The Tokyo Snap

Street Snap #63 Naminoue Shrine and Naminoue Beach, Naha, Okinawa | GR IV

Dean — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 07:50:33 +0000

I visited Naminoue Shrine in Naha, Okinawa. The exact date of its founding is unclear, though one theory dates it to 1384, making it one of Okinawa’s historic shrines.

Adjacent to Naminoue Shrine is Naminoue Beach, the closest beach to central Naha and a lively place that is always busy with visitors.

For this series, I photographed Naminoue Shrine and Naminoue Beach under clear skies. I was struck by the shrine, where a distinctly Okinawan character could be felt within its solemn atmosphere, as well as by the rugged rock face visible from the beach. At the same time, the sight of an elevated roadway running right beside the calm beach also caught my attention.

For this series, I chose the Positive Film image control on the GR IV. The strong contrast created by Okinawa’s intense sunlight sharply defined the light and shadow across Naminoue Shrine and the rock face. ■

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Street Snap #62 National Theatre Okinawa by Shin Takamatsu | GR IV

Dean — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 16:35:20 +0000

I visited the National Theatre Okinawa in Naha. Designed by Shin Takamatsu and completed in 2004, the theatre was a building I had visited once before, but I wanted to photograph it again and preserve a record of it.

No performances were taking place on the day of my visit, and the theatre was quiet. The PC panels draw on motifs from traditional Okinawan houses, and the walls that curve sharply upward were particularly striking.

Under Okinawa’s intense sunlight, sharply defined areas of light and shadow appeared across the walls. The form of the rising walls and the strength of the shadows cast upon them stood out clearly.

For this series, I chose the Positive Film image control on the GR IV. It suited the strong contrast of Okinawa under clear skies and the crisp light and shadow created across the architecture. ■

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Street Snap #61 Kokusai Street, Okinawa Naha, June 2026 | GR IV

Dean — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:49:29 +0000

I walked along Kokusai Street, one of Naha’s best-known tourist destinations, and photographed the area. Souvenir shops line both sides of the street, while large numbers of visitors pass through from day to night. It is one of the busiest places in Naha, attracting people from both Japan and abroad.

The shops along Kokusai Street gradually change over time, with new businesses continuing to appear. Even so, the street still retains the character of a long-established tourist destination. I found Kokusai Street particularly interesting for the way its changing storefronts coexist with traces of the familiar street that people have known for many years.

For this series, I walked along the same street from daytime into the evening, photographing it at different hours. I used the GR IV with the “Negative Film” image control. Its slightly restrained colors and subtly nostalgic texture suited the scenes of Kokusai Street, where the character of an older tourist district still remains. ■

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Street Snap #60 Shinjuku Station Construction, June 2026 | GR IV

Dean — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 19:24:27 +0000

I once again walked around Shinjuku Station to document its constantly changing construction landscape. Although not much time had passed since my previous visit, the scenery around the station had already changed significantly.

What struck me most was the vast construction site excavated deep beneath the station. Several cranes stood above it as work continued far below ground. It felt as though the inner workings of the city, which will be hidden once construction is complete, had temporarily revealed themselves.

In this area, buildings and streets that have remained since the Showa era intersect with the new Shinjuku that is now taking shape. Each visit reveals a different landscape. I want to continue photographing Shinjuku Station regularly, recording not only its completed form but also its present state in the midst of transformation.

For this series, I used the Hard Monotone Image Control on the GR IV. By capturing the overlapping structures, construction sites, and passing crowds in black and white, I felt that the strength and disorder of Shinjuku emerged more clearly. Shinjuku simply suits monochrome. ■

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Street Snap #59 KYOTOGRAPHIE 2026: Architecture and Photography, Day 3

Dean — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 13:31:39 +0000

This is the third and final part of a three-part photo record from my visits to the venues of KYOTOGRAPHIE 2026.

On the final day, I first visited Lebohang Kganye’s “Rehearsal of Memory” at Higashi Honganji O-genkan. After that, since I had seen most of the KYOTOGRAPHIE venues I wanted to visit, I decided to spend the rest of the day walking around Kyoto with a focus on temples. I headed to Sanjusangen-do and Tofukuji, both of which I had visited before. At Sanjusangen-do, I wanted to see once again, with my own eyes, the overwhelming space filled with a thousand Buddhist statues. At Tofukuji, I wanted to revisit the Hojo Garden by Mirei Shigemori.

After that, I saw the special exhibition “Kitano Tenjin” at the Kyoto National Museum, which happened to be on view at the time. Some parts of the day could not be photographed, but I was able to keep them clearly as my own experience. Finally, before heading home, I photographed Kyoto Station again, the station building designed by Hiroshi Hara.

The final day moved from a KYOTOGRAPHIE exhibition venue to temples, a museum, and Kyoto Station. Rather than focusing only on exhibitions, it became a record of walking through Kyoto while looking again at places I had visited before, each with its own scale, history, and atmosphere.

The photos are arranged in the order in which I visited the venues over the three days. Day 3 records the time I spent at Higashi Honganji O-genkan, Sanjusangen-do, Tofukuji, the Kyoto National Museum, and Kyoto Station. ■

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Street Snap #58 KYOTOGRAPHIE 2026: Architecture and Photography, Day 2

Dean — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 16:09:09 +0000

This is the second part of a three-part photo record from my visits to the venues of KYOTOGRAPHIE 2026.

