Many shops in the Japanese capital are conveniently situated in the city’s dizzying array of department stores; places where climate control and carefully coiffured cuties are commonplace — compulsory even.

Yet down certain side streets and a bit of the beaten track, outlets with more character, if not exactly customers, can be found. Like this shop specialising in brooms for example.

A store that, perhaps due to a niche that’s not exactly necessary nowadays, unfortunately hasn’t had the pleasure of a patron since 1972 — Saturday, September 2nd, to be precise. And even then the customer in question was after a hand brush that unfortunately they didn’t have.