{"id":126157,"date":"2025-09-09T22:12:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T22:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/126157\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T22:12:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T22:12:11","slug":"these-photos-capture-the-ambient-beauty-of-tokyos-commute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/126157\/","title":{"rendered":"These photos capture the ambient beauty of Tokyo\u2019s commute"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyday Commute28 Images<\/p>\n

Nearly seven million people pour into central Tokyo every day, wedged shoulder-to-shoulder in rattling train carriages. While the rest of the world has flirted with remote work since Covid, Japan<\/a> has mostly stuck to long office hours and an obsession with \u201cface time\u201d. Not even talk of a government-backed four-day work week<\/a> shifted the norm.<\/p>\n

On her frequent visits to Japan, photographer Prissilya Junewin<\/a> has found herself fascinated by the beauty in the mundanity of these commutes \u2013 the in-between hours when Tokyo\u2019s workers drift in through the suburbs before racing beneath the city to their final destination. The subject also hit close to home: in Berlin<\/a>, while her own hour-long trips to the darkroom had once been frustrating, they\u2019d evolved into something more meaningful. \u201cWhile stuck in the U-Bahn, I tend to observe the people around me \u2013 their habits and facial expressions, the small gestures between passengers. The time has become quite precious to me.\u201d This made Junewin curious about other commuters. Are they happy? Have they, like her, learnt to enjoy this liminal time and space, this lifestyle, or are they simply enduring it?<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"Photography Prissilya Junewin<\/p>\n

Tokyo, she decided, was the perfect place to begin exploring this. \u201cIt\u2019s well-known for being busy, hectic and packed with commuters,\u201d she says. During a recent stay, Junewin worked with SMN Casting<\/a> agency, who connected her with five of them \u2013 a barista, a model, a chef, an accountant and a waitress \u2013 and accompanied them on their daily journeys to and from work. \u201cI was curious to tag along, given the many cultural and societal differences,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople generally refrain from talking or making noise that could disturb anyone seeking quiet after an exhausting day.\u201d Instead, Junewin silently documented the routines of her subjects. \u201cIt was so important to me to actually capture them on their real, everyday routes,\u201d she notes.<\/p>\n

In a series of conversations with her subjects, a pattern emerged: a longing for nature. \u201cThe reality is that it\u2019s pretty hard to survive here, not only financially, but mentally as everything moves on so incredibly fast,\u201d Junewin says. \u201cYou\u2019re forced to move with the city\u2019s pace, with nowhere to go because of your strict work schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n

That tension rings true for Ryukun, a 27-year-old accountant who is seen reading in the series. \u201cThe biggest challenge is achieving a good work-life balance,\u201d he says. \u201cIn an ideal world, I\u2019d have good access to the city for work but also be surrounded by nature, since that\u2019s what gives me a sense of fulfilment.\u201d Mei, a 24-year-old waitress, described her commute as a time to clear her head, adding that recently she\u2019s felt a stronger need to be in touch with \u201cthe kind of energy that comes from the earth\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"Photography Prissilya Junewin<\/p>\n

To mirror her subjects\u2019 yearning, Junewin interspersed their portraits with photographs of rivers, trees and mountains taken on her travels across Japan. The contrast highlights a universal theme: young people carving out lives in some of the world\u2019s busiest cities while quietly longing for something slower, greener and freer. For her, the project became a way of holding those two realities in the same frame \u2013 the fluorescent rush of Tokyo against the quiet persistence of nature. \u201cIt made the pros and cons of life in a city vs the countryside clearer to me,\u201d Junewin says of the project\u2019s evolution. \u201cI definitely started to appreciate the randomly scattered green spots in Berlin more.\u201d<\/p>\n

One journey, with Ryukun, stayed with the photographer most vividly. \u201cIt was around 8pm that we met him at his office and headed towards his home in Shibuya \u2013 one of the busiest stations in the whole city,\u201d she says. \u201cThere were no empty seats on the train, so he was just standing there with his book \u2013 completely switched off from reality. The atmosphere was melancholic and there was so much to read into in the carriage.\u201d For her, that moment underscored what the project was all about: finding private rituals of pause within the relentless rhythm of the city.<\/p>\n

By weaving together these moments with her own images of nature, Junewin places that tension into focus \u2013 not just as a Tokyo story but as a wider generational one. What she hopes viewers take away is simple: \u201cBe more conscious of your needs and your surroundings. And definitely daydream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visit the gallery above for a closer look.\u00a0<\/p>\n