Lee

In recent months I’ve been documenting old school Tokyo barber shops when out and about on photowalks. They are wonderfully dated establishments, with their colours, plants and signage making them an absolute joy to behold. There’s also the ever present barber’s pole too, which can seem like an archaic legal requirement, as pretty much every single exterior boasts one of some description.

Unsurprisingly a couple of those featured are quite clearly no longer in business, but the rest are still very much going concerns. Shops that will likely continue for as long as their aging owners can manage, which will hopefully mean many more years to come.

The sight of this century old house was always a pleasing one. The patterned glass and ornate door were arguably the highlights, but then there was the addition of the roof, sometimes flowers, and even the colours of the containers outside.

Seeing the owner one time was a lovely treat as well. He was the one who told me the age of the place. An extra detail that made it even more special in an area heavily bombed during the war. But while it survived those aerial raids, not to mention countless earthquakes and typhoons, it ultimately couldn’t evade the ever encroaching demolition crew.

Yokohama, just south of Tokyo, is a popular destination for many, but personally I’ve always struggled to like it. Quite why is hard to pinpoint, but my jaunts there never left me especially eager to return. That said, a couple of little areas have been fairly fruitful of late, so below — aside from the first frame which was taken on the way — are some scenes from a recent visit. A location that’s rarely seen on these pages, plus it was in the rain, which is similarly infrequent in my photography. Something I should really do more of despite the fumbling awkwardness of manually focusing while holding an umbrella, as results-wise, a few of these came out reasonably well.