Tokyo Times

Sep 02 2025 12 Comments

Random scenes from a recent central Japan road trip

I’ve already posted a couple of series from a recent road trip to central Japan. One documenting a quiet town and its long unused public bath, plus another exploring a truly fascinating street lined with abandoned pre-war houses.

This set, however, is slightly different, as it doesn’t have a distinct theme or location. Instead, it’s a collection of scenes and moments that provide a good sense of what I saw and experienced. Brief glimpses of places that are reminiscent of so much of Japan, and yet despite that they still possess a unique atmosphere all their own.

Aug 26 2025 14 Comments

Broken but still standing Japanese vending machines

Quite a few of these lovely old machines have appeared on Tokyo Times before, although most are newer photos or re-edits. There are, however, a very welcome number of new finds. Broken and long unused sentinels that still stand proud despite their lack of products.

So here then is my latest set of favourites. A series that all being well I’ll still be able to add to as time goes by.

Aug 19 2025 7 Comments

A long unused public bath in a quiet and faded Japanese town

Faded and long past their population peak old Japanese towns and cities are a common theme on these pages, and in most ways, this central Japan municipality had a similar look and feel with its quiet streets and shuttered shop fronts.

Strikingly, however, there was one key difference — the location’s beautiful and long unused public bath. A facility that was once an integral part of the community until its closure in 1988, meaning that nowadays it’s merely a time capsule of sorts. One that in many ways poignantly encapsulates the town itself, along with all those like it, providing a touching reminder of a different era that is slowly but surely fading away.

Aug 12 2025 14 Comments

Crumbling and abandoned pre-war Japanese row houses

Finding old and dilapidated properties in Japan isn’t exactly unusual, but this whole street of crumbling, collapsed and almost entirely abandoned nagaya (row houses) is a genuine rarity.

Speaking to a man who lives in a far more modern residence a few metres down from where the old ones stop, it turns out that the small, traditional homes were built before the war, and in the 25 years or so he’s lived in the area, the nagaya have gradually emptied. A slow process that has resulted in just one inhabitant remaining. An elderly man who uses two of the structures — one for general living, and the other for the benefit of its bathing facilities. However, somewhat surprisingly, it wasn’t just ageing residents, as it turns out some young people stayed there too over the years, with the lure of cheap rent presumably making the properties far more desirable than they would have been otherwise.

That though was then, and this is now, with their considerable decay and abandonment meaning the houses likely won’t survive the simple passage of time, let alone the wrecking ball.

Aug 05 2025 10 Comments

More Tokyo citizens and their everyday surroundings

Almost two months ago I posted a series of photos featuring a variety of Tokyo citizens in places they lived, worked or spent a good deal of their time. Local, everyday locations that benefited massively from having a person in the frame, and in particular someone familiar with the environment.

These then are more photographs along the same theme. Little vignettes that in so many ways make Tokyo the city it is.

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