Photography: Selections from Japan

Tokyo Skytree at Closing

閉館間際の東京スカイツリー

Abandoned on account of the rapidly impending nightly closure of Tokyo Skytree, this tourist portait corner appeared to almost blend into the night sky when the attendants shut off the lights.

A Beautiful Sight

美しいものを前にして

Tokyo Tower juts out from the cityscape infront of an unusually photogenic tourist; from our distance the city appeared impeccable, mathematical even, like it had been rendered by computer, by an animator too overworked to employ any textures to the model.

Tokyo Skyline

果てしない東京

The entire contents of this photo are within Tokyo, since the city extends across and around Tokyo Bay. On an unrelated note, it takes very long to get across the city.

He Just Looks Like That

彼はいつもああいう顔をしている

A shot in Asakusa, Tokyo. The guy there did not pose for the picture, he had that same expression the entire two minutes he was in frame.

Family

家族の後ろ姿

The back of the head of nearly every member of my family is present within this photograph.

First of Three Visits

三度訪れた場所、その最初の訪問

This was my first time at this street, but not my last. I would return here more than half a decade later along with a party of colleagues for a celebratory commemorative dinner, a dinner of such momentous celebration that I completely forgot what we were commemorating.

Infrastructure

都市インフラ

Every single taxi I have seen in Tokyo has been meticuloously waxed and cleaned. What stands out to me long after this visit however, is how well-maintained the infrastructure is and was. I lived in New York a few years after this, and I weep for the citizens of Tokyo, who will never experience the magical, snow-like dusting that would gently settle on my shoulders as I waited in lower Manhatttan for the 6 train.

A Bus and Advertisements

何ひとつ読めない——この文でさえ。ところで、マクドナルドを買おう。

I believe that the reason these advertisements do not invoke any negativity within me is the simple fact that I cannot read them. That the sales attempt which defines both adverts and any given sign does not enter my mind makes it so that I can enjoy the scenery as precisely that, a scene. I have tried to not read the advertisements in Times Square, but for whatever reason I'm not able to. I am aware that some tourists, those who must exert some mental effort to read English, tend to appreciate Times Square just a little more on account of the same phenomena.

Missing Bolt?

Tボルトがない？

I could have sworn that I saw a missing bolt somewhere, but on account of being continually jostled for standing in the middle of a busy passage like a twit, I failed to capture the photo. I still think about that bolt every once in a while, to this day even, November 26th, 2025. This trip was in 2018.