One day＠Kabukicho #DAY169 - It's nice to visit the streets of Kabukicho a few times a month at a leisurely pace.
Honestly, when I was taking photos in Kabukicho multiple times a week, I was always working around developing them and writing articles. It takes about an hour or so to develop the photos I took everytime, and looking back now at the articles, compared to when I first started taking photos in Kabukicho about two years ago, I write a lot more recently.
週に何回も歌舞伎町で写真を撮っていた時は正直な話、現像したり記事を書いたりで常にてんてこ舞いだった。撮った写真の現像には毎回1時間弱はかかるし、記事にしても今になって比較してみると、約2年前くらいに歌舞伎町で写真を撮り出した当初と比べると、最近はだいぶいろいろといっぱい書いているから。
So lately, I've settled into going there a few times a month. This is not bad in itself. Well, but maybe the duration of each visit has gotten longer, even though I go less often. I always end up having longer conversations with my friend than before, and I feel like I spend more time wandering around at night taking photos afterward too.
ということで最近は月に数回行くくらいに落ち着いた。これはこれで悪くない。あぁ、でも行く回数が減った代わりに1回の滞在時間は伸びているかも。いつも友達とも前以上に話し込んでしまうし、その後夜な夜な写真を撮り歩く時間も長くなっている気がする。
This time, I walked around Kabukicho Ichiban-gai again and took various photos, feeling like I wasn't giving it my all due to the heavy rain that fell midway through last time. However, I couldn't take very interesting photos in the main area of Ichiban-gai. I wonder why. Is it because I'm not looking for what I want to take in the right way?
今回は前回、途中で結構な雨が降ってきてしまったせいで不完全燃焼な感じがあった歌舞伎町一番街をまた歩き回りながらいろいろと撮ってみた。とは言っても一番街自体ではそんなにおもしろい写真が撮れない。なんでだろう。自分の撮りたいって思うものの探し方が悪いのかな？
It's not a great photo, but I like this kind of thing. This is a photo I took properly in the Ichiban-gai. But I guess it's not really a photo that takes the vibe of the Ichiban-gai. Actually, what exactly makes a photo like the Ichiban-gai?
大した写真じゃない。けどこういうのは好き。これはちゃんと一番街で撮った写真。ただ一番街っぽい写真ではないかなぁ。というか、一番街っぽい写真ってどういうのなんだろう。
Looking back, I realize that I haven't really taken many photos in the Ichiban-gai before. It's not like I've never taken any photos there, but I feel like I've taken a lot more around TOHO Building, for example. Compared to that, I haven't taken many photos in the Ichiban-gai at all. So I don't even know what a "Ichiban-gai-like" photo would look like.
思い返してみると今まであんまり一番街で写真を撮ってこなかった気がする。撮ったことがないわけじゃないけど、例えばTOHOビルの周りとかはかなり写真を撮っていると思うんだけど、それと比べたら全然撮っていない。だから一番街っぽい写真ってのがどんな写真なのかが自分でもわかっていないんだ。
I honestly don't have much confidence in being able to take good photos, but maybe I wonder to continue taking photos in the Ichiban-gai for a little while longer. I just want to make one excuse though. The thing is, the Ichiban-gai is always too crowded, making it difficult to take photos. Well, maybe I can figure it out with some creative shooting techniques.
いいのが撮れる自信は正直全然ないんだけど、もうちょっと一番街で写真を撮り続けてみようかなぁ。ただひとつだけいいわけがしたい。一番街って単純にいつも人口密度が高すぎて、なかなか写真自体を撮りづらいんだよ。まあこれも撮り方を工夫したらなんとかなるのかな。
That being said, I personally feel like this photo really takes the essence of the Ichiban-gai. I don't know why. I just can't quite put it into words to explain why.
とか言いつつ、この写真は個人的に一番街っぽいって思えるんだよな。なぜだか。うまく言語化して説明できない。
I always see things like this and end up taking a photo right away... I have a memory of taking a similar photo like this around Sakura Street. I think I took it around the area of the gyudon restaurant on Sakura Street. I still like taking photos of graffiti and rust.
こういうのはすぐに目に入ってしまっていつも写真を撮ってしまうんだけど・・・なんかこんなの、同じようなのをさくら通りの方で撮った記憶があるな。たぶんさくら通りの牛丼屋の辺りで撮った。ラクガキとか錆の写真を撮るのは相変わらず好き。
Actually, I was getting hassled quite a bit while filming in this area on this day. He was like, "Hey, you're a YouTuber, right?", endlessly. I kept saying that I'm not, but he who was pretty drunk, didn't believe me at all. Well, it's something that occasionally happens, and I guess it's unavoidable when taking photos in this city. He didn't look particularly scary, but to be honest, I was a little scared.
実はこの日はこの辺で撮っている時に盛大に絡まれた。曰く、『お兄さん YouTuber でしょう！』って。延々と。何度も違うって言ってるんだけどかなり酔っ払っていた様子で全然信じてくれない。まあたまにあることではあるし、この街で写真を撮っている上では避けられないことなんだろうな。別に怖そうな見た目の人ではなかったんだけど、正直、ちょっと怖かった。
Well, I was taking a walk with my friend, we came across Ramen Jiro which had been closed for a long time since a fire in late May this year, had reopened for business. When I went to Kabukicho last time, we walked the same route and remembered talking about how it hadn't reopened, how it must be tough just paying the rent without resuming business at all.
さて、友達とちょっとブラブラと散歩してたんだけど・・・今年の5月末に火災があって以来、ずいぶん長いこと休業していたラーメン二郎が営業再開しているのを見つけた。前回歌舞伎町に行った時も同じコースを散歩していて、その時に全然営業再開しないねー、営業再開しないと家賃だけでも大変そうだよねー、みたいな話をしたのを覚えていたんだけど・・・。
We were wondering what the huge line was for, but then we realized that Ramen Jiro had reopened for business. My friend said, "I wonder if they reopened for business today, considering how long the line is..." By the way, I took this photo after saying goodbye to my friend and returning later after the last train, so it doesn't look that crowded.
なんかすごい大行列ができててなんだ？と思ったらラーメン二郎が営業再開していた。友達曰くその大行列具合から『今日から営業再開したのかな？』なんて言っていたけど・・・ちなみに写真は友達と別れた後、終電が終わった後の時間に改めて足を運んで撮ったからそんなに混んでいるようには見えないけどね。
Let me write this to be honest at the end. Lately, my health has been so bad that I can hardly do my work properly. Rather than something physically wrong, it's more of a mental state that isn't good. I find myself thinking about all sorts of negative things. So, writing articles here and taking photos is a kind of escape from reality. Well, I just have to relax carelessly.
See you then.
最後にちょっと正直に書いておく。最近体調がガチでどうしようもないくらい悪くてほとんどまともに仕事をできていない。体のどこかが悪いというよりも、精神的にあまりよろしい状態じゃない。いろいろと悪いことばかり考えてしまう。そんなわけでここに記事を書いたり写真を撮ったり・・・ある種の現実逃避の術としています。まあテキトーにゆっくりするしかない。
ほなまたー。
