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
So it’s been awhile since I did an entry. I left New York 18 days ago and I’ve been sleeping with my camera. I think I’m taking like a 1000 images a day. I decided to hold off on posting anything until I can get home and wrap my head around it all. And edit which is really the most important thing. It’s been rad but I’m kinda excited to head back home and get back to work and New York.
This has been a hectic trip so far. It seems like it’s mostly been travel, whether it’s a car, bus, or plane. It was almost a full day on an airplane. Just getting here has been a trip and it’s going to be mostly fulfilling family duties before any real fun starts. It also occurred to me that I’ll pretty much only be around Asians for the next three weeks which is always fun to experience again. I’m already starting to shoot some things that will be of more interest in future posts.
So I’m here. It’s nuts. I haven’t had much time to even review what I have so far, but here’s a good one and I thought it works as a Christmas / New Year’s card. The text to accompany this photo could go something like this: “To all my friends and colleagues, have a very productive and prosperous year.” Super formal. Anyway, Happy Holidays everyone.
Last year, Paper Magazine featured 12 photographs from my time in Japan There are so many images to edit through, but here are a few more of my selects.
I’ve been following this little guy for 8 years now. Honda has been making faster improvements on his, yes his, dexterity, spacial recognition, and motion sensitivity. Asimo also returns to his charging station autonomously. Also, he now recognizes when someone is approaching him, and either yields or steps aside and continues along. He even conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. It’s like watching a child grow.
