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Grant McGaheran

@grantmcgaheran.bsky.social
505 followers 282 following 1.7K posts

From Sheffield, in Tokyo since 2000. Books, walks, modernism, records, cats.

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Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
門番
Vigilant tortoiseshell cat on a concrete step by a hose
0190
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
'Since Pain was paying no attention to him, he decided that he might without impropriety ignore Pain. He and Pain together watched a scene which reminded the Collector of the beach. How pleasant it is to sit on the cliffs of Dover and watch the waves rolling in.'
J.G. Farrell
The Siege of Krishnapur
030
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Ach, don't stare so.
Big fluffy cat with alarmed face stares behind glass
0101
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
THANK YOU FOR THE RAIN FACTS MATE I SHALL BEAR THEM IN MIND
A black metal umbrella stand with the words: 'PREPARE FOR RAIN
RAINDROP IS A DROP OF WATER WITH THE SIZE OF MORE THAN 0.5MM IN DIAMETER AND COMES
DOWN FROM THE SKY' in white capital letters on it
0261
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
(I Like Finding) Fragments of the Eighties Fifties
A sake shop called Sakikaya in a covered shotengai. Its lettering is small, white, wonky on dark wood. Above it a large painted sign with a 1950s American waitress holding a big pizza and the words CRISPY, PIZZA, PASTA, From Tommy's, 1988 and a Budweiser logo. When I lived near this sign in the year 2000 there was no evidence a shop had been open there recently, Tommy's or otherwise. I presumed it was a ghost from the 1980s 50s/60s Americana boom. IT LIVES ON.
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Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
金時
Faded once-red (?) door of a presumably abandoned Chinese restaurant called Kintoki. The door has a white circular handle and the name of the shop in white kanji. There is a rusted awning and a display case. Near Koiwa, Tokyo
0120
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
秋分の日
A stone sculpture of a small child in winter clothes, behind it a narrow stream with rocks and small stone bridges between the road and the pavement. A wet day in Koiwa, Tokyo
0190
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
O / OFF
Chunky buttons in a beige plastic housing. The On button is black and the Off is red faded to pink. The N of the ON has completely worn away. Nishifunabashi station, Chiba.
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Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Miserabilism (Is is, and isn't isn't) youtu.be/uevG6sXNMSc?...
US 12" of Pet Shop Boys single Was it worth it?
060
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Great memories of recording this severe track. In physical crisis from laughing, having to leave the room with tears streaming down my face, coming back several minutes later somewhat recovered and, no, Ian is still whispering 'Eduardo Kíiiiiiiiiiiiiiiss' into the mike, his face a mask of intensity.
030
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Play it cool and saran wrap all you can
Illuminated plastic food items on shelves behind smeared glass at a old fashioned and indeed old kissaten in Koiwa, Tokyo. Choose from curry, sandwiches, ice cream sundaes, ketchup spaghetti and omurice among a few others wrapped in clingfilm.
2120
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
'Happy poets, who were contented in their lives and in their deaths were not derided, being already forgotten. But their obscurity, which so long had left their ghosts in peace, had now betrayed them and brought the Giggleswaders to posture about their tombs.'
Eric Linklater
Poet's Pub
Penguin Classics
030
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Hey Moon
Golden crescent moon over a blurry glowing Tokyo skyline
0110
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Oh man, Catherine and Fred both gone now, both far too soon. The coolest people to ever cool. youtu.be/fGZRVGlGZ6A?...
youtu.be
Les Rita Mitsouko - C'est comme ça (Clip Officiel)
YouTube video by Les Rita Mitsouko
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Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Cool blue on a crickety night (du poisson)
A small local sushi shop called Sushiyoshi at night. It has a dark blue awning and white noren with the name and part of the phone number in kanji. A scooter for deliveries is parked outside. Hirai, Tokyo
0283
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Cool blue on a crickety night (soapy)
A laundrette with a dark blue awning and vending machines outside. Inside is brightly lit. Hirai, Tokyo.
0130
Reposted by Grant McGaheran
Lol @loltype.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Autumn’s cauldron with the green canal
Green canal covered in a layer of duckweed, stone bridge, uniform stone terraces & the tall chimney stack of an old mill 

this stretch of the LL canal through Burnley has quickly become a favourite place

