Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Photography

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Praying for Prada?

There’s often doubt cast on the authenticity of monks sometimes seen praying on Tokyo’s streets, with suspicions that more than a few of them are elaborately dressed fraudsters merely after some money; the validity of either the doubters, or indeed those possibly doing the praying, I personally have no way of proving.

So, with this in mind, and considering that he was photographed in Tokyo’s glitzy and brand-driven Ginza district, this particular man may well have been preoccupied with nothing more spiritual than a Prada emblazoned bag, but, for reasons I can’t really explain, I think he could be for real.

Buddhist monk in Ginza

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Tokyo panda promotion

There’s possibly only one thing worse than standing around all day trying to hand out promotional material to people who don’t want it, and that’s standing around all day trying to hand out promotional material to people who don’t want it while wearing a panda suit.

Tokyo panda suit

And especially so when it’s one so positively perky looking.

Tokyo panda suit

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An old Japanese newspaper seller

The calendar may well say 2011, but it’s certain that this old lady has been sitting here, selling newspapers, for more years than it’s possible to comprehend.

Old Japanese lady working

And she probably cares to recall.

Old Japanese lady working

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Old buddies and age-old banter

A gentle bit of sport-related banter between friends, with both happily content in the knowledge that, at least in regards to their respective teams, the other really doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Yoyogi Park friends

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Homeless in Ginza

Due to Japan’s extended economic stagnation, and the gradual transformation of the job for life into a temporary post for an unspecified period, the myth of all Japanese being middle-class is rapidly unravelling. A growing gap between the haves and the have nots that could potentially threaten the country’s famed cohesiveness.

And the consequences of these changes aren’t difficult to find, as merely walking through any of Tokyo’s parks, or along its rivers, exposes those very much at the bottom of the pile; the myriad of blue-sheeted shelters and commandeered benches highlighting the city’s growing number homeless.

Yet as sad a sight as these encampments are, seeing someone destitute in Tokyo’s uber-expensive and brand centred Ginza district, really emphasises the growing gulf in Japanese society.

Tokyo homeless