On the second day, I visited Thandiwe Muriu’s “Camo” and Federico Estol’s “Shine Heroes” at Kondaya Genbei, Linder Sterling’s “LINDER: GODDESS OF THE MIND” at The Museum of Kyoto Annex, and Juliette Agnel’s “Scents of Light” at Yuhisai Koudoukan.

The day took me through spaces that carry different layers of Kyoto’s history: Kondaya Genbei, with its deep connection to textile culture; The Museum of Kyoto Annex, a modern building from the Meiji period; and Yuhisai Koudoukan, which preserves the memory of an Edo-period academy. Vivid colors, collage, fiction, and traces of light and plants. Each exhibition offered a different form of expression, and as those works met the architecture and light of each venue, the experience of looking at photography itself seemed to change.

The photos are arranged in the order in which I visited the venues over the three days. Day 2 records the time I spent at Kondaya Genbei, The Museum of Kyoto Annex, and Yuhisai Koudoukan. ■

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Street Snap #57 KYOTOGRAPHIE 2026: Architecture and Photography, Day 1

Dean — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:37:35 +0000

This is Day 1 of a three-part record of the venues I visited during KYOTOGRAPHIE 2026.

Scattered throughout Kyoto, some of these exhibition spaces are historic buildings that are rarely open to the public, each carrying its own sense of time. Rather than documenting the works directly, I focused on the architecture, light, materials, and circulation of the spaces in which they were presented. As the works and their surroundings came together temporarily, the buildings revealed expressions that are not usually visible.

The photographs are presented in the order in which I visited the venues over three days. Day 2 and Day 3 will follow.

On the first day, I visited Jushin Kaikan for Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre’s The Shape of What Remains, the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art for Daido Moriyama’s A Retrospective, and Hachiku-an for Fatma Hassona’s The eye of Gaza and A4 Arts Foundation’s Photo book! Photo-book! Photobook! ■

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Street Snap #56 Shibuya Station Construction, June 2026 | GR IV

Dean — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:41:49 +0000

I recorded Shibuya, which I regularly observe from fixed points. In this city, where large-scale redevelopment keeps the landscape in constant flux, the scenery is updated little by little each time I visit. That is why I feel compelled to come back and record it more often than any other place.

This time, I began walking from the National Yoyogi Stadium, designed by Kenzo Tange. Along the way, I photographed a wall with a large print of a Daido Moriyama image that had long caught my attention, then headed toward Shibuya Station. Around the station, I recorded the flow of people passing by, construction vehicles, and the outline of the new city visible beyond the temporary barriers, and I finished at the construction site on the former Tokyu Department Store site in Dogenzaka.

Using my familiar GR IV, I photographed on a clear, hot day in June in Hard Monotone. I wanted to capture the strength of the light and shadow as they were. ■

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Street Snap #55 MARTIN MARGIELA AT KUDAN HOUSE, Tokyo, 2026 | GR IV

Dean — Wed, 13 May 2026 15:52:28 +0000

I visited the “Martin Margiela at KUDAN HOUSE” exhibition in Kudanshita, Tokyo. The venue, Kudan House, is a historic residence originally completed in 1927 as the Yamaguchi Bankichi Residence, and is now registered as a Tangible Cultural Property of Japan. This time, I explored and photographed Martin Margiela’s first large-scale solo exhibition in Japan with the GR IV in hand.

Margiela’s works deconstruct the framework of clothing itself, revealing the structures and anonymity that lie beneath them. In contrast, the architecture of Kudan House presents a quiet and restrained presence, carrying traces of Japan’s post-earthquake reconstruction era. The tension between these two elements gave the space its distinctive atmosphere. The building, layered with history, quietly resonated with Margiela’s installations, further emphasizing the sense of presence and emptiness within the works.

Inside the exhibition, the interior space itself was composed as an extension of the works, where light, materials, and even traces of everyday life emerged as part of the installation. I had originally wanted to visit the building itself, so being able to experience both Kudan House and Margiela’s works simultaneously felt like an exceptionally rare opportunity.

Photography was permitted throughout the exhibition as long as other visitors were not visible in the frame. As a personal record of the experience, I leave here the photographs taken with the GR IV.

For this series, I used the GR IV’s “Hard Monotone” image setting to capture both Margiela’s works and the spaces of Kudan House in which they were placed.■

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Street Snap #54 Shibuya Station | KODAK Charmera Keychain Digital Camera debut

Dean — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 12:59:05 +0000

I photographed the area around Shibuya Station using the “KODAK CHARMERA Keychain Digital Camera.”

I usually document Shibuya with the RICOH GR IV. However, when I looked at the images taken with the “KODAK CHARMERA,” the impression was entirely different. Although it is the same place, it feels as if I am touching a different layer of the city. There is a strange sense of distance, and familiar scenes begin to emerge as something new.

With a camera this small and light, like a keychain, I initially doubted whether it could really take photographs. Yet the images it produced clearly captured the streets of Shibuya.

This time, I first tried all of the frames and filters. After that, I shot by randomly switching settings, following my instincts in the moment.

The Shibuya that appears in these images, while still a contemporary city, carries a texture that feels slightly out of sync in time. With its subtly muted tones and rough resolution, it resembles a kind of time slip back to 1987, giving familiar scenes an entirely different context.

For a while, I plan to continue carrying the “KODAK CHARMERA” as a keychain. I am interested to see what kinds of moments it will capture in everyday life, and how that experience might evolve over time. ■

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