moom bookshop

Even now that it’s the end of August, it’s still quite hot outside.

Meanwhile, I continue to grab my little camera and walk out into the streets every day to take some snapshots. It’s never more than three, four hours these days, but I just don’t feel well if I don’t get this daily work done. After all, this is what a photographer does...

About once a week, I go to my office in Yoyogi to take care of some business or other, on all other days I usually take the Yokosuka Line or a bus from the nearest station, get off at some point, and then just walk around while mixing with the crowd and taking pictures. On some days it may be 60 or 70, on others no more than 20 – always only so much that I feel satisfied.

With that being said, I can’t deny a certain feeling that the images of the Shinjuku cityscape are gradually fading from my mind. And in my case, this means something’s wrong. Yokosuka, Kamakura and Totsuka are just around the corner now, and they’re all crowded with people. What more could I ask for? However at the end of the day, what remains is me and my desire to “return to Shinjuku.” Indeed, I need to be there and stand on a corner in Kabukicho with my camera, at least once a week. Piece of cake you might say. I could just make a quick trip and it’s all good.

As soon as it gets a little bit cooler in the fall, I’m definitely going to dive into the hustle and bustle of Shinjuku again, and shoot to my heart’s content. Then I will also make the first issue of Record in a while that will be all about Shinjuku.

How’s that sound, Mr. Nagasawa?

– from afterwords by Daido Moriyama