Picture madness at Tokyo illumination in Marunouchi.
I have never seen so many people, taking so many photos of an event, and each other, so vigourously.
I shot two rolls – of them.
Tag Archives: Tokyo
Same image every day
Not many updates on these pages lately as I am busy with the new job, which happens to be very enjoyable.I realised there is somebody filming or photographing the crowds pouring out of Tokyo station (my new commuting end point) almost every day. Slightly different locations, but always covering the same exit leading to Otemachi.
Thailand
 |
This was the second time I visited another south-east Asian country, after Bali/Indonesia. Like Bali, I was a bit apprehensive in the beginning, mainly because Asia is such an unknown quantity for me. I am not a born traveller. But in the end my worries were completely unfounded. On August, 2nd we set off from Narita airport with tickets bought via accumulated air miles – some pay back at last.
The flight took around five hours and we caught the airport shuttle bus from the airport to the centre of town (100 Baht p.P, ~Â¥300), where we reserved the Swiss Park Hotel via HIS in Japan. Traffic is dense and the view from the road not too great, but it made a nice welcome to the city of Bangkok. This was the view from our hotel window.
Continue reading Thailand
Found, but out of range
Epson Digital Rangefinder RD-1 (“Digital Bessa”) at Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku. The two cameras they had in stock were already sold, at Â¥312,000 a pop.My initial impression, after admittedly a very short, 2-minute handling, was not exactly that of unconditional desire. The first thing you notice when picking up the camera is an apparent bulk. I am not a Bessa R or R2 user, so I cannot comment how it compares to the film bodies. However, compared to a Leica M series, it feels rather large. Holding it near a Nikon D70, the RD-1 seemed to have at least 80% of the SLR body’s footprint, rather more than less.
The shutter sound is rather metallic, not exactly quiet, although different and maybe more quiet than the Bessa Rs – again, I am not too familiar with their shutter sound, all I can say is that it sounded sharp and metallic. When set to auto-exposure, the camera clearly displays the shutter speed in the ultra-clear viewfinder, that I am envious of. The rewind knob as a scroll wheel is a nice touch, it works very smooth when looking at the images in playback mode on the decent display. The iconography on the buttons next to the LCD display is not very intuitive, they are rather cryptic and crude geometric line graphics, not as visual as let’s say a little waste basket or the mode colours blue/black on my Canon G2. But surely once one would reads the manual there wouldn’t be any problems, but who likes reading manuals?
The analogue gauge, which I think is about battery power and other values does look odd, I didn’t like on the preview pictures either when seeing it for the first time. Lastly the “film transport” lever is also another gripe for me, simply because it doesn’t travel far enough. Since no film is transported and only the shutter needs cocking, the path is rather short, let’s say around a third of the distance of a film body, and then it suddenly stops. This somehow feels like an interruption to the photographer’s natural motion in throwing the lever around.
I am not doing a comprehensive review here, others can and will do a better job of that, but these are my first impressions after picking up one of those in the shop in Tokyo today, and the bottom line is: not tempted, even at half the price.
Attention goes back to my Yashica Electro GX, where after some strolling around in Tokyu Hands crafts section I found a round rubber doorstop, which when twisted on the lens loosened the ring holding the front element in place. I am set for some serious kabi killing tonight!
UPDATE: I cleaned the lens using the actual kabi killer product, but now the shutter doesn’t fire anymore. Also in my clumsy attempts to get parts moving, I scratched the camera in various areas 🙁
Tokyo 1934-1993
This is an interesting and rather hefty book with street photographs by Kineo Kuwabara. One of the ever-returning realisations about photos about Japan is, that often you simply cannot tell the day and age that the photos were taken in. So even though the photos are in roughly chronological order, the reader is sometimes challenged to guess – until you read the caption (and the image on the left is also not one of them, of course). Another very prominent aspect in the photos is the heavy feature of written text, of shops, posters, signs. This is rather appealing, equivalent to looking at unknown products in a Japanese supermarket, attractive even if the meaning of the text is not completely comprehended by a non-Japanese speaker.
A surprising, if not somehow disappointing omission are photographs from the period of WW2. I can only think that either the photographer was in the military as well and had no opportunity to take pictures, or photographic materials became too scarce to continue taking photos. In the middle of the book there is a section of Kuwabara’s colour photographs, while the rest is in black and white. The colour work seems a little haphazard, however. Coming to the 1970s, Tokyo is more and more becoming the town we know today, while up to the 1960s some views of the town seem rather shabby, and still we see some traces of that nowadays.
My only gripe with many of the photos is that too often they seem to display a little too much timidness of the photographer. We see many backs of people or people in the distance, sometimes both. Formally speaking there seems rather little personal visual language in the photos, although I may be applying a value system of the year 2004 with this statement. Kuwabara was after all an amateur as a photographer (if that means anything, apart from only taking pictures for himself), even though a photo editor by profession. The images are however getting a large lift by their documentary value, by showing things as they used to be. Whether that’s enough is for the reader to decide. For me this is probably a “borrow” book, not a “buy”, although there is enough material in the book to encourage the occasional browse if you own it, and I admit I find myself drawn to it in a nice way. Alternative review here.
From the heart: FC Tokyo
 |
Going to a football match in Japan must be one of the most enjoyable non-mainstream family activities. There is not a sign of violence, just pure enjoyment and emotional displays of passion, pride, hope, joy, and disappointment. And many other people with kids, all enjoying the game as it should be.
While other football fans may be spoiled by the quality of play and general skill from other places of the world, you will be amazed by the truly friendly and sincere atmosphere and surprised by the passion pouring out of what we mostly see as quiet Japanese. And don’t forget to take your rubbish with you when you leave!
I was introduced to FC Tokyo by my friend Koji, pictured with the “King of Tokyo” scarf, and I would like to say thanks to him this way. Of course Koji made sure I support the right team: FC Tokyo. Their home stadium is Ajinomoto Stadium in Tobitakkyu, reachable with Keio New Line from Shinjuku in about 20 minutes. See you at Ajista!
Vespa driver
 |
Vespa driver, on a beautifully restored machine, Ebisu
I used to own a Vespa while living in London, and while it wasn’t as beautiful as this one, it was still great and I was part of the family. I often wish I still had it, I had to leave it behind when moving to Japan. But transport in London was terrible and expensive, and the scooter was the perfect solution. In Tokyo it just seems unnecessary. You can get a modern 200cc PX for around Â¥200.000, which is a very good price. Of course you cannot compare it to the prices of Japanese scooters.
I am torn whether this one looks better in colour or black & white. But it is very hard to judge something like this while seeing the two options next to each other.
Update: I have tweaked the colour cast and general saturation a little bit.