Japan is a country where shrines are squeezed between skyscrapers,
recycling is widely promoted yet every candy in a candy box is individually wrapped,
and a robot is created to teach kids calligraphy.
Also Tokyo, often abbreviated as “city that never sleeps”,
is actually full of people sleeping everywhere.
Usual Friday night,
both in center and outskirts, looks like a catalogue of sleeping configurations in all locations you can imagine, including pavement edges and public toilets.
Instagram’s account @shibyameltdown thoroughly documents this phenomenon in the district where the busiest pedestrian crossing is.
The photoshoot is a reflection on striking contrasts of Japanese society
and plays with one of its best visual representation, sleeping people.
Two characters embody local architecture and most popular entertaining spots,
such as game centers and tiny bars, in the most local way - by falling asleep.
But if they wanted to rest in a capsule hotel or take a nap in hot springs,
they will not be allowed to because they have tattoos
that are still a taboo
in the empire of contrasts aka Japan.