Slater Terrace - Sandygate
Burnley 
Leeds Liverpool Canal
0321
Reposted by Grant McGaheran
Stoopalu @stoopalu.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
More THINGS IN FIELDS
A concrete thing, probably a marker of some sort, on the edge of a field on the South Downs.  It's a T shaped thing, about a foot tall, embedded in a rough base of concrete and looks like a variant on a hydrant marker.  There's a rectangular inset with a couple of holes in which looks like it would have held a metal or plastic signJust along from the previous thing, this is one of those metal telecommunications type boxes that you see all over the place.  Two doors, painted green.
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Reposted by Grant McGaheran
Kevin Boniface @kevinboniface.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
CAR PARK OFFICE
Boarded-up doorway. CAR PARK OFFICE handwritten quite badly on the lintel above. For some reason there’s also what appears to be a functioning TV aerial attached to the boarding-up board
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Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I think this is the Barry Zogon Band tune that suits morning or maybe dawn best. It's a bit drizzly too. #HomeMadeMusic barryzogonband.bandcamp.com/track/kalimb...
barryzogonband.bandcamp.com
Kalimbob (Medley), by Barry Zogon Band
from the album Humanoid
1122
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Taubenwachturm / grauer Freitag
Clock tower, lights and station building of Funabashi Station. A pigeon on the lights and grey grey sky
050
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Orange Saturday in lovely Kinsh
Orangey purple sunset over Kinshicho, Tokyo
0181
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
(David Sylvian voice) September's here again♪
Chalkboard art by the staff of Keisei Funabashi station. This month the Keisei Panda is pounding mochi watched over by a yellow full moon with a rabbit pounding mochi on it.
070
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
September
The last day had come. Orvil woke up and realized this with a terrible cold deadness. The things in the room had changed; the wardrobe, the chest of drawers, the chairs had souls. Deep down in their evil souls they waited, knowing that he had to go back to school. They were quite still and watching, not caring at all, only waiting frigidly to have the room to themselves again. Even the eiderdown stored evil knowledge. - from In Youth is Pleasure by Denton Welch
020
Reposted by Grant McGaheran
bopterror @bopterror.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
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Reposted by Grant McGaheran
Lol @loltype.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
my whole life is like a monstrous and pulpy vegetable
A sign that says ‘FRUIT’ in lovely green Festive font above matching green shop awning

