22 nostalgic photos that show what Tokyo looked like in the 1970s

• Photographer Greg Girard spent his teenage days capturing images of the streets and people of Vancouver before he moved on to exploring Asian cities like Hong Kong and Tokyo. 
• In his book, "Tokyo-Yokosuka 1976-83," Girard shares largely unseen photos of the Japanese city right before its economic boom. 
• Through his series of colored and black-and-white photos, he also explores Yokosuka, a town south of Tokyo that was home to a sprawling US Navy base. 
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Canadian photographer Greg Girard spent years traveling across Asia, capturing photos of the streets and people in cities like Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo. 

After arriving in Tokyo in 1976, Girard was captivated by the sprawling city and decided to move into a tiny apartment, despite his plan for a brief visit. In his book titled "Tokyo-Yokosuka 1976-83," Girard offers a rare glimpse into what life was like in the capital of Japan and surrounding areas during this time through a series of colored and black-and-white photos.

Keep scrolling for a nostalgic look into the world of Tokyo before it became the bustling city it is today. 

As a teenager growing up in Vancouver, photographer Greg Girard would spend his weekends in cheap hotels downtown, capturing photos of his surroundings and the people he met.

But early on, he found himself branching out to different parts of the world, specifically Asian cities like Hong Kong and Shanghai.

In 1975, the photographer crossed paths with another traveler in Brunei who spoke of Tokyo in such a way that Girard knew he had to visit.

With a multi-stop ticket in hand and plans for nothing more than a short stay, he landed in the Japanese capital.

Just one glimpse at the city convinced him that Tokyo was different from anything he had ever experienced, and he was curious to see more.

"It was just so obvious that it was a kind of science-fiction place — that word just popped into my head looking out the train window at the city," Girard shares in his book. "I thought, 'Why didn't anybody tell me about this?'"

"I was intending to stay in the city maybe two days on my way to Southeast Asia but ended up deciding at that moment to try and live there," the photographer explained to Insider.

He found a part-time job teaching English, which allowed him to spend his free time photographing everything from the streets to the people.

Not long after moving into his tiny Tokyo apartment, Girard was listening to the radio when he suddenly heard the US national anthem.

The English station, "American Forces Far East Network," led to his discovery of a nearby base town called Yokosuka, which was south of Tokyo.

Girard started spending his weekends exploring the sprawling US Navy base, where he photographed the people and surrounding areas.

He noticed that many of the bars and night clubs were catering to American servicemen.

"That world in which they were trying to recreate little bits of America far from home was interesting and became a subject that I've continued working on," Girard explained.

During his time photographing Tokyo and Yokosuka, Girard also explained that he would simply ask if he could hang out with his subjects and capture their life, adding that "there was just an ease about things" that is difficult to reproduce today.

And as his Japanese vocabulary improved, so did his ability to move about the city and communicate with more and more people.

"The more I could speak Japanese, the more I would find myself in interesting situations with people who didn't speak English," he said.

Girard's photos remained largely unseen until being published in a book titled "Tokyo-Yokosuka 1976-1983."

But since sharing his photos, the photographer explained to Insider that he has been thrilled by people's reactions to this rare glimpse into what he calls the "pre-'Blade Runner' era," right before the city served as a representation of what people thought the future would look like.

"It wasn't what people knew when they thought about Japan or Tokyo at the time," he told Insider. "Information didn't travel the way it does today, so when you stepped off the plane in 1976, you were surprised to find this neon, hypermodern city."

Girard added that it "might sound surprising today that you could travel and see things for the first time that hadn't already been widely discussed."

But at its core, this photo series represents "the power of going out in the world and seeing things with your own eyes."

"It's always different from what you see on social media," Girard said. "There is no substitute for just going."

You can view more of Greg Girard's work on Instagram and purchase his book, "Tokyo-Yokosuka 1976-1983," here. 

Are you a photographer with work you'd like to share with Insider? Email mgarber@businessinsider.com

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