• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

  • Photowalks
  • Book and Prints
  • Newsletter
  • Portfolio
  • About/Contact
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • RSS

Oct 18 2019 6 Comments

Japanese generations past and present

Back in the day, this old Japanese fella clearly wasn’t your average salaryman, as he speaks both English and Italian. Time, however, marches on regardless, and nowadays his past is of no interest whatsoever to those who pass him.

Japanese generations past and present

Categorized: Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. DavidT says

    10/18/2019 at 12:36 pm

    Poor old guy but sounds like he must’ve had an interesting life?

    Reply
    • Lee says

      10/18/2019 at 8:10 pm

      Yes, it would seem that way. He seemed liked a genuinely lovely fella too.

      Reply
  2. cdilla says

    10/18/2019 at 4:41 pm

    You have really caught something of his history in his face and in your few words.
    In Ray Bradbury’s “Dandelion WIne” the children sit and listen to an old man’s stories of his past. Their presence brightens his day and the recounting of his memories enriches their lives. The older boy comes to realise older people can give things no-one else can, and in general that everything you could want can be found in interraction with people. The lad still isn’t convinced old people were ever children though, and I guess, when I was young, neither did I.
    Your photograph evokes some of those feelings, and sadness that not every old person or child comes to benefit that way.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      10/18/2019 at 8:15 pm

      Thanks. And thanks even more for detailing the thoughts the photograph provoked. Reading those words not only makes me happy that the photo prompted them, but they also add an awful lot to both the resultant image, and my brief, but also very pleasant interaction with the subject himself.

      Reply
  3. john says

    10/20/2019 at 10:13 am

    I like how the umbrella matches the white of his T shirt and grey of his trousers.
    The downward look of his eyes draws you down to all that is going on around it ; those very dark shadows (again) and the intriguing trail .. maybe Dandelion Wine.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      10/20/2019 at 5:51 pm

      Thank you. Yeah, a lot of things came together nicely with this one. Those matching colours and shadows I’m particularly pleased with. And the intriguing trail is a mystery, which is perhaps for the best…

      Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Copyright © 2025 · Tokyo Times