When I came to this town for the first time long time ago, I wondered why the name sounds downtown just by adding "Juuban" after Azabu. At that time, the Azabu Juuban Onsen (hot springs) with the black hot water was still open. There were no Namboku Line or Toei Oedo Line. So, the area used to be like a deserted island or a hideout, and I used to feel that I should dress up to go there. Since the Namboku Line and the Oedo Line commenced operations in 2000 and 2004 respectively, it became more accessible while it still has the hideout atmosphere because of old streets and new chic shops. Now, let's walk around.
My main lens is the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 2/85 ZM. Because of the generous amount of glasses, it does look it takes great pictures. This time I walked around the following area.
Unfortunately, it was raining. Rain makes us reluctant to shoot. But, a rainy day is best for shooting town because light reaches to every detail.
The camera is the LEICA M9 which produces contrast like slide films. The Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 2/85 ZM generates great results even under low contrast conditions. With this best set for shooting in the rain, I cropped scenes of main streets and alleys in Azabu Juuban.
Shooting tips: Emphasize blue color when shooting in the rain. If photos are blue-tinted, the rainy atmosphere is emphasized. To make photos blue-tinted, you can shoot RAW and shift colors when developing. Or, you can shoot JPEG by setting white balance manually to around 4000K. The sunshine is about 5000K and if you set it lower than 5000K, the color becomes blue-tinted. And, if you set it higher than 5000K, the color becomes red-tinted.
Azabu Juuban is a vibrant town. It has both old and new things such as houses covered with ivy, old photo studio hanging family photography of foreigners, playing children, and new shops that are designed to match the atmosphere of the neighborhood.
Within a compact area, the town has a variety of dining spots like an old restaurant serving Yooshoku (Japanized Western food), a Japanese restaurant grilling fish, the famous Taiyaki shop, a mysterious looking Chinese restaurant, an open café, an Italian restaurant, and a French restaurant. I had a hard time deciding where to eat, but finally I was attracted by Fukushimaya's (est. 1921) oden of king trumpet mushroom, Frankfort sausage, and tomato. Alcohol is strictly prohibited while shooting because I cannot focus well, but I ordered a beer because focusing with a rangefinder is easy even when I'm drunk (based on my personal experience). I tried the king trumpet mushroom oden for the first time, but it was great with the beer. You can dine in this restaurant, but there seemed to be more people who were taking the food out.
People came out when it stopped raining and they were chatting. Everyone was smiling and their daily interaction is creating the harmony of this town.
The cute "we're saving electricity" poster was on every shops. The whole town seemed to be coping with energy problem.
I signaled him showing my camera through the window. The order-made stuffed animal shop master shyly smiled. He was making the stuffed animal while looking at the model picture. He was serious, but looked cute.
The sun started to go down. I wanted to think back on today's photo walk, so I went to "Café LABOHEME", a spacious place in the central plaza. To cool myself down, I chose a chilled Champagne. It tastes good when shooting went well. Following recommendations of this friendly waiter, I ordered springy gnocchi, fried camenbert cheese with berry jam, and a glass of wine. Still, I was able to focus. Yes, with a rangefinder, even a drunkard can focus!
For the last meal, I went to an Izakaya which had been hanging the fish since this morning. Like a beach hut, it was spacious and simply designed. It was almost full even though it was a little early in the evening. Because the grilled fish smelled so nice, I started with a sake. I make it a rule to drink sake from Tohoku area since the earthquake, so I ordered a cup of Joukigen from Sakata, Yamagata prefecture.
My assistant ordered stingray fin after sashimi (raw fish) and oyster including donation. I personally didn't like dried food with sake very much, but this was a big hit. As you see in the photo, it was thick and juicy, and perfect for sake. Because every single dish was so delicious, I forgot about my assignment and started drinking genuinely. And, a guy with an aloha shirt who was glancing at my M9 joined us.
This Englishman is a photographer based in London. We drank over his photography on his iPad. Our topics were Leica, photography, music, and world affairs. I found myself contributing to Tohoku very much. Leica attracts photo enthusiasts. It lowers the barriers between people and creates a circle of people. Wait, maybe he was attracted by young female assistant and used Leica for an excuse to join us?
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In my hideout Azabu Juuban, I shot, walked around, pub-crawled, and had the mysterious encounter. It's Leica that brought all these fun experience, I guess.
