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Sep 24 2024 8 Comments

The colours and quiet scenery of a slowly declining Japanese town

There’s no shortage of quiet and faded old towns and tourist spots on these pages. Slowly deteriorating locations that offer hints galore about the past, but little in regards the future — except that is the sad inevitability of further decay and population decline.

Here then is a series from another such town, and just like all the others, it was an endlessly fascinating place to explore and photograph. The shop-lined streets and shuttered businesses hark back to a more prosperous, and presumably bustling era. Scenery that makes you wonder what will ultimately happen to all these settlements, but whatever the coming years and decades may bring, for now at least they remain crumbling time capsules still semi-occupied in the present.

The colours and quiet scenery of a slowly declining Japanese town

The colours and quiet scenery of a slowly declining Japanese town

The colours and quiet scenery of a slowly declining Japanese town

The colours and quiet scenery of a slowly declining Japanese town

The colours and quiet scenery of a slowly declining Japanese town

The colours and quiet scenery of a slowly declining Japanese town

The colours and quiet scenery of a slowly declining Japanese town

The colours and quiet scenery of a slowly declining Japanese town

The colours and quiet scenery of a slowly declining Japanese town

The colours and quiet scenery of a slowly declining Japanese town

The colours and quiet scenery of a slowly declining Japanese town

The colours and quiet scenery of a slowly declining Japanese town

Categorized: Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. YesterdaysHero says

    9/24/2024 at 10:15 am

    These are so good Lee. The colors and bright sky make an interesting contrast to the sense of decline you have captured.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      9/25/2024 at 11:59 am

      Thanks a lot. Yeah, that’s a good point. Overcast skies would be more in tune with a place like this.

      Reply
  2. Sean says

    9/24/2024 at 1:13 pm

    These are super interesting. I can’t get enough of #1.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      9/25/2024 at 12:00 pm

      Thank you very much. Very happy with how that one came out.

      Reply
  3. scruffy says

    9/26/2024 at 3:55 am

    Nice set. I love the building that has the outline of a previously attached building. Makes me think of a dollhouse. A person could have a lot of fun with that and some paint.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      9/26/2024 at 7:46 pm

      Thanks. I like those as well, but have never thought about it like that. Such a good idea, and yeah, someone could have a lot of fun with some paint.

      Reply
  4. john says

    9/26/2024 at 12:05 pm

    Red dot arcade security, waiting for the shutters to rattle open, or are there pedestrian lights in both directions?
    The red bag works with the red awning script in no. 7.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      9/26/2024 at 7:50 pm

      Cheers. Yeah, lights in both directions, or at least that’s how I remember it.

      Reply

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