Today will be remembered by many as the 1st anniversary of David Bowie’s death, but it also represents a special anniversary for me, as it marks 30 years to the day that I first set foot in Japan. 10th January 1987 – a date ingrained into my memory. It was a one-way ticket into the unknown, on a year’s working visa for a sponsor I knew almost nothing about. A country in which I was to live permanently for 21 years without a break, and have frequently returned to in the years

Here are some more comparison photos of lost Yanaka and Nezu, “then and now”. Over the years I experienced a lot of things in Japan, many of them amazing, and occasionally disturbing. There have been a few things that truly shocked me, but the destruction of the old buildings of Yanesen is really heartbreaking. Yanesen was not like other areas, it was a survivor, with a culture and charm of it’s own. Because the district was so untouched, every old building had a value to th

My fascination with Japan originally stemmed from a love of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints and the history of old Tokyo, which soon expanded into a wider appreciation of the country. So when in the new year of 1987 I eventually set off to Japan I was determined to live in an area with historical connections to “old Edo” (Edo is the old name for the city). This actually proved more difficult than I’d imagined, as my very first residence, provided by my erstwhile sponsor, was right o