Tokyo Olympic Village in Black and White
I took these photos of the Tokyo Olympic Village in April 2020. That was more than one year before the games started. At that time, my school had temporarily closed to the pandemic. So for about two months, I didn’t go to work. Well, I did go out to shoot, but not often. I only went out to places that weren’t crowded.
Tokyo is very crowded, so finding interesting places with few people took some time. But, one day, I saw Tokyo Olympic Village on TV. It seemed perfect. Work at the site hadn’t finished, so few people would be there.
Actually, I’d been there many times. Next to the village is the Harumi Passenger Ship Terminal. The terminal is a great place to photograph Rainbow Bridge and spots around Tokyo Bay. So, yes, I knew it well. But that was before construction had begun.
Anyway, when I went for these photos, I was happy with the state of things. Most of the buildings weren’t finished. The only people around were security guards. It was a ghost town. I had everything to myself.
Tokyo Olympic Village turned out to be the perfect place to photograph. It was safer photographing there than in many other places in the city. It felt like walking around a ghost town.
The apartment buildings were almost complete. What work remained was cosmetic. The lawns, trees, and plants just needed to be added. I couldn’t see the buildings’ interiors well, but they seemed devoid of fittings and furniture.
The buildings? They were big, and the architecture was bland. I wouldn’t call it beautiful. Everything looked big and blocky. When I look at these photos several years later, that’s what I still think. They just look like standard concrete boxes. I don’t think I’d enjoy living in one.
Did you watch Tokyo Olympics 2020 in 2021? What did you think? And did you see the Village too? If you think my thoughts are out of line, let me know! Leave your questions and comments below.
Rohan Gillett
Rohan has lived in Tokyo for 30+ years. He loves photography and plans to capture the entire city.
Here are more Tokyo articles:
External Japanese articles about the Olympic Village:
- 東京2020オリンピック・パラリンピック選手村に行ってきた (Please use Google Translate)