Nightscapes in Tokyo

Written and photographed by Amy Braff

There is something intriguing about the electricity in Japan – it jolts in small yet spectacular movements through the air, leaving passersby feeling as if they had just ingested two shots of espresso. Perhaps it could have been my interest (or debatably, my obsession) with the ominous nature of German Expressionist films growing up that caused my love affair with the night, or it could have been the unfamiliar feeling of safety I felt there. Nobody followed me, so for once I was safe enough at night to walk alone with my Sony A7sii camera and capture nightscapes of Japan – in this case, of Tokyo.

A few days prior, I had been exploring Osaka at night capturing the neon-lit streets that made me feel as if I was being filmed in a studio Ghibli film. During the day, I went to coffee shops and roamed the streets trying out takoyaki for the first time. Let me tell you what I love about this crispy delicacy. First of all, you walk up to the stall where the street vendor is flipping over battered balls of octopus in a metal hot plate, debating whether to order some. With your order in, you can sit and wait for your meal (which immediately triggered my tropophobia). The moment your order is placed in front of you, you can smell the pickled red ginger and green onion. On top is a squirt of Japanese mayonnaise and aonari, dried seaweed. Food is what completely captivated me during the day, but later, my mind was blissfully lost in that which comes out at night.

There was one night in particular that stayed with me – it is often the short story I tell my friends back home. The beauty sauna I was staying at was explicitly for women, and I had left around 9 p.m. to begin taking my photographs. The woman behind the counter seemed a bit hesitant to let me outside. She pestered me to come back before 12 midnight because everyone would be sleeping, and she was adamant in her questioning of why I was going out alone. Regardless, I left and walked around, capturing lonesome figures walking and couples giggling as they entered restaurants together.

When I decided to head back to the hostel, it was not yet midnight, which I was relieved about – a small part of me feared that the hostel owner would have closed her doors on me. Gazing at me as I entered, she looked at her watch without uttering a word, nodded, and closed the door behind me with a swift movement. Guests were each given lockers to use; number 22 was free for me to use earlier that day. On the floor was a young woman with a glorious head of curly hair that flowed down to her waist. She beamed up at me – shocked that there was somebody else still awake. Folding her clothes in an orderly fashion, she spoke about how she was studying in an isolated town in Japan, and how she was spending New Year’s Day here with her peers who happened to all be men studying civil engineering. She then invited me to join them for New Year’s Eve the next day to celebrate with hundreds of other people who gathered at Shibuya Crossing. Shibuya Crossing, being one of the most famous streets in the whole of Tokyo, is said to have over 3,000 people crossing the road with every traffic light change. I accepted the invitation and met her the following evening at 6 p.m. We were the only women with six men who were incredibly kind and considerate. We journeyed on the train to go eat Chinese food, and then enjoy the countdown to the new year at Shibuya Crossing. After that, we went to a club in Tokyo, where I had to keep my camera in a locker with a key strapped around my wrist.

By the time we got home, it was 5 a.m., and we were dazzled by the evening we had just experienced. I barely took any photographs that night, but if I had spent the night alone, perhaps my overall experience of Tokyo would not have been so fulfilling. Walking upstairs to my hostel mat on the floor, I scrolled through the memories in my mind, the nightscapes of lonely figures walking alone on the streets of Tokyo – a world that I once was a part of.

The Author
Amy Braaf is a writer, photographer, and teacher currently living in South Korea after having freelanced in Cape Town, South Africa. She has a BA, specializing in film production and English literature. She hopes to open up a cafe in a few years where artists and travelers can connect.