Scenes from Japan

During the morning rush-hour the Yamanote Line gets so crowded that there's - literally - standing room only. At least in some cars of each train, where the seats are folded back until about 10am for maximal utilization of the available space. This photo was taken very early in the morning - around 7am - before the inbound rush reaches the centre of Tokyo.

Following on from yesterday's empty Yamanote Line train, here one with some actual passengers. Albeit very late in the evening, heading against the general flow (Shinjuku - Shibuya is generally much less crowded than the other way round).

Taken in 2002.

Tokyo's Yamanote Line is notorious for its chronic overcrowding - and it's rare to see a completely empty carriage. (Actually, I cheated: this was in the mid-afternoon at Ôsaki Station on a train which had just been brought into service).

The photo dates from 2002, and the train interior depicted is of a sort no longer running on that line.

Passengers waiting to board a Yamanote Line train at Shinagawa Station. This photo was taken in 2002, and the type of train shown here is no longer running on the Yamanote Line.

Continuing southwards along the west side of Shinjuku Station from the previous shot: this is the Nishi-guchi (West Exit) area, featuring a collection of stores selling all sorts of electronic equipment - a sort of mini-Akihabara without the otaku.

The area depicted on this photo is on the other side of the railway bridge in the foreground of the previous Shinjuku nighttime shot. During the day it looks like a slummy collection of dilapidated shacks nestling on a small plot to the west side of Shinjuku station; at night it unfolds its true atmosphere, becoming a vibrant quarter crammed with tiny eating places. It's one of those little patches of Tokyo which has managed to resist the advance of sterile modernity, and long may it prosper.

Tokyo's Shinjuku district at night: looking towards the skyscraper district.

Fish hung out to dry on a backstreet in Nagasaki (2002).