Around the time of the 2002 World Cup a number of cheap hostels for foreign tourists were built in the northeast of Tokyo, around Sanya, a neighbourhood best known for its population of day labourers. Over five years Kazuhiko Washio spent time talking with and photographing the backpackers who stayed at one of these hostels, hundreds of travellers in all. In the text for his book he describes conversing with these people until he forgot about the hostel itself and all that was left was a naked presence, and he writes that when their voices resonated with him he felt the tenderness of knowing that they and he were small fragments drifting through the world, each living a life in a different place. In the photographs the travellers are often seen in a quiet moment, sometimes looking straight at the camera, and Washio records the date and home country of each subject when available. Their portraits carry a strange stillness and body warmth, and show that travel is not only a matter of going far to look for something but also of watching those who come and go. Hotel Far East is a simple meditation on how people can slow down even while on the move. The writer Natsuki Ikezawa contributes an essay.