Tokyo 2020: A mix of traditional and eccentric
The Summer Olympics will return to Tokyo next year for the first time since 1964. The world's best athletes will be on display, of course, but so will Japan's sprawling capital _ a dense mix of the traditional and the eccentric.
Small shrines and ancient temples nestle alongside gleaming towers and high-tech gadgetry. Pedestrians meander through a labyrinth of alleyways lined with places to eat or drink, while passengers wedge silently into subway cars or ride on sleek bullet trains.
It all seems to fit together in near perfect harmony, says Associated Press photographer Jae Hong, beginning a year-long assignment to capture the flavor of Tokyo before the games begin.
"It seems like the whole city is run by people reading the same manual, and everybody follows it," Hong said.
Two children pose for photos with the Olympic Rings in front of New National Stadium in Tokyo, June 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A man pauses briefly while walking down a narrow staircase of a bar in Golden Gai, in Tokyo, June 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Bruce McCullough, who moved to Japan 22 years ago from Vancouver, Canada, sits in his mobile clothing store in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, May 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Mijo Nakamura, 38, works in her tiny food truck named Charming Restaurant in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, May 29, 2019. Serving fusion Asian food, Nakamura's food truck only opens for lunch. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A restaurant worker wearing a princess-style dress greets customers at the entrance of a restaurant in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, June 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Commuters fill the street during the evening rush hours in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, June 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A journalist is silhouetted while taking photos of New National Stadium in Tokyo, July 3, 2019. The stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2020 Summer Olympics. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Wearing school uniforms, students at Yamano Beauty College bow to a speaker during a ceremony held to celebrate the school's 83rd year anniversary in Tokyo, May 31, 2019. More than 1200 students from all over Japan are attending the school to be hair stylists or makeup artists. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Bukkyo University cheerleading squad leader, Yamaguchi Karin, right, leads the school song in front of the school's baseball players in Tokyo, June 17, 2019, after the team placed second in the 68th All-Japan University Baseball Championship. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A young girl visiting from Singapore takes a closer look at a humanoid robot named Otonaroid at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation Miraikan in Tokyo, June 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Elementary school students compete during a kendo competition at the Hie Shrine in Tokyo, June 8, 2019.(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Pedestrians are seen through an advertisement as they walk along the busy streets of the Shibuya district in Tokyo, June 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A Japanese dance and vocal group called Banquet performs on the street outside Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, June 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Wearing rental kimono, tourists visiting from Hong Kong order gelato after their visit to Sensoji Temple in the Taito district of Tokyo, June 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Traditional Japanese footwear called zori are seen next to sneakers and dress shoes during a kendo competition in Tokyo, June 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A man walks through a tunnel filled with smoke from yakitori restaurants underneath a train track in Tokyo, June 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Staff members at the Hie Shrine clean the steps of the shrine in Tokyo, June 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Laurent Colin, a 46-year-old tourist visiting from Australia, settles into his pod at the 9H capsule hotel in the Chiyoda district of Tokyo, May 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Thousands of candles are arranged in the shape of the Milky Way to celebrate Tanabata, a Japanese star festival, at Zojoji Temple in Tokyo, July 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Text from AP News story PHOTOS: Tokyo 2020 _ Japan’s capital 1-year until Olympics
Photos by Jae C. Hong