A day in Kyoto Station

I spent my last day in Kyoto hanging around the huge grey cube like building that is Kyoto station. As I got to watch the the paricular movements of people through this space over a 12 hour period I started to notice the number of homeless people also hanging around. On yoru intial pass you can be forgiven for not seeingthem, perhaps even on your secod or third pass as they are quite inconspicuos. They do their best to blend in with background as much out of the way of the ebb and flow commuters as possible and wait out the daylight hours in whatever warmth they can find. At times the years of filth and grim do betray them however despite the super efficient air conditioning of this futuristic manga inspired megaplex. Mostly however they are invisible not entirely due to their methods of camoflague, for once you see through the veil they are there in bold presence. What realy makes they invisible at first and second glance is teh fact tat the comuters and shoppers just don"t see them. It is not that they don't notice, because that implies that they can be noticed - rather they will look straight through these ghosts who have been abandoned by the machine. I know that the homeless in any big city tend to be walked passed ignored, but in those cases there is still some level of acknowledgement even if it is only the acknowledgement not to outwardly acknowledge.



Kyoto Megaplex

The homeless n Japan don't or ask for money or seem to seek any form of recognition, they seem to exist as if behind a pane of gass, a seperate community unto themselves. Which reminds me how people find community among others in common circumstances to be endured.



Art in the megaplex



Inside the Megaplex



Outside the Megaplex

Walking around Kyoto and Tokyo, you might notice the occasional neat square bundle of stuff wrapped in a blue tarp. This is one of the few signs that you are passing someones home; it is just the case that its location is in such a public place that it has to be packed up for the day and rolled again at night. There are some more permanent structures though through the cities; little strectches of shanti towns made of tarps, tents, and some even with rice cookers, all very neatly laid -- meta-urban planning. The homeless here might have lost most or all of their possessions and status but they have not lost their sense of personal pride in their home.



Water front views (Asakusa - Tokyo).



The homeless in Shibuya (Tokyo).



View front Shibuya location (Tokyo).

So back in Kyoto station I watch as the homeless wait to get their homes back for the night, and I think how these men and women are the keepers of the secrets of this place as they watch its tide of workers, shoppers, officials and tourists flow n and out each day. These people are the ghosts of this place, their presence sometimes felt but never really chosen by the masses to be seen.