Tokyo Times

Before the pandemic, Ueno’s Ameyoko market street was an area I regularly opted for on days when the light was just right. The atmosphere, trackside location, and most of all those shopping there made it a great place to take photos. Then Covid, and in particular mask wearing changed all that, meaning a once regular haunt became somewhere I rarely visited.

However, with most faces now mercifully uncovered, along with the great light Tokyo is often blessed with at this time of year, it’ll very likely become an irresistible location once again. Definitely so if I can come away with more photographs like the first one — a moment captured very recently. The other shots are all from that other time, providing some nice reminders as well as a good chance to show some previously posted and unposted pictures.

With 2023 rapidly rattling towards its end, it is time once again to share my favourite photos and posts from the last 12 months.

In many ways it has been a year of transition. The opening of Japan’s borders at the end of 2022 immediately kickstarted the country’s tourism industry, and my Tokyo Photowalk tours are thankfully not only back, but busier than ever. So much so in fact that I’m hoping to offer a Tokyo and Osaka package next year. A way to combine the photographic similarities and differences of these two fascinating cities.

Tokyo Conversations, the photobook my friend Giovanni and I published got its official release at the beginning of this year as well. Something that still feels unreal at times. A book always seemed to be what other people did, but then somehow we went and produced our own. It’s available here should you be interested.

Personally it was a transitional time too. After the death of my wife Akiko in the summer of 2021, life in many ways seemed to stand still. Or more accurately, just sort of simply passed by. Earlier this year, however, I made a concerted effort to fully step back into the world in every way I could. Something that hasn’t always been easy, but it was definitely necessary, and needless to say I’m very glad I did. What’s round the corner, or what will happen in the next year or two, is obviously a complete unknown, but I’m now ready to embrace the future and move forward. I’ve been forced to realise that life goes on regardless of the past, so no matter how hard it can be sometimes, we have to try and make the most of this one chance we have.

That sentiment is something I’ve also tried to remember when photographing the rapidly changing face of old Tokyo. So many buildings and people I’ve previously taken pictures of have disappeared. That always hurts. A sense of loss that it’s hard not to feel affected by. But whether we like it or not, such changes are simply the cycle of life, so as such, and for want of a better description, I’m trying to be more zen about it and be happy I saw and experienced what I did, rather than focusing on what has been lost.

That approach, and in many ways simple acceptance, finally brings me to this year’s photos. Photographically I’ve also gone through a transition of sorts by focusing much more on sets of photos than single images. My goal, if possible, is to try and tell stories of the past and present. Some clear. Others more vague and even unknown. But stories nonetheless. Due to the move to small series then, I’ve included a photo or two from each set and added a link to the full post below them. Also, just like every year, my choices are a mixture of feelings and memories as well as the actual photographs themselves. They aren’t in any particular order either. Just how they seemed to work best.

And with that, I’ll have a break over the holiday period, and the usual Tuesday and Friday posts will resume once again on January 5th. So until then, enjoy whatever you do, and the people you spend time with over the festive and new year period.

An old Japanese bar that’s little more than a shed

Scenes from a faded Japanese hot spring resort

Tokyo tobacconists old and new

A 94-year-old and his little Tokyo sweet shop

Game consoles, music and lots of memories in an abandoned Japanese home

Heartwarming hugs on the streets of Tokyo

An old Japanese coffee shop like no other

Tokyo before and after (part 2 of 2)

The sad demolition of two iconic Tokyo drinking alleyways and their environs

Kokudo, a dark and atmospheric Japanese train station like no other

The last remnants of an old Tokyo shopping street

Some of the faces and urban scenery of Osaka

Japanese shops of the past still surviving in the present

A dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

The overgrown beauty of a long abandoned Japanese shopping arcade

An old Tokyo bar on borrowed time, over time