Urban Decay

In Japan, many communities have what is called a 'Shotengai' or a 'Shop Street', it is an area where many small shops are concentrated along, an often covered, street. Some, in larger areas do quite well, especially if there is nearby convenient public transportation such as a major train station. However, without such fortune many become shuttered, decaying places.

KFT Shinsaibashi - Final Scene

The last Shinsaibashi KFT was held on September 22nd.

In honour of the movie the dress code was 'gangster'.

It just fit, so I added a few words to this last picture.

Osaka Zombie Walk 2010

A short video put together on Animoto.com.

This is the 30sec, low res free version.

Be ready to turn the sound down, music level is by default set to 11 for some reason.

Sunset

Yatai and Fireworks

On the first of August, one of the largest fireworks displays, at least in terms of how many shells are used (20,000 this year) in Japan is held in a city quite close to where I live.

Festivals of all kinds include the 'Yatai' or street cart vendors selling food and drinks.

As the oven like parking lot we had chosen to watch the fireworks was surrounded by power lines and flags advertising for a nearby restaurant, here are some abstract shots of the fireworks display.

Undead Apocalypse : Zombie Walk Osaka 2010

Sometimes the dead just don't stay dead.

I had a great time shooting these Zombies. Thank you to all who participated and especially Zach, who organized the walk; the very funny Pirates of the Dotombori who were very well represented; the make-up artist (who's name I'll add here once I find out what it is).

竹 - Bamboo