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May 23 2016 9 Comments

Tokyo coin laundry looks

The noticeable contrast between an old man’s honest, caught off-guard expression, and the false, posed political portraits of those behind him. Differences in looks that quite possibly also mirror their respective lives.

old tokyo laundrette looks

Categorized: Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. cdilla says

    5/23/2016 at 5:13 pm

    So much detail. So much draws my eye. The man’s clean – infact new looking – clothes. The precise way the poster is placed, aligned and stuck up with cute little circular stickers. The picture in the laundry – what is that!? It looks like an orange hoody clad cartoon figure sat on a glass of guinness using a phone. The overall clean decrepitude of the scene – the concrete and appliances are certainly old but there are no dirt accumulations in the cracks or angles. And lastly, the little yellow sign with the eyes at the top. They look like the eyes you see on Buddhist stupas. Is it one of those address plates or something else.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/23/2016 at 10:06 pm

      There’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t quite add up, isn’t there? Or at there very least isn’t quite what you’d initially think.

      Haven’t a clue what the picture is I’m afraid. I basically walked past and took the picture. That was it. So your guess is as good as mine. But the yellow sticker with the eyes is something that’s practically everywhere in Tokyo these days. There’s an explanation of it here: http://goo.gl/kPumXe

      Reply
  2. Al says

    5/23/2016 at 7:57 pm

    Another angry stare! 😉

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/23/2016 at 10:07 pm

      Yes. Another one. But we did share a smile and a nod immediately after. Honest!

      Reply
  3. Marc Tobolski says

    5/24/2016 at 6:00 am

    Oh man…the last trip to Japan had two coin laundry adventures! First, in Nagoya, we were sitting outside similar to the gentleman above when a drunk across the street spotted us and was trying to figure us out. He proceeded to have a conversation with his friend who was passed out in the doorway across the way. Then he pissed in the road. The second event was in Tokyo when a younger guy came in, took off all his clothes and proceeded to wash his clothes and himself in the sink. And folks wonder why I drink when I do my laundry in Japan!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/24/2016 at 10:27 am

      Blimey! Clearly coin laundries are places I need to hang out in! The fella stripping off especially is a great story. I can only imagine how surprised you were.

      There’s a coin laundry near a mate’s place that has a couple of showers, but clearly they are an unnecessary waste of money if there’s a sink!

      Reply
    • cdilla says

      5/24/2016 at 10:34 pm

      Lol, the second encounter reminded me of this classic 80’s jeans advert https://youtu.be/HwwsrutfAuo.

      Reply
      • Lee says

        5/25/2016 at 4:10 pm

        Yes, me too. That was clearly the romanticised version. What Marc saw is the reality!

        Reply
  4. Boa Campbell says

    11/20/2021 at 9:55 am

    Hello!! Amazing photos and articles!! Thank you for sharing your photo stories around Japan! MayI ask where I can find this coin laundry please? Thank you so much!

    Reply

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