humans of tokyo — Neal Hendrix

When you travel around the world, there are very obvious physical structures that are the highlight of the places you visit. Whether this iconic spot is natural or man-made, there is somewhere physical on a map that you can visit and take your tourist photo. Be it the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, Burj al Arab, or the Golden Gate Bridge. In my opinion, Tokyo is completely different. The must-see highlight of Tokyo is undoubtedly the people. I feel like there are 3 unique types of people that you see in Tokyo; each very interesting in different ways.

First, you have the office zombie. Japanese post-war culture is legendary for creating a working class of office slaves that will work themselves to death while wearing the same exact suit to work for 40 years in a row. The work ethic has always been respectable, although working yourself to literal death in an office cubicle seems to be taking it a bit far. The office zombies are everywhere, and you can see millions of them on the morning and evening commute. It doesn’t appear to be a fun and fulfilling life. There are no smiles. They have a briefcase and newspaper in hand, and a general pained expression as if it’s probably the 900th day in a row of this exact routine.

The second is the Tokyo working class. These are the people (primarily male) that you see cooking your food, working in the fish markets, and operating small businesses around the city. They seem to also be working exceedingly insane hours, just like the office zombies, but you tend to see more smiles on the faces of the working class laborers. As a photographer, I love the hachimaki’s, the stylish headbands you see a lot of these men wearing. Western culture relates these headbands to the Kamikaze, but walking around Tokyo you will see that the hachimaki’s true use is to keep sweat off the face when working in a hot kitchen or a stuffy fish stall. Also, they just look fucking cool.

The third group of people that stands out in Tokyo is the colorful youth. Inspired by everything from anime characters, sneaker culture, protest movements and high fashion, Tokyo’s street culture produces some of the most interesting outfits and displays that you will see anywhere on the planet. I’ve always wondered what it is in Japanese culture that causes an entire generation to radically push the limits of what is possible with fashion. Is it a natural counter-reaction for a generation that grew up with their parents as office zombies wearing the same suit every day? Is it the conservative society where the only outlet of expression they feel comfortable with directs them in going completely to the extreme with fashion? I don’t know the answer, but I love to see the creativity in Tokyo’s streets and subways. It’s common to see couples or groups of friends dressed to match, or having the same look, as if they are off to shoot their press photos for an upcoming album. It’s a photographer’s dream as well, because if you put that much work into your outfit, you certainly don’t mind being photographed on the street. Everyone that I clumsily asked permission to photograph was excited and smiled as they posed for my camera.

Tokyo is one of the most beautiful cities you could ever visit. It isn’t because of some architectural masterpiece or its natural beauty; it is because of the people, who are some of the most creative and stylish in the world.