“Jōkyō” (上京) means going to, or moving to Tokyo. It’s a compact Japanese word that gives significance to the capital city. For many, it means much more than just relocating to the biggest city in the country. It carries with it a sense of hope to chase dreams. In this way, jōkyō encompasses not just the act of moving, but also the ambitions, anxieties, and contradictions that young people associate with the city.

For this series, Ayato Murakami photographs youth who have moved to Tokyo. Everyone had their own reason for coming: university, work, a fresh start. As he took their portraits, he asked them why they moved and how they feel about living there. Murakami began to sense a pattern. While Tokyo draws people in, it also has the power to distort the very dreams that bring them there.

One of the final photos in the series is of a vacant lot in Tokyo, Murakami remarks. Even in a city where space is scarce, these empty patches remain. “I see them as symbolic—of the gaps, the absences, and the sometimes emotional emptiness at the heart of the metropolis.”

“It’s said that Tokyo’s population will peak around 2030, and then begin to decline. Already, the number of young people leaving is starting to match the number arriving. The image of Tokyo as a land of opportunity may soon shift into something else entirely.

And perhaps, one day, the very idea of jōkyō—this migration of youth in pursuit of dreams—will quietly disappear too.”