would get up and leave en masse. Here in the US, they’re called Ghost Towns. Your picture definitely gives that feel of a Ghost Town. It does evoke sadness and the feeling of inevitability. The futility to stop the onslaught of progress, I guess.
Lee says
Yeah, there was a very real sense that there’s no way the clock can be turned back. At the same time though, the next station on the train line seemed relatively affluent, if very suburban. So along with migration to the cities and a shrinking population, I suspect that transportation changes, out of town shopping malls etc. have also played their part.
Squidpuppy says
Movie set, or CGI shot LOL
You perfectly captured the unreality, or surreal, or hyper-real aspects of some situations in life. The tilt of the camera gives it even more of a weird feeling – almost Hitchcockian. It’s like the start of a dream, and we don’t know if it’s going to be a nightmare, or what. Is that a “ghost orb” in the low, right center of the shot? /grin
Lee says
Thanks!
It was a fascinating place. Clean, freshly done road, and yet utterly lifeless. Happy to say though it was the start of a very enjoyable evening, no unpleasantness whatsoever. The “ghost orb”, however, remains unexplained, its whereabouts unknown…