Most people know that Tokyo is a major capital city. What most people don’t know, is that Tokyo is the world’s most populous city. Greater Tokyo has over 37 million people. Central Tokyo has a population of almost 14 million people. What’s surprising about Tokyo is that it doesn’t feel like the world’s biggest city. The city is packed to the brim yet Tokyo is surprisingly calm, quiet, ordered.
I moved to Tokyo in 2014 and lived there for about 18 months. A few things worth noting about life on the streets of Tokyo: it’s calm – traffic moves in a controlled and respectful manner. Drivers don’t honk their horns. The city is surprisingly clean. Litter is rare, very rare. And so are bins: people just take their rubbish home with them. Smoking on the street is banned in Tokyo. You won’t find much graffiti in either. As for crime, that’s pretty much non-existent and Tokyo is also one of the safest cities in the developed world.
Tokyo has 23 ‘wards’ or districts. There is no main spot for street photography in Tokyo – each area has its own charm. Shinjuku is known for its entertainment district. Shibuya is a popular fashion centre and tourist spot. Akihabara is known for electronics. Ginza is the business district and filled with ‘Salarymen’; which is the Japanese term for office workers.
My images of Tokyo are mostly ‘snapshots’ taken without any real photographic intent or intentional composition. In fact these shots were taken long before I knew of anything about the concept of ‘candid street photography’.
