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May 20 2020 18 Comments

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

Tokyo is an extraordinary city with a lot of similarly extraordinary people, yet on the whole it’s the rather more regular, day-to-day sights and scenarios that appeal the most. A factor that has definitely made the last two months of locally restricted walks and bike rides more bearable. Among other things, there has been an old housing complex to document, a wonderfully bleak park and the terribly sad discovery of an abandoned little bar.

On these almost daily excursions, I’ve also noticed the varied, and sometimes rather haphazard seating at local bus stops. Settings that are arguably much more mundane than merely ordinary, and yet for some inexplicable reason I find them appealing. Partly it’s the random chairs and the old school ads, but there’s also something else. Something I can’t really explain. A quietness perhaps, or maybe just their unfussy nature, but whatever it is, I do hope it’s not just me that feels it.

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

The silence of suburban Tokyo bus stop seats

Categorized: Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Coli says

    5/20/2020 at 8:39 am

    Beautiful series. Something about this is as appealing as the forgotten vending machines you’ve posted before. I come across office chairs and some home furniture at the bus stops where I am at, but I’ve never seen anything like the seibu bus seats. Something about that one in particular strikes me.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/20/2020 at 10:51 am

      Thank you very much, and good call on the vending machines. A similar appeal, whatever that appeal is!

      Those discarded chairs are great, aren’t they? And yeah, I really like those Seibu seats. The faded colours, paint and their unusual shape are very special.

      Reply
  2. Linda says

    5/20/2020 at 9:06 am

    Love this. Love all of them, but the random assortments of volunteer chairs really make me smile. There’s something almost human about them.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/20/2020 at 10:53 am

      Thanks. Good to hear. And yes, the chairs are great, especially the sheer variety. They almost have personalities.

      Reply
  3. dot says

    5/20/2020 at 9:19 am

    Brilliant. An absence creates a presence… These are beautiful pictures.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/20/2020 at 10:54 am

      Thank you very much. That’s so well put. It really does.

      Reply
  4. Jenn says

    5/20/2020 at 1:36 pm

    Oh my I love this those home chairs are so random! 🙂

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/20/2020 at 7:22 pm

      They really are, aren’t they? I wonder if bus users have their favourites…

      Reply
  5. Stephan says

    5/20/2020 at 2:41 pm

    Interesting photos. Some of those chairs should be in a dumpster not at a bus stop!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/20/2020 at 7:23 pm

      Cheers. Yeah, I think it’s fair to say that some of them aren’t in the best of condition!

      Reply
  6. JVH says

    5/20/2020 at 9:31 pm

    “…on the whole it’s the rather more regular, day-to-day sights and scenarios that appeal the most. ”

    I couldn’t agree more! Thank you Lee, for giving us all a little peek at just that. Every vacation I take I try to make my way to spaces that reveal some of the normal, everyday slice of what the locals experience. Although it’s impossible to get there – I do what I can. And those are treasured memories.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/20/2020 at 10:34 pm

      You are very welcome. It’s the side of Japan I like the most, so it’s good to know other people get something from the photos as well.

      I’m lucky in that I have the time and ability to experience this kind of stuff regularly, but as much as I enjoy it, I imagine that limited chances make your experiences even sweeter.

      Reply
  7. john says

    5/20/2020 at 11:34 pm

    Seats of happiness! Chairs for that.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/21/2020 at 9:04 am

      They are indeed! Nice pun. Been trying to think of one in response, but sofa can’t think of anything.

      Reply
      • john says

        5/21/2020 at 9:38 pm

        I really liked the Seibu Travelling Restaurant – “52 Seats of Happiness”. Their ‘Limited Express’ led me off on a musical journey stopping off at Doddodo’s Giganoise. Sofa ever so good.
        Back to subject; the shrubbery is almost as varied as the chairs are.

        Reply
        • Lee says

          5/22/2020 at 10:40 am

          I actually live by a Seibu Line station so that’s my way into central Tokyo, and seeing that sign always amuses me. Unfortunately my regular train journey isn’t so full of joy…

          Yes, should have named it the seats and shrubbery. Luckily there’s plenty of greenery out here. Something to be very thankful for.

          Reply
  8. cdilla says

    5/22/2020 at 7:27 pm

    There is so much to love about this collection of photographs. Decay and abandonment for sure, but also history, practicality, character and even humour.
    I see flickering ghosts of past users of the chairs, and nighttime Ghibliesque wanderings of the chairs, gathering and having fun before returning to their static dayjob before the first commuters turn up.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/22/2020 at 9:09 pm

      Thanks, very good to hear all that comes though. Certainly the more I started to look for them, the more I got out of them.

      I do like the idea of them having secret lives. They certainly must have a few stories to tell.

      Reply

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