Tokyo’s public transportation system is quite rightly held in high esteem. The sheer scale of it, not to mention its incredible reliability, is a genuine thing of wonder. That said, personal transportation is very much a thing as well, and it’s something that can vary wildly, from the cool to merely convenient, and the stylish to the really rather silly. Here then are some examples, along with the people in control of them.
Photography
Far from perfect Tokyo days
A surprising amount of what I see and read about Japan online seems to cover the same topics. The food, manners, modernity, safety, a lack of real poverty, and of course the cleanliness. Elements of the country that are genuine positives. Lots of truth in there too, even if it is just in a comparative sense. What often seems to get lost, however, is that just like everywhere else in the world, Japan has its fair share of problems, meaning for many, life is tough, and those much touted aspects that supposedly make it such a special place are an irrelevance, or worse still, simply don’t ring true at all.
All of which came to mind when I saw the scene below. I’ve photographed this coin laundry before, but seeing it stripped of the lockers it once housed, I assumed it was no longer in use. But I was wrong. It still is. And surrounded as it is by accommodation in a similarly sorry state, it remains the nearest and most accessible option for many.
Tokyo’s most comical car park?
There are sadly plenty of car park photos on these pages, as all too often they replace old buildings and businesses. This one, however, is very different, as it’s downright comedic rather than disappointing. Unusually for a simple parking space, it also asks questions galore. None of which, it has to be said, are easy to answer in any way whatsoever.
Japan nobody
Japan’s shrinking population is well documented, but while it’s hard to appreciate such societal changes when in and around Tokyo, once away from the capital or the country’s other major hubs, the resultant decline and distinct lack of people very quickly become apparent.
Closed businesses, abandoned homes and general decay are often the norm, and the images below are an example of that. A small selection of the photographs I took during 3 days driving round a relatively small area several hours north of Tokyo.
The life surrounding a long-closed Tokyo liquor store
I’ve posted photos of this lovely, long-closed liquor store before, but its signage and no longer functioning vending machines mean it’s impossible not to take pictures every time I see it. And this particular time worked out better than most, as in the space of a few minutes, an interesting mix of people passed by, adding a bit of life to a place that shut up shop many moons ago.
The sometimes extraordinary nature of ordinary Tokyo
For a while now I’ve mostly been posting small sets of photographs as it’s often easier to try and tell stories, or at the very least hint at them, over a short series rather than just a single image.
This photo, however, feels different. It doesn’t really tell a story either. Instead, it seems to perfectly sum up the sometimes extraordinary nature of what is merely the ordinary. A man walking home through a Tokyo suburb is about as unremarkable as it gets, and yet the scene that presented itself felt, for me at least, quite the opposite.