One day＠Kabukicho #DAY191 – My first visit to Kabukicho in the new year was my first time back in over a month.
For the past few years, it's kind of become a tradition to spend Christmas Eve or Christmas with my usual friend. But at the end of last year, she had work scheduled on both the 24th and 25th. She invited me out on the night of the 26th, but I already had other plans that day, so we couldn't find time to meet and it ended up rolling over into the New Year.
ここ何年か、クリスマスイブ or クリスマスはいつもの友達と過ごすのが結構定番になっていた。ただ去年の年末は24日、25日と友達に仕事の予定が入ってしまっていて、26日の夜に誘われたんだけど26日は自分に他の予定が入っていて、結局会う時間を作れずに新年になってしまった。
Looking back on last year, the biggest thing for me personally was probably starting a new company. But then, almost right after that, I ended up being hospitalized and having surgery again... It really was a hectic year. Same as the year before, actually.
去年の出来事。振り返ってみるとやっぱり個人的に一番大きいのは新しい会社作っちゃったってことかなぁ。でも会社作ったかと思えばまた入院して手術受けたり・・・なんかほんとドタバタな一年だったんだな。一昨年もそうだったけど。
And that new company has taken shape to some extent. It's not like I'm spending 100% of my time acting purely as a company owner. I'm involved in several projects, and I've pretty much got a new one lined up starting around next month, so I'm leading a fairly fulfilling life with the new company.
そんな新会社もなんとか形にはなってはきまして。ただ完全に時間の100％を使って経営者やっているのかっていうとそういうわけでもなく、いくつかのプロジェクトに参加したり、来月くらいから新しいプロジェクトがほぼ決まっていたりとそれなりに充実した新会社生活送っています。
So it'd been about a month since I last went out shooting in Kabukicho. Like I always say, I'd really like to be more consistent, ideally going out to shoot maybe twice a month. But in reality, I usually end up taking photos while I'm out hanging with my friend, so it's hard to keep a steady pace.
そんなわけで歌舞伎町で写真を撮るのも一ヶ月ぶりとか。いつも書いているけど、もっとちゃんと・・・まあ月に二回くらいは行って写真を撮りたいんだけどねー。結局いつも、友達と遊びに行くついでに撮っているから、なかなかペースをキープするのが難しい。
To make a bit of an excuse, I've been having a hard time shaking off the fatigue lately, both on weekdays and weekends. A few years ago, I'm pretty sure I had way more energy than this. Back then, I was going to Kabukicho and hanging out with my friend like twice a week. Thinking about it now, I'm kind of amazed I had that much energy to be out and about so often.
ちょっと言い訳すると、最近は平日も週末も疲れがなかなか取れない。数年前はもっと全然元気だったはずなのに。そしてそんな数年前は週に二回とか歌舞伎町行って友達と遊んでたはず。そう考えると自分もよくまああんだけ元気に遊んでたな。
Did this place shut down? Even though it should be the busiest time of the night, there's no sign of it being open, it looks like some kind of girls' bar. I've been to girls' bars a few times in the past, but unless there's a really good reason, I don't see myself going to one again.
このお店は閉店したのかな？街が一番賑わう時間なはずなのに営業している様子がないガールズバー的ななにか。ガールズバーってのは過去に数回行ったことあるけど、もうよっぽどのことがない限り行くことはないかなー。
Taking photos in Kabukicho itself is something I'm already very used to, but I still don't really know what the "right" way is to frame or capture scenes like this. Maybe there isn't a right answer in the first place, and honestly, when I'm actually shooting, I'm not thinking all that deeply about it anyway.
歌舞伎町で写真を撮るってこと自体はもう相当慣れきったことなんだけど、こういう場面でどこをどう切り取るのが正解なのかは未だにわからない。まあ正解なんてないのかもしれないし、実際撮っている時もそこまで深く考えて撮ってはいないんだけどね。
This year too, I want to keep taking photos of Kabukicho and other nightlife districts at my own pace. I've been looking at a lot of different photos, and while you can find plenty that capture the lights of entertainment districts as something beautiful, I don't see many that focus on the darker side, the negativity, the trash scattered around, the drunk people, that kind of thing. So rather than thinking of my work as "art", I'm leaning toward shooting it more as documentary or record-keeping.
See you then.
今年もマイペースに歌舞伎町とかの繁華街の夜の写真は撮っていきたいなーって思ってます。結構いろんな写真を見るようになったんだけど、繁華街の光を美しいものとして撮っているような写真ってそれなりに見つけられるんだけど、自分が撮っているようなネガティブな部分とか街に溢れるゴミとか酔っ払いとか・・・そういうのってあんまり見つからなくてね。だから作品ってよりドキュメンタリー、記録、みたいな立ち位置で撮っていこうかなーって思ってます。
ほなまたー。
