Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Lee

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The sound of silence in an abandoned old Tokyo house

This small set of photos was taken several years ago, but despite going back to the images on quite a few occasions, I really didn’t think they were good enough. I’m still not sure they are to be honest, but that’s a fairly standard concern, so sometimes it’s best to cast aside such insecurities and just go for it. That said, much more of a push to post them was the current climate, and how the photos may now posses a little bit of added poignancy.

The house itself was a mystery. No idea who lived there, or even when they left, as unusually for Japan, there wasn’t a calendar in the property. The only genuine giveaway is the music that was once played there, although clearly it’s the real sound of silence the rooms are now familiar with.

an old and abandoned Tokyo house

an old and abandoned Tokyo house

an old and abandoned Tokyo house

an old and abandoned Tokyo house

an old and abandoned Tokyo house

an old and abandoned Tokyo house

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An old Tokyo barber turned bar owner

The fella in the photographs was a barber until he was 50, but he didn’t like it, so he became a bar owner instead. A job he has done ever since. For the last 24 years to be exact. Cooking and serving behind the little counter below.

Those are the simple facts, but how long he will continue to be open for business is far less certain. His age of course is a factor, but with Tokyo residents now being asked to refrain from socialising in the evening, and a lockdown surely inevitable, it’s not hard to imagine that once the pandemic is over, lots of little places like this will sadly never open again.

a former barber now septuagenarian Tokyo bar owner

a former barber now septuagenarian Tokyo bar owner

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The lockdown in Tokyo begins, sort of

Much debate has surrounded Japan’s post-Diamond Princess avoidance of the coronavirus pandemic — at least on the scale seen elsewhere, anyway. Has it been due to the general lack of physical contact in public? The pretty much standard habit of mask wearing perhaps? Or, has it always been a mere matter of time before the country succumbed?

Despite the possible merits of those cultural traits, the latter now appears to be the case, with Tokyo’s governor requesting a soft lockdown at a press conference on Wednesday. Of course how many people adhere to it remains to be seen, especially as the message was confused somewhat by a mention of only the weekend. The same goes for the timing, and ultimately its effectiveness — we’ve just got to wait and see. In the meantime, like in so many other parts of the world, it’s now simply a case of sitting tight and hoping for the best.

lockdown in Japan

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A 95-year-old Japanese lady enjoying a stroll

In the current climate, a quiet stroll along the nearby canal seemed like a good idea. A decision that in the end turned out to be doubly good, as along with a nice walk, I also had the pleasure of bumping into the lovely old lady below.

We only had a brief chat. Basically just the time it took to take a couple of frames from a suitably safe distance. But having the chance to meet somebody who has experienced the destruction — then recovery — of their country, and indeed the wider world from wars, natural disasters, nuclear meltdowns, political upheavals and now, towards the end of her life, a pandemic, was really something.

portrait of a 95-year-old Japanese lady out walking