Photography
A Tokyo story we will likely never ever know
We all contain stories and painful feelings that only those close to us will ever know. Even then it likely won’t be everything. Then there’s the person sat opposite on the train perhaps, or maybe someone at work — there’s always so much that we are utterly unaware of. Very often there’s little or no hint either, as publicly at least, the vast majority of us tend to keep a good deal inside. The lady below, however, seemed different. It was her expression that initially caught my eye, but then I saw what she was carrying. Something she held so carefully and so close. A very visible story, and yet even then it’s one we will almost certainly never know. Instead, it’s one we can only speculate on, and at the same time hope that despite it all she’s doing okay.
Old school Japanese restaurants documented over the years
On the whole, I’ve always found bars more interesting to shoot in than restaurants. In most cases it tends to be quite a bit easier too. There’s the atmosphere for starters, plus the simple act of spending longer in a place makes it possible to feel fully at home. Being a very visible foreigner, and a far from common type of customer, it gives everyone else the chance to get similarly comfortable as well, meaning there’s generally little or no concern when the camera does eventually come out. Staying for an extended period of time also offers more in the way of conversation, and the opportunity, on some occasions, to hear about the sometimes very long lives of those behind the bar.
Of course none of that means old school restaurants don’t have any charm, because they most certainly do — they are just a bit harder for me to photograph in that’s all. Now and again though I do manage to get a few shots away, and below is a selection of those efforts from over the years. Several of them have appeared on Tokyo Times before, but these are re-edits, and location-wise they are a mix of Tokyo and beyond. I should also add that some of them are long gone, but thankfully a good few are still serving up the same delicious food with no changes to the dishes or decor whatsoever.
A terrifically askew row of old Tokyo houses
This compact row of old Tokyo houses stops me in my tracks every time I see it, and while far more ramshackle and on a much smaller scale, it somehow always reminds me of Edward Hopper’s Early Sunday Morning. With that in mind, my hope has always been to capture a lone, suitably Hopper-like figure looking out of a window. Frustratingly that still hasn’t happened, but a resident stood in her doorway staring down the street will definitely do for now.
A blue-eyed Tokyo host in the darkness and light
Some days are still really quite warm, but there’s finally a genuine sense of autumn in Tokyo, and along with more comfortable temperatures comes some truly wonderful light. The angle and intensity of it is mercifully a world away from that of the summer, so once again it allows for photos like the capture below.
The man, along with the contrast of light and shadow, reminded me of a documentary I’ve mentioned on Tokyo Times before, The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief. A film that for now at least is available on YouTube, and after not seeing it for a long time, a re-watch reminded me of what an informative hour and a bit of viewing it really is.
Shinjuku’s Kabukicho red light district has fascinated me for a long time, and while it has certainly changed and been reduced in size over the years, it’s still an incredibly interesting place to walk around. Like so many others, however, I merely observe — passing through with some knowledge of the area, but little in the way of any real insight into the lives and experiences of those who actually earn their livings there. As such, I can say with reasonable certainty that the man in the photo is a host, but until watching the aforementioned film, I had no real idea of what working in a host club entailed, and even less sense of the surprisingly important part it plays in the lives of the young women who spend their time and money in such establishments. A documentary that does a remarkably honest and often tender job of showing those aspects, plus at the same time it says an awful lot about Japanese society as a whole, and in many ways the human condition itself. Elements that this photo can only try and hint at.
