For the publications in the Tokyo Bento series, I often spent hours walking the streets of Tokyo. For this photo book, however, the view from the window was enough – or more precisely, from our terrace.

For six months, we lived in the heart of Asakusa, right next to Asakusa Station on the Tobu Line. It occupies the first and second floors of the distinctive Ekimise department store, also known as Matsuya Asakusa, and serves as both terminus and starting point of the Tobu Skytree Line.

Opened in 1931, the station is considered an early example of ‘Tokyo Modernism’ and was the first major private railway terminus in the Kantō region to be directly integrated into a department store. The combination of rail transport and large-scale retail under one roof later became a blueprint for many of Tokyo’s major transport hubs, including Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ikebukuro.

Because of the lack of space, the tracks had to be brought directly into the building. Even today, a full six-car train enters the structure itself. Just before reaching the station, trains cross the Sumida River and negotiate such a tight curve that they can only enter slowly, accompanied by a distinctive screech. From around 4.45 in the morning, when the first trains began running, that sound became part of our daily life.

Following the trains across the Sumidagawa Bridge, the Tokyo Skytree dominated the view on the opposite side of the river. Opened in 2012, the 634-metre tower is the tallest broadcasting tower in the world. Its changing daily illumination made it our favourite Tree Spotting subject. At times, though – during the summer typhoons, for instance – we could barely see it at all.

A publication in the Tokyo Bento series  
Edition of six Zines in a polystyrene sushi container

44 pages, digital print
Print run: 6 copies
2026, printed in Japan