My fascination for Japan and its culture can be traced back to my early teenage years, as initially, I became enthralled by the monolithic dystopian futures depicted in 90’s anime classics.

Through these illustrations of Neo-Tokyo I soon became captivated by the underlying symbolism of a culture that existed in an perplexing reality, wedged somewhere between the ideals of philosophical Zen-Buddhism and techno-progressivism.

Thus like many others, it was initially through japans pop-culture that I learned about the Islands greater history, resulting in a profound interest in the following years that encompassed anything from Japanese architecture and literature to it’s music and cuisine.

Yet as I became more enamoured in current Japanese culture and it’s continuous embrace of artisan values, nature centred themes and culinary excellency, I also became aware of its troubled and conflicting underbelly, one made up of strenuous social etiquette, female inequality and rampant depression, with numerous other issues concurrently existing under a societal veil of silence.

Thus in 2017 I finally boarded a plane heading for Tokyo, aiming to explore the city, as well as the greater Kanto region.

After the first trip, I felt like I had barley scraped the surface of this culture so dear, and yet so alien to me, thus I returned again in 2018.

The following images where all made during this trip.