RiFe In JaPaN! (#4)

Those of us who are resident in this megalopolis will agree that Tokyo is full of surprises, both pleasant and nasty. Whilst passing through Shibuya's central Hachiko Square recently, I was presented with the former. Not the first time I've seen this kind of thing in Tokyo, but the steady stream of suited, middle-aged salarymen edging towards the two young ladies and presiding over an internal battle of their instinctive urges and the risk of shame, inevitably ending hugless, drew my attention to the fact that, unlike some of the less aesthetically pleasing, more hairy folk who are often found clasping these boards, these two young ladies were actually quite attractive, and very pleasant (Tokyo Trawler, also enduring such an internal battle, took a picture but didn't get a hug, by the way). 

RiFe In JaPaN! (#3)

This time, RiFe In JaPan! takes you to the north Tokyo stretch of the Keihin-Tohoku trainline, at 5am on the day before a national holiday. Even after a long night pouring drinks and being overly polite to their w***er of a boss, and then trying their luck and failing with a group of the high school girls on their way home from karaoke all-nighter, I'm sure you can find it in your hearts to forgive these two chaps, especially as they've politely removed their shoes so as not to dirty the velour. Remember, IT'S ALL FOR THE GREATER GOOD!! NI-PPON!! NI-PPON!!

RiFe In JaPaN! (#2)

Today's RiFe In JaPaN! features a rather curious vending machine spotted somewhere between the Shibuya and Ebisu areas of Tokyo. Those who have ever visited this strange land will be familiar with the plethora of vending machines which dot the streets and line the station platforms, but I'd imagine few of you have ever come across one like this... (also, who the hell is the guy perched on the Boss can on the left?!)


Thanks to extremely loyal reader and defender of the faith, Andy MacKenzie for the photo.

RiFe In JaPaN! (#1)

This is Tokyo Trawler's new series, RiFe In JaPaN!

The aims to bring you, the dear readers, 'crazy Japan', through a simple photograph. Whilst walking around this place, one is often confronted with the weird and wonderful, the bizarre and incomprehensible, stunning and envy-inducing, and the just plain ridiculous. In this series, RiFe In JaPaN! is asking for your contribution. If you have any weird sh*t that you've snapped on your travels (simple mobile phone photos are OK!), go ahead and send it on to tokyotrawler@gmail.com, and we'll put it up! Captions are welcome too!

Being a Brit from the southern neck of the woods, I couldn't help but love this T-shirt. Despite almost certainly being unintentional, the irony is quite irresistible. The unwitting comedians who designed this beauty are perhaps victims of their own state-of-the-art design methods - we all know how close the 'A' and 'S' keys are on the iPhone keyboard!