Traditional Japanese weddings are often colourful affairs. They are generally on the elaborate side too. As, at least in regards the latter, are the taxis designed to whisk away the newlyweds.
Japanese wedding colours and cars
Photography
A post-war or post-millennium Japanese bar?
Tokyo almost always seems to be in a state of flux. Buildings go up and down. Shops regularly change hands. Plus fads are often as fleeting as Japan’s famous cherry blossoms.
And yet the more the city changes, the more it somehow remains the same.
Christianity, Tokyo style
Unlike many countries, Japan has a wonderfully relaxed, carefree attitude towards religion. It’s simply not an important aspect of daily life for the majority of the population. Nor does it play any real role in regards politics or public morals. And while temples and shrines may well be everywhere, it’s arguable that for most people, visits are more out of superstition and/or custom, rather than any real sense of spirituality.
Christianity, on the other hand, is a little different. Adherents have actually sought out a religion that is not associated with Japan. A belief system that for a long time was actively repressed, with those outed as followers persecuted, sometimes even killed. Of course that’s not the case now, but Christians still make up less than 1 percent of the population, and as such they have to try a little harder when it comes to finding a place of worship. But churches are out there. They just aren’t always that obvious that’s all. Neither are they especially beautiful.
Ginza prayers and stares
Beauty in a tiny Tokyo bar
Coming of age in Britain, Japan’s comparatively carefree licensing laws were nothing short of a revelation when I first arrived in Tokyo. All-nighters suddenly became nothing special, and a similarly lengthy daytime session could pretty much start whenever. No infuriating breaks for archaic post-lunch closing either. And yet all that said, and no matter how much fun it can be, nothing quite beats the relaxed beauty of a few well earned beers on a weekend afternoon.
