My first morning in Tokyo was all I could ever ask for during this last trip. Beautiful light. A weekday. People getting up early and starting their day, commuting to and from work. The way a city wakes up and begins speaks a lot about its residents; the way it breathes. The pulse of Tokyo is a rapid one; its heart-rate increases and never slows down. During my first day there I became this very commuter, embedding myself in the workforce just to get a feel of what it would be like and to reacquire my bearings. It started in Shinjuku, to Ginza, to Ueno and back. I did a full loop on the JR Yamanote line which encircles the majority of the city.
“Starting with the 210 km/h (130 mph) Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the now 2,459 km (1,528 mi) long network has expanded to link most major cities on the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū at speeds up to 300 km/h (186 mph). Test runs have reached 443 km/h (275 mph) for conventional rail in 1996, and up to a world record 581 km/h (361 mph) for maglev trainsets in 2003.
The Tōkaidō Shinkansen is the world’s busiest high-speed rail line. Carrying 151 million passengers a year, it has transported more passengers (over 6 billion) than any other high speed line in the world. Between Tokyo and Osaka, the two largest metropolises in Japan, up to ten trains per hour with 16 cars each (1,300 seats capacity) run in each direction with a minimum of 3 minutes between trains.”
“決別” courtesy of Boris and Sony Music Entertainment
Trains and more people. The best okonomiyaki in all of Osaka I propose is at Kuro-chan, where each one is made by a famous master of the dish. DiFara’s is to pizza as Kuro-chan is to okonomiyaki. He and his family run this complete hole in the wall with some photos of him from television appearances in the 80’s. My cousin Chia ate two. How? I do not know. She’s tiny. Anyway, Osaka is an okonomiyaki town. Email me if you want directions. It’s pretty hard to explain. The whole time I was thee I could only think about my friend Ari and how he needs to go there.
Nights in Osaka are amazing to see. Most young people hang out around Namba. A long arched promenade stretches for multiple city blocks leading up to the Osaka canal where the buildings are lit up in neon. Around Namba, food stalls are hidden away in dark alleys and arcades stay open really late. After the sun goes down, the city really lights up electric and people head out. The “cutie” photo booth to me is a phenomenon. I understand that it’s a way for people to keep memories after a night out together but the “cute” photo booths in the arcades are more like Adobe Photoshop / Illustrator. You have to go through like 30 steps of design and retouching before your photos will print. Nuts. Oh yeah, everyone stares at their cellphones constantly. Worse than here.
Riding the subway in Japan never gets old. Its efficiency is astounding. Also, very recently, women have been given their own designated train cars to prevent sexual harassment in the trains. It’s a very Japanese solution to a problem: finite and direct. Osaka is one of my favorite cities in the world. It is a huge, frenetic city but in the quieter moments it can get very peaceful, comparatively. Even in a pachinko parlor or a JR station. This is an assortment of portraits above ground and below, inside spaces and out. This is the hospital where my grandmother had been. Seeing pictures of it now gives it some kind of new significance, I guess, our last meeting place. Also, a portrait of my dad which I’d never really done until now. This is where he grew up. Also, more things with faces on them i.e. food packaging.
Most of these were taken around Tamasukuri in Chūō-ku near Osaka Castle. The castle has been converted into a museum about the political history of Osaka. In 1665, it was struck by lightning and burned down and in 1868, much of the castle was burned down again during the Meiji Restoration. Tamatsukuri Station is bordered by a huge municipal park and sports facilities, including soccer fields, baseball fields, and a judo and kendo dojo. Here I got to shoot some kids flipping each other. This was my grandmother’s neighborhood close to where my dad grew up. There are bikes everywhere.
These images are from my first day in Osaka during this last trip. Osaka is an amazing town. It’s also where most of the good bands come from. It is also a bicycle city. Everyone, from children to senior citizens, has a bike; and nobody locks them up. It’s incredible. Two days ago, my grandmother passed away here, and Osaka was her hometown. As it is my father’s. This series is dedicated to my grandmother who gave me my first camera and taught me how to ride a bike among other things.
Leaving Korea was hard. There’s a lot more to do there. But the prospect of heading to Osaka sounded pretty good also. These are images from my last few hours in Korea from Jeju Island to Busan to the airport bound for Japan. Things to note in the following image series: abandoned fairground, man on the bike, fishing with a sars guard, Korean gamers, clementines, people in transit, and island light.
Malls. If you live in Seoul, and you’re not at home or at work, you’re in a mall. Pretty much guaranteed. They have everything. And these aren’t like Southern California malls; these are mega malls of insane proportions. Basically at every major subway station in Seoul, a shopping mall awaits you above ground. I got to spend a lot of time in them just going from one part of town to another. And it’s not so much about the shopping experience, but the hanging experience. Couples just stroll and eat and hang out, go to the movies, the arcade. Oh man, the arcade was bananas. I mean I watched a kid hold court on Tekken 6 for like an hour behind a wall of glass from his opponents as to prevent conflict, and this dude play the drum track of Lithium by Nirvana on expert mode. Also, a long suspicion of mine has been confirmed that the KFC colonel has slightly thinner eyes in Asia. Terrible.
Fashion. Fashion. Fashion. Namdaemun Market and Dongdaemun Market are the two centers of discount shopping in Seoul. Picture Canal Street on a Saturday afternoon times a thousand. You can find pretty much anything. Some of the goods being sold are authentic and others not so much. Clothes you didn’t even know existed still are still being sold. Also, anything you want or need can be made on site. Tailors, jewelry makers, pattern makers have open booths waiting for customers to make alterations and entirely new pieces. It’s nuts. Also, goods are transported in and out of the markets via motorcycle messengers who strap bushels of clothes on the backs of their bikes. It’s easy to get lost in the dense alleyways and indoor tunnels of these markets but that’s really what it’s all about. Seeing all the flair.
