Tokyo Times

Handing out flyers or tissues is the standard form of promotion in Tokyo, but sometimes alternatives can be seen, such as the far more traditional chindonya.

And yet as colourful as the latter in particular can be, even they are arguably eclipsed by this congenial, and incredibly jolly, gentleman.

The incredibly long living and therefore growing number of old people in Japan certainly causes plenty of problems. There’s the the huge burden on the nation’s health service, an even bigger one on the dwindling number of wage earners, and last but by no means least, the godawful prospect of gateball becoming the country’s number one sport.

But there is the odd advantage, aside from the obvious benefit to those actually living longer, as, for anyone who wants to photograph them, all those years create incredibly character filled.

Fascinatingly featured.

Faces.

It’s a much-repeated mantra that houses in Tokyo are built for the summer, and not winter; hence, no doubt, their woefully inadequate, nay non-existent, insulation. A far from comfortable state of affairs that often means the likes of bedrooms barely get above the baltic.

But even considering such stoically accepted suffering, the old, badly fitted and tape-repaired front door below surely takes draughtiness to new, appendage deadening, depths.

They may not be the most popular of pets, but nonetheless, ‘monkey magic’ perfectly describes the lives of some primates in Japan, as they are clearly loved as much as the similarly named 70s TV show.

The existence of others, however, would appear to be mostly miserable, rather than magic.