Kodak Portra 400

Outside "let's" Sapporo

Drinking Districts in Japan VI: Sapporo, and a Gruesome Start

I checked in to a decent hotel on the south side of the city and went out for a recce, walking north through the love hotel district, then “Soapland” – which I’ll leave to your sordid imaginations – and on to “Suskino”, the drinking and restaurant area. Nothing out of the ordinary on the way, …

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Leica iiig and 50mm f2 Summitar lens

Drinking districts in Japan II – Nagasaki with a Leica iiig, 50mm Summitar and Portra 400

My photography is about people but often without people – stories in objects and surroundings about their lives and lifestyles.

Nagasaki (city) is a historically famous port. The only place in Japan to allow foreigners entry for trade (albeit to a small controlled island ‘Deshima’) for three centuries. The Portuguese brought new cuisine (‘Tempura’ – food in batter – and ‘Castella’ – a type of pound cake), the Spanish brought Christianity, but the Dutch and British were were more interested in making money so traded without religious connections.

Leica iiig, 50mm and Elmar f3.5

Drinking districts in Japan I: Tokyo with a Leica iiig, 50mm Elmar f3.5 and Portra 400 – By Geoff Chaplin

My photography is about people but often without people – stories in objects and surroundings about their lives and lifestyles.

Japan probably conjures up many thoughts – crowds, temples (Buddhist) and shrines (Shinto), Shinkansen, mount Fuji, and more. City workers’, ‘salarymen’ in Japanese, lifestyles are centred around their employment, traditionally at the same company for their entire lives, with a wife and children at home. And make no mistake, Japan is a very traditional society still, with by far the majority of girls giving up their careers on getting married, staying at home, cooking, cleaning, bearing and looking after children. After work husbands continue ‘work’ with their colleagues in a favourite izakaya – the Japanese equivalent of a pub/restaurant in the UK.

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