Tokyo Stories

April 3rd 2017

Manners maketh man

You've probably all heard that the Japanese can be a bit overly polite at times — but that the postman we meet in the morning on the street bows in front of our house greets us and wishes a good morning was still a surprise for me. In the museum, my (expired...) student ID is carefully taken with both hands, acknowledged and looked at in detail to be finally returned with the smiling comment 'I can not read it' (I still got the discount, of course). At the restaurant, we are thanked for waiting when the food arrived exactly five minutes after ordering and when I photograph Asians at various temples, people duck under my camera, just to not disturb the picture.

My only problem with that: With my non-existent Japanese skills, I have no choice but to answer the constant stream of greetings and thanks with nothing more than a slight bow and an 'arigato' — which feels very rude already.

Tokyo Rush

Flashback — we have just arrived from the airport at a train station and have decided against calling a cab. Luckily, we've arrived just in time for rush hour and get to squeeze ourselves into an incredibly crowded train with all our luggage.
Romy uses the opportunity to get to know the locals, and after a short speed dating, he is already stuck in the arms of a nice gentleman (and unable to move) — he does not get irritated by my sister's laughter and looks stoically into the distance. Business as usual in the metro, it seems.

A new perspective

In this section, I'd like to take a moment to spotlight the work of young, aspiring photographers who are touring through Tokyo with fancy lenses I'm pretty envious of — in other words, here's some pictures from my sister's collection. Enjoy.