Photographs from a small group of islands
With train tracks criss-crossing Tokyo in an enormous maze of absolutely mindboggling engineering, it means that waiting patiently (or otherwise) at level crossings is a regular part of everyday life.
However, when doing so, there’s certainly no law against looking good.
The fact that this little boy is stood in a dingy alley amidst a load of dodgy bars definitely has something to do with it, but there’s also something else — something more unsettling about this image.
But quite what that something is, I really can’t say.
Or there again, maybe it’s just me.
Despite being well aware that the words would be unfathomable, and the story even less clear, I’ve always wanted to attend a Noh performance; the masks in particular, and also the mood created by the torchlight if it’s done traditionally, undoubtedly creating an incredible spectacle. Certainly not one to be easily forgotten, that’s for sure.
Seeing a Noh performer practicing in the sunshine, and sadly sans mask, on the other hand, obviously can’t match such ideals, but nevertheless, it’s still a mesmerising sight.
The moves.
His rather maudlin singing.
Along with the natural elements of the stage.
And its natural looking ones.
All making for a unique, as well as very private.
Performance.
When there’s even more to worry about than usual, a couple of drinks, with good company, in comfortably uncomplicated surroundings, is sometimes just what’s called for.
It’s now two weeks since the earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan; a disaster that continues to inflict untold misery upon those people directly affected, and is never far from the minds of those who weren’t.
News from elsewhere, however, along with media outlets seemingly all out of sensationalist stories, means that coverage is very quickly dwindling, yet reminders of that horrible day, and its ongoing repercussions, are everywhere — even in long-closed bars down little side streets.
