Tokyo Nobody, well Almost Nobody

They say you have to suffer for your art. And while it is pretentious to call my photos art, I did have an idea for some photos today (today being January 1st when this was written, not the day it was actually posted). I wanted to photograph usually very busy Tokyo spaces without people. Since it is a big holiday and all the shops are closed (I thought) today was the day to do it. It isn’t an original idea, it’s been done before with great success in the book “Tokyo Nobody.” I had planned on getting up around 6:00 am or so to catch a 6:30 am shuttle bus from where I was staying to Shinagawa Station. But, you know, I was up late last night and decided to set my alarm for 7:30 am. I ended up catching the 8:30 am shuttle bus.

By regular standards, Tokyo was incredibly empty. But I had to time it well to minimize the number of people in the frame. I went to Shinagawa, Shibuya, and Shinjuku. If you know Tokyo, you’ll recognize that these places are quite empty. If you don’t know Tokyo, well, maybe the pictures are interesting.

Here’s Shinagawa Station, quiet for a Thursday morning.

 

At the Hachiko exit of Shibuya Station, there were few people. Most were drunk and boisterous, likely out clubbing all night.

 

Around the statue of Hachiko is a very famous meeting spot. At 9:00 am on New Year’s Day, it wasn’t so crowded.

 

And the scramble, the crazy free-for-all crosswalk, was remarkably manageable.

 

More than 1 million people usually pass through Shinjuku Station on a single day. Not on the 1st.

 

The corridor, at 9:30 am, is clear.

 

Even the streets around Shinjuku, usually bumper-to-bumper when the streets are out, were free flowing. If, that is, there was something to flow.

 

I often was one of many people waiting at Studio Alta under the giant screen to meet someone. I’ve never seen the screen turned off, or so few people meeting.

 

 

 

One thing that surprised me was to see people lining up at Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku. And then I saw people lined up at Bic Camera. I think they were lined up for “grab bags” of some type. It seemed you knew the basic contents but didn’t know the details. As Kevin and I decided, it seems like a great way for stores to get rid of junk. It is called fukubukuro.

Lining up at Yodobashi.

 

 

The same thing happening at Bic Camera.