Photographs from a small group of islands
More and more it’s the simple, everyday scenes that appeal to me when it comes to capturing moments. Brief sights and interactions that make up so much of our existence, but at the same time get lost or ignored in the maelstrom of modern life.
These than are some such photos, all of which were taken fairly recently on a few of my Tokyo Photowalk Tours. The one, overriding thing tying them together is that they were all shot in the same, very walkable area.
Photos from this old, dark and mostly shuttered Japanese shopping arcade have appeared on Tokyo Times before, but these recently taken evening shots give it an even more desolate look than the daytime ones did.
Situated next to a couple more covered, but better illuminated streets, it is very much the poor cousin of the three. Only a few of its shops are still operational, and the man in the red t-shirt was moving stock to and from one of them. Most of the others, however, closed a long time ago, with the old fella in blue merely dropping by his former shop — his kids understandably having no interest whatsoever in continuing the family business.
Near the other, cat themed entrance, there is a bit of re-birth, with one or two premises being repurposed, but otherwise the arcade stands as a poignant reminder of the past, and in Japan’s many underpopulated places, a rather unsettling view of what to expect.
The moment I walked through the door it was obvious this little coffee shop was special. The colours, simplicity, and most of all the warmth of the owner, made it the perfect place to relax and appreciate the small, unexpected encounters that can make an already good day even more enjoyable.
Now 88 years old, the master has run the business for just shy of half a century, and as he watched the closing ceremony of the Osaka Expo, and I enjoyed a coffee, life briefly at least seemed so much simpler.
Before leaving we chatted for a bit, and finding a shared love of photography, I took a few portraits — his neat little bow tie endearingly straightened for each and every shot. Then I continued on my walk, but with an added spring in my step that definitely wasn’t just because of the caffeine.
Osaka is a city I have an increasingly strong attachment to, with each and every visit proving rewarding — both personally and photographically. I simply feel at home there in the old and dated areas I frequent. Locations where the residents are, on the whole, lacking in pretence. A trait that publicly at least is often much harder to find in Tokyo.
These then are just a small selection of the photos I took on a recent visit. Brief, generally unguarded scenes, that hopefully highlight more individual moments in a region populated by many millions.
The absolutely stunning old Coca-Coca sign below was what I set out to photograph. Whether the closed-down shop it’s attached to would still be standing was a complete unknown, but having worked out the location, it was simply a case of waiting for the right weather conditions and then hopefully getting the chance to try and capture its cross-cultural retro charm.
The other photos in this short series were the sights that caught my eye on a meandering walk before and after the day’s main attraction. All of which I found interesting, but nowhere near as appealing as that lovely old sign and decaying shop front.
