Ukiyo, the "floating world", was the name old Edo gave to its pleasure quarters: theatre, festivals, bodies and lights that existed only for the night. Tokyo kept the idea and changed the surface. This is the city at street level. The dancers of Awa Odori and Yosakoi, the samba carnival spilling through Asakusa, the engineered delirium of Kabukicho and the Robot Restaurant, the costumed crowds of Comiket, the wax food glowing in Kappabashi, the long silence of the subway. A floating world doesn't ask to last. It asks to be looked at while it's here.
Tap to love