Photographs from a small group of islands
This bookshop under the train tracks has always fascinated me, but the chance to photograph it, along with a customer just as interesting, has remained frustratingly elusive. Until, that is, I saw the fella below.
And yet in the end, getting an image of him catching my eye, rather than a book catching his, turned out to be the best result.
Even with the country’s wonderfully relaxed licensing laws, a kick-off time of 10am for Japan’s first game of the 2014 World Cup seemed to suggest a huge police presence really wasn’t necessary. But a huge police presence was exactly what Shibuya got.
A funnelling of fans and shoppers that admittedly seemed like a good idea at first.
But it was an idea that quickly turned into semi-organised chaos.
The fun of which at least helped to ease the pain of Japan’s opening loss.
Like so many of Tokyo’s bars that are old, cramped and in need of a good clean, this one was a real joy. Serving cheap food and booze, it was packed full of character. Not at all lacking in characters. Plus signs of its 30-odd years in existence were plastered and splattered all over the walls.
So pretty much perfect, really.
Japanese game centres and pachinko parlours aren’t especially conservative when it comes to design — not by any stretch of the imagination. But, at the same time, gaudy is the key watchword rather than anything genuinely creative. Such criticism, however, can in no way be directed at Kawasaki’s Warehouse entertainment complex. A design that is intended to replicate sections of Hong Kong’s now demolished Kowloon Walled City, with no expense — or indeed details — spared.
Admittedly, on entering the building it doesn’t quite feel like one has been transported back to an ungovernable settlement that’s home to more than 30,000 people. Yet at the same time, it does feel like a world away from a regular game centre. Or a regular anything to be honest.
It’s not just about appearances either. Voices can be heard behind doors and windows, plus the lighting hints at the once notorious city’s decidedly seedy side.
Aspects of which are also represented.
Covering two floors, the incredibly confined, cluttered nature of the former no-go area is meticulously constructed.
Complete with businesses and shops.
Along with suitably beaten and grim looking modern vending machines.
An attention to detail that also stretches to the toilets.
But being an arcade, there are actually games to play. And interestingly, some of them date back to a time when Kowloon Walled City was still in existence.
And when said gaming is done, it’s out along the dingy alleys and back into modern Japan.
