Portfolio Category - LCEA 2013

During a recent visit to Tokyo I found that the modern single Japanese woman has totally redefined their role in today’s society. Gone is the traditional woman’s role of staying at home to look after the children and her ‘salaryman’ husband; also the traditional attitude to arranged marriages. Now, many women choose not to marry and the birth-rate is amongst the lowest in the world. Instead , most young women enter the workplace and are effecting a seismic change in the culture of the country choosing modern western fashion over the kimono. In the past Japanese women were the dominant partner in the marriage, exercising their control from home. Now, career and fashion oriented, they dominate flamboyantly their power on the streets of Tokyo and other major cities. It seems that the Japanese man has to play along with these changes and accept them. My Tokyo street photographs reveal and emphasise these dramatic changes.