Lee Chapman

16/06/2026

Shinjuku has been a happy hunting ground over the years, with some of my most complete photo series shot on the city’s wonderfully unpredictable streets — the recently posted alleyway set being the latest. Images that took a decade to put together.

It is though a part of the capital that keeps on giving, and wandering the area for just a few hours last week, I was reminded once again why I keep returning.

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Camera & Lens: M10R with Summicron 35mm f/2

11/06/2026

09/06/2026

Finding and photographing new areas is always rewarding, but at the same time, so is returning again and again to previously visited locations. The latter being something I do a lot of, particularly in the older parts of Tokyo. A practice that allows me to gradually document the changes those neighbourhoods are going through. Also, going back to a familiar place is still a unique experience, as even if the urban scenery is the same, the people aren’t. A factor that for me at least makes each and every visit feel worthwhile.

All of which brings me to the series shown here. A set of images from a small warren of interconnected Shinjuku alleyways that I’ve been photographing for a decade. And on a wander there last week, I took the opening photo. A shot I’ve long been hoping for, and the moment I pressed the shutter, it felt like the collection was complete. Or at least as complete as such a series can be. So for now at least, this is what I have. A little bit of Shinjuku from 2016 to 2026.

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Camera & Lens: M9 M10 M10R with Summicron 35mm f/2
tokyostreetphotography

04/06/2026

My latest newsletter is out, with this edition focusing on street photography in Tokyo. The pictures, the process, and sometimes the opposition.

There are also details of a new book and some of the photos featured in it.

For the rest of the images and the accompanying text, it’s on the web here: https://tokyotimes.beehiiv.com/p/tokyo-street-photography

Plus this is where you can subscribe and where all the other monthly updates live: https://tokyotimes.beehiiv.com

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Camera & Lens: M9 M10 M10R with Summicron 35mm f/2

02/06/2026

Photo booths aren’t uncommon in Tokyo. Quite the opposite really, with many found in and around the city’s numerous train stations. Plenty of supermarkets have them too. An incredibly regular sight then that in many ways makes them invisible. Something you generally don’t notice unless you actually need one.

However, several weeks ago I took the first picture in this set, which piqued my interest and set me on a mission of sorts to get more, culminating in this little series. Something a bit different form my usual work, and to end the collection, there’s a similarly unusual photo of me. A portrait produced back in 2021.

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Camera & Lens: M10R with Summicron 35mm f/2

26/05/2026

Before the heat and humidity really start to pick up next month, here is a series of late spring street portraits. Some taken on my Tokyo Photowalk Tours, with others shot on solo outings, but all of them, I hope, provide little vignettes of daily life in the Japanese capital.

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Camera & Lens: M10R with Summicron 35mm f/2

22/05/2026

Recently, when revamping my portfolio site and deciding what images to include in the Showa Era Japan section (https://leechapman.photos/showa-japan), I looked at the first photo in this little series for the first time in quite a while.

To me at least it represents peak post-war Japan, with the kind of signage one rarely sees these days. The trouble in regards my selection was that it works better with the added context of the establishments near to it. The combined shots giving a much better taste of the dated and decidedly shabby little entertainment area they are a part of.

So I’ll post them here instead, both as reminders of the past and as a contrast to their brighter and far brasher big city equivalents such as those found in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho red light district.

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Camera & Lens: M10R & Summicron 35mm f2

19/05/2026

There are so many photographs on my feed of old Tokyo businesses and their owners that no longer exist. Death, redevelopment and quite often both combining to change how many parts of the capital now look and feel.

That said, there is thankfully still a lot of history left to see and enjoy, so for something of a change from the more regular scenes of before and after, here are some survivors, all of which were shot very recently.

First is a traditional shoe shop that has been open for a century. It’s now in the hands of its 3rd generation owner, with the 4th already working there and preparing to take over.

Then there’s a similarly aged liquor store run by an 85-year-old who’s also the 3rd generation proprietor. For added interest, the building it’s housed in is even older. Quite something for a wooden structure, particularly so in a city that was heavily firebombed and is prone to both earthquakes and typhoons.

Lastly is a neighbourhood fishmonger that I first photographed in 2020, so I’ve included that shot as well — a memory that made seeing the place still operational even nicer.

The shop was founded by the current owner’s father in 1935. Sadly he died young, so his even younger son took over. That was in 1953, and now, 73 years later, that once fresh-faced youngster is still working there at the ripe old age of 89.

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Camera: M10R

15/05/2026

These are more photographs from the November, Autumn Foliage with Urban and Rural Nostalgia workshop that my good friend will be running. The old and faded element of the trip is very much my thing, so these are images documenting that side of Japan — from Tokyo to hot spring towns, and the varied rural scenery in between. All locations and sights we’ll be visiting during the 8 day trip.

For more info and a chance to reserve one of the remaining spots, the full details are here: https://leechapman.photos/japan-photography-autumn-workshop-2026

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Camera: M10R

12/05/2026

On some days, regardless of how many kilometres I wander, the end result is no interesting images whatsoever. Fortunately other outings can work out way better, and while it’s highly unlikely any of the shots shown here will become long term faves, they are nonetheless photographs that nicely document a recent Tokyo meander. One that took in some old and familiar locations, along with a few previously unseen spots surprisingly near to them.

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Camera: M10R