Fishy Little Town

I’ve long been fascinated by towns that are sharply defined by a specific function or activity. Mining towns, ski towns, pottery towns, mill towns—you get where I’m going.

In the same way that it’s helpful for a brand to have a singular, crystal clear identity I think such places benefit from having thick and consistent character. You know exactly what you’ll get.

And yet, things are never that simple. Even the most monochromatic of places are filled with shades of nuance. The seemingly straightforward obscures the subtleties and little secrets that make a place tick.

Japan’s Noto Peninsula is fringed with more fishing towns than you can swing a fish at. In some respects, they all look the same and seem to blend from one to the next as you drive along the coast. Sombre, salty, and somewhat crumbly. They sit quietly on the water’s edge, waiting for the boats to come and go (which rarely seems to happen). The town of Ukawa is largely unexceptional, but somehow captured my eye with its weather-beaten patina and texture. This is what it looks like.