County Fruit Stores, 
Cockermouth

wandering round in search of coffee with last nights Stereolab performance whizzing round my mind
0243
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
A last summer bang over the damp and chilly train station.
Firework burning brightly in a cloudy night sky over a train station and tall buildings in Tokyo. An express train speeds past on its way to Narita Airport.
191
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
'And as we walked home we could hear the leaves curling and turning brown on the trees and the birds deciding where to go for Winter. And the whole sound of Summer packing its bags as it prepared to leave town.'
Pulp 
His 'n' Hers
2019 reissue 
Pulp portrait by Philip Castle from an original photo by Kevin Westerberg
Please do not read the words whilst listening to the recordings
R.I.P. Steve Mackey
070
Reposted by Grant McGaheran
Andrew Male @andrewmale.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
What's wrong, Sheffield? You've hardly looked at your unfinished Ronnie O'Sullivan mural. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Sheffield artist defends "unfinished" Ronnie O'Sullivan mural
The mural on a snooker club wall has gone viral - but artist says "touch-ups" are still needed.
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Reposted by Grant McGaheran
Works of Genius @worksofgenius.org · 23/08/2026
🚨New blog post: “New Eyes” worksofgenius.org/2026/08/23/n...
worksofgenius.org
New Eyes
The sky is menacing, about to downpour at any moment, yet there is no wind. The tourists desperately clutch tiny electric fans near their faces and smile weakly at their livestreams, dripping with …
1113
Reposted by Grant McGaheran
Ian Jones @ian-jones.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I've taken a tour of the Carry On universe with stopwatch in hand, measuring the longest days, shortest plots and other horological messing about. nearertotheend.co.uk/2026/08/24/t...
nearertotheend.co.uk
The passage of time in Carry On films
Jacques, James and Joey while away the afternoon in Carry On At Your Convenience In the Carry On universe, time flies with the insouciance of a budgie that knows how to predict the winner of the th…
1327
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
They call me still, the blinding lights of Ba na na.
A snack called Ba na na on a dodgy corner in Kinshicho, Tokyo. It has a bright yellow awning and three bright yellow signs, all brighter than a thousand suns
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Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
These nights of Kinsh
A narrow tiled corridor open to the sultry Kinshicho night at each end with various bars and small restaurants giving a distinct Shōwa vibe. In the foreground is a gas meter and a square blue illuminated sign with the words Snack Eda written in Katakana and kanji.
0100
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
'We always met on the sloping windy street-corner by the police station. From this point the streets went off like dim-lit corridors in a large hotel, with dogs, milkbottles, shoes, etc. left outside the doors. Paving stones with mica sparkling in them led off to new liaisons.'
Rosemary Tonks
The Halt During the Chase
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Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Roll Away the Stoen
An old, long-shuttered shop called Ishikawa (literally translated beside the katakana on the sign as RIVER STONE and RIVER STOEN). Kinshicho, Tokyo
090
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Cruel heat in Deep Kinsh.
Fenced-in path under an elevated highway near Kinshicho, Tokyo.  Once a canal.
0100
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
It's been far too long, so I came to lovely Zushi for what Larkin called 'the miniature gaiety of seasides'.
The beach at Zushi, Kanagawa. There is an art installation of the word Zushi in hiragana made from plastic bottle caps. The weather is lovely.
040
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Same Old Scene
Window display with a mannequin in a long dark dress and a pearl necklace alongside an arrangement of yellow orchids, with a bright green backdrop.
0202
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
OUSE.
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Reposted by Grant McGaheran
archivetvmusings @archivetvmusings.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The Seaside Special roadshow rolls into Blackpool and Les Dawson is delighted to be there (18th August 1979)
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Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
'A single pigeon, black in thickening sky, flew swift and on past the Park. It was dusk. Light from wide open windows increased by strides, primrose yellow over a dark that bled from blue.'
Henry Green
Concluding
050
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
I love both an unreasonable amount. I think I slightly prefer Reproduction for its unrelenting camp-gothic-SF gloom. The songs sound like they've been made by the survivors of The War Game based on their memories of 60s pop and factories.
110
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Here Comes Midweek
A yellow Sobu Line train leaves Hirai station in eastern Tokyo for Chiba. It passes a colourful block of flats. The late afternoon sky is blue with whispy clouds.
0111
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Season of Lights
Paper lanterns with candles inside float down the Kyunakagawa river, Tokyo. They are set afloat by local children as part of a ceremony to console the spirits of those who died in the Tokyo air raids of 1945, many at this very spot. It also marks the anniversary of the end of the Second World War and takes place during Obon, the time at which the spirits of ancestors are supposed to visit household altars.
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Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Ach, don't stare so.
A post-war kanban style corrugated metal house in Hirai, Tokyo. The upper floor of light blue and downstairs is brown. The first floor windows look like eyes complete with brows
0100
Reposted by Grant McGaheran
Brían Hanrahan @hanrahanistan.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
brick curtain
big exterior street wall of angled pale red bricks about 4 meters high, the brick pattern a weird pixelated visual effect, Coyoacán, Cdmx
1123
Reposted by Grant McGaheran
44xnatural @44xnatural.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
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Reposted by Grant McGaheran
bopterror @bopterror.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
We do perms sign
0162
Grant McGaheran @grantmcgaheran.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
(Bill Withers voice intensifies)
An old, rusted tin sushi shop and tonkatsu shop and a tree. The rain beats down, a man walks past with an umbrella. Mid-August, Hirai, Tokyo
0100
Reposted by Grant McGaheran
British Transport Films Stills @btfstills.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
JOURNEY INTER-CITY (1972)
An image captured from JOURNEY INTER-CITY (1972)
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