Old, crumbling and abandoned Tokyo
Due to the increasing problems of a shrinking population and urban migration, it’s not really surprising that abandoned homes, along with countless other kinds of crumbling buildings, are now common sights outside Japan’s major cities. Yet despite the capital’s continued growth, and the often prohibitive cost of land, it’s also not that unusual to see similar structures in Tokyo.
Photographed not far from the busy hubs of Ueno and Asakusa, one of these spaces was an office, the other quite possibly a house. But regardless of their former purpose, both of them were long since locked up and somewhat inexplicably left to rot.
Shinto priest: A colour portrait
Recently, when putting together a set of traditional Japan images, I went back to the photograph of this intense looking Shinto priest from December 2012. A portrait that at the time seemed much better suited to black and white.
Now, however, I’m not nearly so convinced. In fact, if pushed to pick one or the other, I’d probably opt for colour.
Tokyo ramen restaurant stares
Waiting for lunch while also offering withering looks.
The silence of an abandoned Japanese village
Abandoned buildings have the ability to conjure up a whole host of sensations. Some are terribly sad. Others can be genuinely nice places to spend some time in. But one thing they all have in common is their silence. A lack of sound that can actually be a little unsettling at times, especially so after escaping the incessant noise of Tokyo.
In the case of this particular little cluster of houses, however, it was simply nice and peaceful. A quietness that was accentuated by the things left behind. Objects with a sense of stillness they generally don’t posses; devoid, as they now are, of the people who once had a purpose for them.
So in a rather ambitious attempt to try and replicate that atmosphere, along with what it’s like to actually find such things in the first place, here’s a small set of photos without any text or further interruptions.
