Food and Drink

This photo was taken almost exactly 10 years ago to the day. A shot I decided to post as another from the same evening (albeit from a higher vantage point) is in my new photobook, Tokyo Conversations.

The street is still there, and mercifully it hasn’t changed much at all, although the wonderful little seating area with the kettle is sadly no more. The world in general, on the other hand, most certainly has changed, and looking back at this scene, the lack of masks and smartphones in particular make it feel like a very different time indeed.

Last year I posted some photos of old and broken Japanese vending machines. A set of fascinatingly sad metal boxes that I rather ambitiously suggested had their own distinct personalities, or at the very least a sort of quiet dignity all their own.

The more I see, however, and the more that does seem to ring true. There really is something about them. It could be simple nostalgic value, or perhaps it’s because they still stand tall as if ready and willing to serve once again. Whatever it is though, they are always an absolute treat to encounter, and objects I’m more than happy to go well out of my way to photograph.

All that said, some of these newer finds are distinctly more dilapidated than dignified, but I did get to shoot a kind I’ve been hoping to stumble upon for the longest time — the formerly elusive film version. A wonderfully rare blast from the past that compared to some of the others is still in surprisingly good shape.

Due to its colours and fantastically faded old sign, this ramshackle shop has been a favourite of mine for a long time. Trouble is, it had been in the shade each and every time I’d walked by, plus the angle I wanted to photograph it from was always blocked by a parked car. A vehicle (just out of shot on the right) that never, ever seemed to move.

All too aware that the building could be demolished at any time, it seemed like a good idea to head out to it on an overcast day and see if that would work. The car, of course, was still there, but the light was much more manageable, allowing me to get something that seemed half decent.

That said, I still wasn’t sure about the angle, so I let the photo sit for several weeks, and going back to it with a bit more detachment, I now think it works. Maybe even more than the shot I actually wanted.

Photographed over quite a few years, this little Tokyo alleyway acts as a suitably dingy urban beer garden of sorts for the even smaller bar that opens out onto it. The incredibly inebriated state of many of the drinkers, however, is due to the fact that all the photos were shot around lunch time. It’s not that they are all lightweights either, as these are people who rather than having a few midday drinks, were in fact having a few last ones to end the previous evening’s outing.

The bar is actually still there, and still in business, but since the pandemic I haven’t seen anyone sat outside, so it seemed like a good time to put these photos together both here and on my portfolio site. A reminder of mostly forgotten times in more ways than one.

This was one of those moments that I simply liked the looked of, so I took one quick frame when walking by. Quite why it appealed, however, is difficult say, and even now, after editing the resultant photo, there’s not one particular thing I can confidently pinpoint. And yet that said, it somehow, in some way, seems to work.

From Monday, I will be swapping these kinds of scenes for those of my native Britain. A much needed trip back to see family, as well as some time away to try and take in all that has happened in the last 12 months or so. A chance to also start to think about the times ahead.

While I’m away, Tokyo Times will switch to weekly posts every Tuesday. I’ve put together some sets of re-edited and previously unseen photos, along with a couple of posts made up of recent shots. These will start next week and continue until August 23rd. Then, from August 30th, the usual Tuesday and Friday updates will resume as normal.

Some bar owners are naturally gregarious, making them a perfect fit for the job they have chosen. Many more, on the other hand, very likely feel the need to put on a bit of a performance, so this fella’s approach of undisguised indifference seems refreshingly honest. A bold move in the land of customer service, and reading through online comments, it’s one that perhaps unsurprisingly confuses more than a few of his customers.