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Jul 29 2019 8 Comments

The simple delight of ordinary Tokyo

Tokyo is an extraordinary city in so many ways — a city that, even after two decades of living here, still never ceases to amaze. And yet for all its wonders, and occasional otherworldliness, it’s often the utterly ordinary that really stands out, such as these simple, but at the same time simply wonderful old businesses.

ordinary but beautiful old Tokyo

ordinary but beautiful old Tokyo

ordinary but beautiful old Tokyo

Categorized: Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. DavidT says

    7/29/2019 at 10:56 am

    Very cool. I really like the last one it’s totally not ordinary! 🙂

    Reply
    • Lee says

      7/29/2019 at 3:57 pm

      Me too. One of my favourite buildings in the whole of the city.

      Ordinary in many ways, but yeah, these days much less so.

      Reply
  2. John says

    7/29/2019 at 7:15 pm

    The bicycle in front of the last shop is just so perfect!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      7/30/2019 at 2:01 am

      Yeah, big fan of that bike myself. That little dash of colour works very nicely.

      Reply
  3. cdilla says

    7/29/2019 at 8:38 pm

    Photographs of these stores and other businesses are so precious. They are fading away as we look at them. Tobe replaced briefly by a boarded up haikyo, and then as something new and “better”.
    The first one has a real cave-like quality with it’s dark interior and overgrown entrance.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      7/30/2019 at 2:05 am

      Couldn’t agree more. Thankfully there are a lot still left, but at the same time they are disappearing at an alarming rate.

      I’d like to go in that shop, but it’s usually at the start of my walk, so pottering round the rest of the day with some purchased meat really wouldn’t be a good idea!

      Reply
  4. Rohan Gillett says

    7/30/2019 at 12:04 am

    I think there is a stereotype (or generalisation) that Tokyo is ultra-modern but in reality there are so many parts of it still so old.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      7/30/2019 at 2:07 am

      Definitely. It’s a stereotype that has really taken root too. But yeah, so much of the city (and Japan in general) is anything but ultra-modern.

      Reply

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