Some years ago, I lived without a permanent home. I was traveling constantly for photo shoots and rarely spent time at home. So I thought I might as well try living without one. It did not suit me, and it lasted only a few months.
During that short period, I did my laundry at laundromats. The roadside laundromats I found outside Tokyo were relatively clean, and some were part of small local chains.
Eventually, I rented an apartment in Tokyo and returned to my old routine. That was when I noticed old laundromats scattered around the city. Small places that appeared to be independently run.
Outside Tokyo, old, independently run laundromats seem to have disappeared, replaced by cleaner roadside ones. Perhaps laundromats like these survive in Tokyo because of the size of the city’s population.
Visual Notes is a series that will run alongside my regular posts—more photographs, fewer words.
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