#Reflx Lab XX

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The cat is watching

The cat kept watch on a roof toward the bottom of Yanaka Ginza, a little neighborhood street of shops that for some reason has become a tourist destination. Actually, the cat is fake.

[deadonfilm]

Minolta Maxxum 5

Reflx Lab Double XX

#film #filmphotography #blackandwhite #minolta #minoltagang #35mm

[msogavt]

Fujimi Hotel, Yanaka

Much of Tokyo is a city with startlingly modern aesthetics juxtaposed against traditional details. Then there’s things like the Fujimi Hotel in Yanaka, which from the looks of it, might or might not be an abandoned building. I found a listing for the hotel (also listed as Fujimi House on a site called Bamboo-House.com, and it doesn’t look half bad. The post prices for the room as well as…

[msogavt]

Fallen cherry blossoms

I was in Tokyo at the end of March, early April, the first time I had been in Japan in spring in decades. The cherry trees were in full bloom at the Okakura Tenshin memorial park in Yanaka. The main street was crowded, but the parks and temples just a block or two away were mostly empty.

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Ameyoko street dining

When I lived in Tokyo in the early 80s, I don’t remember Ameyoko as offering much in the way of places to eat. But these days, the narrow alleyways around the raised railroad tracks near Ueno Station seems to be a dining destination, especially among tourists.

[msogavt]

Who is this guy?

On the streets of Ameyoko in Ueno, an alley full of shops – lots of fresh sea food and clothing – that runs along the railroad track. I thought this guy looked like Jay Leno.

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Roof lines

Roof lines are a familiar visual trope for me. This one at the Chomyoji temple in Yanaka caught my eye, the lines of the roof tiles floating below an open sky of a city that for the most part remains remarkably low-rise.

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Fallen leaves

Fallen leaves on the paving stones on the ground of Sorinji temple in Yanaka. This was on the first day of April with the cherry trees in full bloom. Were the leaves from last fall? Temple grounds usually are swept daily.

[msogavt]

An old temple bell

This copper bell on the grounds of the Sorinji temple in Yanaka is a Taito Ward cultural treasure. According to the Taito City Cultural Archives, the bell was cast by a renown coppersmith Shina Yoshihiro in the late 1600s. Among the copper works he left behind is the pagoda at the tomb of Tokugawa Ietsuna at the Kaneiji Temple in Ueno. The archives state, “Ietsuna was the 4th lord of Tokugawa…

[msogavt]

Cherry Lane

The cherry blossoms at Sorinji in Yanaka were magnificent. Though Yanaka Ginza just a couple of blocks away was packed with tourists and shoppers, the temple grounds were deserted.

[msogavt]

Daylight photography on 800 tungsten film with a warming filter

I’m trying out a few rolls of different film stocks from a company called Reflx Lab. These are film available from other companies, re-spooled stuff such as 800 tungsten, Eastman 5222 XX and panchromatic 400. The film comes cheaper than most places, and with only $5 shipping per order, Reflx Lab keeps things affordable. First up is the 800T, complete with that halation glow. For this outing, I…