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Aug 13 2021 10 Comments

Old and contemporary Tokyo together

Different generations and yet a surprisingly similar colour palette.

old and contemporary Tokyo together

Categorized: Food and Drink, Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Linda says

    8/13/2021 at 8:39 am

    I’m always enthralled by these color-coordinated shots – and the blue line in the middle really takes this one over the top – but this time I’m obsessing over that wall. The left side is just barely visible but it looks like the wall was built with a vending machine nook in it? And have vending machines always been a standard size since this apparently very old wall was built? So many questions…

    Reply
    • Lee says

      8/13/2021 at 5:10 pm

      I was definitely very happy when she appeared down the street. Just had to hope then that she didn’t take a side street before passing me. That has happened so many times…

      Yeah, that blue line in the middle is great. Ideally I’d have moved the whole frame a little further to the left, but a post prevented from me doing so. Had to lean on it to just about get the vending machine in shot. But yes, the wall does seem to have been built with the machine in mind, which does suggest they have always been a standard size. Or at least have been for a long time. Wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest though, this is Japan after all.

      Reply
  2. Sean says

    8/13/2021 at 11:48 am

    I like this a lot and such awesome timing as always! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • Lee says

      8/13/2021 at 5:11 pm

      Thanks a lot. Always lovely when the right person walks past at just the right time!

      Reply
  3. Richard says

    8/13/2021 at 10:38 pm

    A great example of โ€˜being in the right place at the right time!โ€™ Vending machines are endemic to Japan. It always amazes tourists to see these all over the country. Even more amazing that a few of them carry alcoholic beverages! We went to Okayama Castle in Dec 2019. There were probably 25 or more vending machines there where people could get drinks, snacks, etc. There were also 10-12 picnic tables and restrooms so people could relax a bit.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      8/14/2021 at 11:38 am

      Cheers. Lovely when thing work out like that.

      Yeah, there really is no shortage of vending machines. Out in the quieter suburbs, or away from the city, I completely understand their ubiquity, but with convenience stores also everywhere, and obviously stocking a much wider selection, I often wonder how so many vending machines are financially viable. There again, they clearly must be or they’d simply be removed.

      Reply
  4. cdilla says

    8/15/2021 at 6:07 pm

    Here’s the song I imagine you humming to yourself on this trip.

    Don’t you wonder sometimes
    About light and colour?

    Blue, blue, electric blue
    That’s the colour I shall seek
    When I go out
    Blue, blue
    Pale masks worn all day
    Nothing to do, nothing to say
    Blue, blue
    I will lean right here
    Waiting for the gift of light and colour
    And I will look
    Waiting for the gift of light and colour
    Passing right though my Leica’s lens
    Into my eye

    Don’t you wonder sometimes
    About light and colour?

    With apolologies to DB
    https://youtu.be/WoDamvrfUbQ?t=88

    Reply
    • Lee says

      8/15/2021 at 9:23 pm

      Fantastic. Thank you very much. That put a huge smile on my face.

      I almost always have one Bowie album on fairly heavy rotation, and currently it’s Low. A lovely coincidence, and one that also meant those opening lines registered immediately. Whether the man himself would have approved of the changes we will never know, but I most definitely do.

      Reply
      • john says

        8/16/2021 at 10:44 pm

        Hey, that’s far out, so you heard him too? (I remember hearing Starman on the radio – rotary adjustable type)
        A very palettable image and glad to see that the white balance is in order!

        Reply
        • Lee says

          8/17/2021 at 8:36 pm

          It was a very palatable experience, and being daylight white balance thankfully wasn’t a major worry!

          Reply

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