Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Lee

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An old Tokyo bar and its septuagenarian owner

Tokyo regenerates at a frightening pace, and yet in older — or more neglected — parts of the city, it can often feel like time has stood still. Something that’s definitely the case with this little bar and eatery.

Run by its 78-year-old owner, the furnishings clearly haven’t changed all that much in the decades they have both been there. A staggering 46 years to be exact.

old Japanese bar and owner

Brought up in Okayama, the mama-san moved east to Tokyo as a young woman, and, after first living in Shinjuku, she later relocated to the suburbs — opening and then running the bar with her late husband. Something she still does today. Five nights a week. 5pm to 11:30 or so. Cooking, serving and generally being lovely.

old Japanese bar and owner

A routine she intends to continue for the foreseeable future, or for at least as long as her health holds out. Ruefully admitting that it’s talking to customers that keeps her going, and when she can’t do it any longer, a massive part of her life will be lost. As indeed will the bar itself, which will be unceremoniously shuttered up like many other businesses on the same street. And on countless other streets all over the city.

old Japanese bar and owner

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A traditional Japanese wedding with untraditional warmth

Due to their rigid formula and unrelenting adherence to time, Japanese weddings can often be uncomfortable and overly serious affairs. As such, lightheartedness may not see the light of day until the second party, and any act of spontaneity is simply out of the question. A strict sense of decorum that in many ways made the post-ceremony scene below all the more endearing.

Greeted by a large group of strangers that very quickly formed around them, the young, rickshaw driven newlyweds were treated to spontaneous applause and joyously uninhibited encouragement. All of which resulted in a wonderfully out of the ordinary moment that made their surprised looks all the brighter.

Japanese newlyweds

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An abandoned and atmospheric Japanese school in the mountains

With Japan’s population rapidly ageing, it’s really not surprising that so many abandoned schools exist. Plus combined with the equally rapid migration to the cities, it’s even less surprising to find such places in isolated areas and mountain regions. Locations that are feeling the full force of Japan’s changing demographic, resulting in the end for countless small communities, and also Sazuka Elementary School.

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

Situated next to a tiny, and now equally uninhabited village, the school closed way back in 1977, but remarkably it wasn’t declared officially shut until March 1990. A decision that, along with its back of beyond location, perhaps explains why so much has been left behind.

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

As such, it is still packed with reminders of school life. Things that were studied.

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

Played.

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

Used.

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

And possibly just marvelled at.

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

Being a good way from anything even remotely resembling civilisation, there’s also a small living area that housed a couple of male teachers. A setup that must have been more than a little cozy to say the least, consisting as it does of just one room and a kitchen.

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

The only obvious form of escape, besides books and magazines, being a now very battered TV.

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

That’s not to say the school’s female teacher had it any easier, as she often stayed with a student’s family rather than make the long trek back to wherever it was she lived.

But like most abandoned schools, the most striking thing about the building is its silence. Where once there was music.

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

Of which there was clearly quite a lot.

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

There is now very noticeably none. Which, while we were there, only magnified the sound of rain from a slow moving storm hammering down around us.

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

All of which seemed to emphasise the inexorable passage of time, along with the enormous changes that have taken place in the world.

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains

And the complete lack of them at Sazuka Elementary School.

abandoned Japanese school in the mountains