Tokyo Nobody

I found an interesting book the other day entitled: Tokyo Nobody, by photographer Masataka Nakano.
The pics appear to from the '90s.
He had the unenviable task of documenting Tokyo's streets and cityscapes minus human beings.
Hence the title of the book.

No easy task when you consider the population of Tokyo is roughly 12million, only cover the 23-wards, with up to 39 million when you take into account the Greater Tokyo area.

Defeinitely some time and effort gone into this one.
Quite a challenge that I might embark on myself.
You can check out some pics from the book here:
http://www.artunlimited.co.jp/nakano/tn.html

Shinjuku New Building 3

Located through the Kabukicho area of Shinjuku, Tokyo.
More into Okubo actually, stands this monument of futuristic, one-of-a-kind architecture.

From the front, it's sandwiched between two other builings.
Standing head on, you can't really appreciate it in all its glory. It's only when you walk around the sides and back of the block on which it stands that you see its real beauty.

Apparently labelled as "Metabolism", this building was erected in the 70's.
Bolt-on capsule-like rooms were added and taken away when necessary. Apparently when someone moved in or out.

I was impressed by the sheer shape and size of the place.
With a friend, we ventured inside and up to the third floor. We were put off by the CCTV, and the fact that people were in the building, despite it no longer being a place of residence.
Besides, we tried the doors as we went up the staircase, only to find them all locked.
From the outside, we saw laundry hanging out to dry on one of the floors.
A postman actually delivered something to one of the floors as we stood in the lobby.
Who exactly is living there, or even running a business, is anyone's guess.
It is, quite literally, a squatters paradise.

And that's about it.
Impressive, neglected and mysterious.

Nakano Backstreets

North side of JR Nakano station.
Just off to the side of Nakano Broadway shopping centre.
The back streets are old and dirty with lots of character.
Nice faded Godzilla poster lurks in the window of a rundown shop.
There's a bit of nightlife and seediness with the hostess bars doing trade at night.

Around Harajuku 8

Around Harajuku 7