I’ve always loved walking the streets of Tokyo, but for the last couple years, my walks have changed. I’m seeing things most people look past, the unnoticed details holding this city together.

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It all started with worn-out signs, their corners being held together with a bit of tape. And after that, I couldn’t stop seeing things like this everywhere. I started noticing mailboxes held together with duct tape, a tarp secured with bits of twine, and countless boards and pipes mended with whatever was on hand.

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I carry digital cameras to shoot the vibrancy, and film cameras to capture the scenes on black & white stock. My project, “Tape, Rope, and Hope,” became a kind of scavenger hunt for the unseen. This was all a love letter to the small, imperfect solutions and ingenuity that keeps everything from falling apart.

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These photos aren’t just pictures of cellophane and string. They’re a testament to the city’s resilience, a reflection of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, and me finding beauty in imperfection. These scenes tell stories of a city that constantly adapts, mends, and moves forward.