Chinatown Station – Yokohama, Japan

Japan has a fantastic train system but many of the stations I’ve been to are quite utilitarian. Many have been in service for a long time, having been added to, creating a hodgepodge of connected structures. Thus, they often lack architectural interest. This station near the Yokohama Chinatown is an exception.

Officially called Motomachi-Chukagai, the station is part of the Minatomirai train line. It opened in 2004, when the new train line started. The newness of the station probably explains its more worthwhile and dramatic architectural flourishes.

I shot this with the Olympus PEN-F at 9mm (18mm equivalent) using the 9-18mm super wide-angle lens. I purposely slowed the shutter down to 0.2 seconds to add motion blur as I rode the escalator down. The leading lines, motion blur and high contrast monochrome make for a somewhat artistic train station photo, I think.