Any day now will be the 20th anniversary of when Barbara, little Finn, a bump (later to be called Fabian) and I moved to Tokyo. 

The decision to go had taken a while, not because we didn't want to live overseas (we definitely did); it was just that Japan was firmly on the Maybe list. 

Our minds were made up one Saturday morning at Clapham South tube station, standing in front of a billboard ad featuring a couple at a greasy spoon cafe. A chrome condiment caddy sat on the table between them, stuffed with salt and pepper, vinegar, ketchup, HP sauce, sugar and paper napkins. There was an ashtray too. He looked like Andy Capp and she wore the same expression as the women in L'Absinthe by Degas.

"We never did make it to Paris", he said with words that hung there, somber and mournful in equal measure. 

We said Yes on the Monday.

There are lots of reasons why living in Japan was special but none more so than its never ending ability to surprise. Every day was a day of discovery, a day for a curious mind - an 'around the corner' sort of day. 

All the pictures were taken in London yesterday, with an Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the 12-40mm f2.8 lens. If you click on any of the thumbnails you'll be taken to a scrollable lightbox view.