Food and Drink

You know it’s been a big night out when you wake up in public surrounded by rubbish and perched uncomfortably on a discarded microwave.

Away from the city’s main entertainment and business hubs, old and long-closed shops are surprisingly common sights in Tokyo. A feature of the capital — and Japan in general — that I’ve been documenting for a while now on both my portfolio site, and Instagram account.

Looks, however, can clearly be deceptive, as over the years I’ve passed this wonderfully faded tofu shop on numerous occasions; each and every time marvelling at its ramshackle nature and wondering how long it had stood abandoned. But, while it remains incredibly ramshackle, it isn’t actually closed.

Or at least it isn’t any more, as strolling by recently, the lights were on and the day’s work was once again winding down.

The look, and looks, of a little Tokyo bar.

That awful moment when the alcohol-fuelled feeling of rock and roll invincibility begins to fade, resulting in an intense tiredness and the overwhelming desire to be nowhere other than warmly tucked up in one’s own bed.

The bar itself is interesting, as is the rather curious mix of customers, but a slightly sinister looking man in a trilby always takes some beating.