Last night while walking through the Shibuya area of Tokyo near the world famous crosswalk I witnessed a fire Japan style. Made digital photos of the scene as crowds gathered and the fire fighters complete with 4 or 5 fire trucks and a large ladder fire truck fought the fire in SLOW MOTION. It was the most relaxed, tourist friendly fire in history. Also made pics of the TV press filming the scene.
The most surreal moment might have been when they evacuated the British Pub which was next to the burning restaurant and dozens of men piled into the street, some completely loaded carrying beer glasses in their hands. During the entire event the fire fighters-police were extremely patient and friendly to the large watching crowd. Everything was very interactive and flowing, almost like a weird dance, never seen anything quite like it before. Even as the fire fighters and police backed people off to create a safety zone and to allow more room for fire hoses etc. it was done with unique politeness, and even a softness of approach. This whole event was so Japanese. An American guy, his wife and I we’re doing a running commentary of how different a fire would be fought in America, Canada. Lots of laughter, definitely the funnest fire I ever attended.
Note* No one was hurt, did not actually see any flames, just lots of black smoke coming out of multiple floors of a barbecue style restaurant. Got some decent shots but am not sure how to get them from my compact flash card to this blog via iPad. Street photography in Japan is fun and easy.
The most surreal moment might have been when they evacuated the British Pub which was next to the burning restaurant and dozens of men piled into the street, some completely loaded carrying beer glasses in their hands. During the entire event the fire fighters-police were extremely patient and friendly to the large watching crowd. Everything was very interactive and flowing, almost like a weird dance, never seen anything quite like it before. Even as the fire fighters and police backed people off to create a safety zone and to allow more room for fire hoses etc. it was done with unique politeness, and even a softness of approach. This whole event was so Japanese. An American guy, his wife and I we’re doing a running commentary of how different a fire would be fought in America, Canada. Lots of laughter, definitely the funnest fire I ever attended.
Note* No one was hurt, did not actually see any flames, just lots of black smoke coming out of multiple floors of a barbecue style restaurant. Got some decent shots but am not sure how to get them from my compact flash card to this blog via iPad. Street photography in Japan is fun and easy.
