More Shibuya in the Rain

More photos of last weekends Shibuya in the rain! It is fun to take photos of people using umbrellas, walking through rain. The rain and the need to get out is gives people a certain “something” in their look. With a very wide angle lens like the one I used, one of my very few zoom lenses (a 17-35mm f2.8 Nikon), umbrellas tend to block your view as people “sneak up” on you from behind. I also posted one of my mishaps (they usually end up in the trash can of my computer), but I though it looked interesting as an illustration of the lights of Shibuya. You can compare it with a very similar, focused, photo taken a few seconds earlier. In the last photo you can see how restaurant signs keep getting bigger and bigger.

Loft’s Halloween Signboard – Cats

One of the bigger and cooler department stores in Tokyo, Loft, had this big Halloween signboard up. I loved the image so I wanted to share it with you. Taken last Saturday in the Shibuya rain.

Rainy Evening in Shibuya

We had a couple of typhoons pass Japan in the last few day, not close enough to close us down but close enough to bring rain and slightly chilly weather (even below 20 degrees celsius). Yesterday’s festivals and event were pretty gloomy in the steady drizzle so instead of visiting a lof of festivals I took these photos passing through Shibuya’s Center Street district. I’ve noticed that not many people bother to take photos outside when it is raining, so I figured I should give it a shot. Japanese people are usually very careful about not getting wet in the rain so umbrellas come up for much slighter rains than in many other countries.

During the years I have lived here in Tokyo I have noticed that Shibuya is getting denser and denser, with taller buildings, more signs, more neon lights and billboards, and more and more people. In these photos you’ll see a Shibuya that is by normal standards for a Saturday evening, almost deserted! More photos to come!

Shinjuku Rain

I think one of the keywords of this summer will be squall. I have lost count of the numer of sudden (and often rather violent) rain storms we have had hit us here in Tokyo over the summer so far. Usually these squalls are not very welcome but they do manage to drop the temperatures quite a bit and after they have passed (usually after no more than 30 minutes) the air is almost bearable again. One Sunday afternoon in Shinjuku I took these photos as I had to take shelter in the opening of the huge Isetan department store. A lot of people were caught in the rain and even if you did have an umbrella you would have been soaked within seconds as the rain bounced up from the street underneath you. If things continue like this we will see a lot of thunder, lightning and interesting weather coming up! And to think we still have the typhoon season to look forward to!