It has been with qreat dismay that I have watched neighborhoods all over Fukuoka City lose forsake architectural treasures over the years. When I first came to Japan over two decades ago it wasn't hard to find a traditional Japanese home or shop or even a cluster of such buildings here and there. Over time, however, these jewels have been torn down only to be replaced by ¥100 parking lots and tawdry apartment buildings which lack the soul the previous dwellings had. The trend has continued unabated and so now as I walk about town, I try to photograph the traditional Japanese homes I come across just as a zoologist might try to record a dying species. 

This is rather unassuming storefront is a shichi-ya, or pawn shop, located in Imaizumi, Chūō-ku. Curiosity had me poke my head inside once where I found a teller window of sorts. Unlike most pawn shops which display and sell items forfeited by customers unable to pay off their loans, nothing was on sale inside. Considering the size and location of the property this house sits on, business must be good.

This is a privately owned home located along the Fujisaki-Nishijin shopping street. All of the houses there must have looked like this, but today only a handful remain which beggars belief.

The former residence of the owner of Jōkyū Shōyu (soy sauce), in Daimyō, Chūō-ku. The house was renovated several years ago is now home to a popular soba restaurant called Yabukin.