By Night: Tokyo
Tokyo, for me, is a place to get as many things done in the least amount of time possible.
Usually it’s a trip from my residence of choice, Osaka, about a 2.5-hour bullet train ride away, with a night or two stay in the city.
I have toyed with the idea of moving there, basing myself in the heart of the game, photography in my case. I have crunched my numbers as to the earnings and expenses, the ins and outs of my budgets, and concluded that it ain’t worth moving there. Besides, if you have moderately functioning wifi in your apartment, you can freelance out of pretty much everywhere these days. So why pay ridiculous rent for a micro apartment, right?
But I can’t help being fascinated by the anonymity of this city of 9.63 million in the central districts every time I go there. People seem to be free, maybe because they are not. Many things have been said about metropolises of the world, and Tokyo certainly meets many of the criteria.
Typically, I’d have to run around to catch assignments, meetings, and chats over coffee (or beer) with my colleagues, clients, and friends. It’s always during nighttime when I have relative calm, some reservation from a hectic day I just spent. In that moment, I give myself the luxury of wandering off to something unplanned: Catch a few images off of streets.
東京は僕にとって最小限の時間で最大限の用事をこなす為に行く場所。
住まいがある大阪から新幹線で２時間半。上京する時は大体一泊か二泊。
写真をやるなら日本では間違いなく業界の中心だし引っ越すことも考えた。ただ電卓を弾いてみたら、わざわざヒーヒー言いながら暮らすためだけに引っ越す価値はないなという結論になった。そもそも、今の御時世wifiさえあれば基本的にはどこにいても仕事は出来る。
ただ、中心部に963万人が住んでいる東京に行くたびにそこで暮らす人たちの匿名性に驚かされる。一見自由に暮らしているように見えるのは、その実全く自由ではないからじゃないだろうかと勘繰ってしまう。東京をはじめとした世界の大都市については色々言われているけど、間違いなく当てはまると思われる事柄がいくつかある。
東京に行くと、昼間は殆ど仕事や打ち合わせ、会食に奔走していて、夜にならないと全く落ち着かない。そんな時には必ず自分に無計画な数時間を持つ贅沢を許す。
