When the Shopkeepers Sleep.

After WWII, Ueno's Ameyoko Arcade was known as one of the city's prime black-market districts, and even now, the area seems to be one of Tokyo's grittier areas. After the shops shut down, the crowds shift a few blocks over to fill the pachinko parlours, seven-story karaoke joints, and dimly-lit caverns that satisfy those in search of more lascivious escapades.

With the absence of people and clutter of shopkeepers, the top image reveals the underbelly of the bridge as a machine that provides factory-like duct work and piping for water supply, ventilation of kitchens, electricity, and air-conditioning to the hundreds of shops and eateries below the train line.
The deserted arcade almost feels like an evacuation zone by night, though one shopkeeper perseveres a little longer than the rest. Is he hawking clearance items, or must he earn a few extra Yen for the day?

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