Lee

Oct 25 2022 10 Comments

A beautifully dated old Tokyo yakitori stall

For the longest time, this was my favourite old yakitori stall, but not anymore.

I’d seen the beauty below before, but only in the shade of bright sunshine, which didn’t do it justice at all. In the fading light of an early autumn day, on the other hand, it really did look its best. A little shop that has been serving freshly grilled chicken for 45 years. Another near half a century is hard to imagine, but with a younger family member now on board, many more years do remain a distinct possibility.

Oct 21 2022 6 Comments

A suitably retro old Japanese shopping street entrance

The shopping street itself isn’t anything special. Just your regular, run-of-the-mill covered arcade filled with a mixture of chain stores and independent outlets.

This old school, character-filled side entrance, on the hand hand, is anything but ordinary. A lovely slice of the past with an added dash of modern looks.

Oct 18 2022 10 Comments

The end of a truly unique little old Tokyo bar

Back in December 2018, I took the bar photos below. An evening that lives long in the memory, as despite having enjoyed beers in many little bars that have barely changed in decades, this one was truly unique.

It had been in business for 40 years, with the 82-year-old mama-san in charge the whole time. A place where she quietly grilled chicken and served cheap drinks to her regular customers. My friend and I, on the other hand, weren’t regulars in any sense of the word, as in those four decades, we were apparently the first western foreigners to set foot inside. Presumably we were the last too, as sometime between April 2021 and February of this year, the bulldozers moved in. The results of which can be seen in the fifth, and very final frame.

This disappearing aspect of old Tokyo, and some of the reasons I attempt to document it, are covered in a video I did a little while ago, so if you’d like to see it, the link is here. Being on that side of the camera is, rather hypocritically it has to be said, a place I’m not especially comfortable, but it is a good way of showing why I seek out and shoot what I do.

Oct 14 2022 12 Comments

Abandoned and beautifully overgrown Tokyo bicycles

With Tokyo’s long summer now finally at an end, it seems like a good time to show this collection of photos taken over those hot and humid months. Weather that in relation to human habitation doesn’t offer much in the way of benefits, but it does at least provide the perfect conditions to make long-abandoned bicycles look really quite beautiful.

Oct 11 2022 15 Comments

An incredible looking old Tokyo building that sadly no longer exists

When looking for a photo the other day, I also found the first one in this little series, prompting a rummage back in time for the rest of them. It was a building that always fascinated me. The wonderful mix of signs, and in particular the pachinko ones, got me each and every visit. Plus there was its incredibly ramshackle and overgrown state. Oh, and the silver Mercedes that had inexplicably been dumped next to it. All of that right by Yoyogi station and only a short walk from Shinjuku.

It wasn’t just the exterior either. There was the wonderfully dated entrance, with stairs leading up to the last remaining business — a bookshop so densely stocked it was more akin to a maze than the home of a merchant. Books were even balanced overhead in some parts. A cramped environment, in a crumbling structure, that made it hard not to think about earthquakes and whether it really was all that wise to be wandering around in there.

The rest of the building was rather frustratingly sealed up. Then one day so was the entrance. An inevitability of course, but it was no less sad to see. As was the subsequent demolition. A bit of history gone, along with a very real sense of how much of the city must have once looked.

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