In the time of coronavirus, a study of Tokyo in black and white
By Jae C. Hong
The notoriously crowded Tokyo morning rush-hour trains are sparsely populated. Classrooms are eerily empty. Store shelves are bare. People with masks pop up throughout a city fearing the spread of the virus, which is altering daily life and forced postponement of the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.
Tokyo photographer Jae C. Hong documented in stark black and white the unsettling new norm of Japan’s largest city during the coronavirus pandemic. Struck by the contrast of the white protective masks against the shadowed buildings and backdrops, Hong thought black and white photography would convey the right tone. He produced a stunning package, unique among the global flood of coronavirus images. https://bit.ly/3dsTIE9 https://bit.ly/33RxV4I https://bit.ly/2x4TjXE
A man exits Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, March 6, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A commuter wearing a gas mask pauses for photos outside a train station in Tokyo, March 6, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A couple embrace while waiting at a pedestrian crossing in Tokyo, March 7, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Two men walk along a sidewalk in Tokyo, March 9, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A woman plays with a boy at a park near the temporarily closed Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, March 6, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A caricature artist wears a mask decorated with a drawing of exaggerated lips while working in her shop in Tokyo, March 8, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A woman in a kimono walks past gift shops in Tokyo, March 8, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Commuters are reflected on the window of a packed train during morning rush hours in Tokyo, March 9, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A man falls asleep in a train passing the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo, March 12, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A mannequin wears a mask at a souvenir shop near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo, March 8, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A commuter wearing a plastic glove holds a mask in a train in Tokyo, March 8, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Masked commuters ride escalators at a train station in Tokyo, March 9, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A man walks through Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine gardens with the shrine’s torii gate in the distance, March 9, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A commuter reads a book while waiting for a train to arrive at a station in Tokyo, March 6, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A group of women play gate ball at a park in Tokyo, March 7, 2020. Gate ball is a team sport similar to croquet. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Illuminated Olympic rings float in the water in the Odaiba section of Tokyo, March 6, 2020. The 2020 Summer Olympics have been postponed to 2021 by COVID-19. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
An employee works in a luxury store in Tokyo, March 6, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A station attendant walks out of an empty car of a train decorated with a sign promoting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, March 6, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A woman is reflected in a temporary closure notice posted outside the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, March 6, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A beam of light falls on a man at a Tokyo train station, March 12, 2020. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
