Category: Journal
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Peak hour transit.
Camera: iPhone17 pro max Catching the Tokyo subway during peak hour is an unforgettable experience. There is nowhere left to sit. There is nowhere left to hold. There is nowhere left to fall. On the curves, and the stops, we all move as one. Everyone crushed together yet totally encapsulated in their own withdrawn internal…
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Vowz cocktail bar.
Location: ///fracture.probably.rummage Down a side alley, turn off an even side-e-er alley and up a narrow wooden staircase gets you to the Vowz cocktail bar. A small rustic affair run by Buddhist monks that serves simple vegan dishes and, well.…buddhist cocktails. The ceiling was papered with large Japanese characters. Perhaps names of previous patrons. Perhaps…
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Ginkgo Avenue disappoints.
Of course it is Autumn. But not all Autumns are equal, and the peak autumnal blush rises and falls across Japan at different times according to location and altitude. You have to chase it. Tokyo boasts the Icho Namiki or “Ginkgo Avenue” in the Meiji-jingu Gaien Park as a spectacular wash of gold foliage down…
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That person.
Camera: Fujifilm XT5 Snapped this photo at an underpass in Tokyo. The torn poster caught my eye and as I was composing the shot this dude walked into shot. I am happy with both these photos: 7/10. —ooOoo— I just don’t want to be that person. I have been pretty diligent about wearing a mask in Japan.…
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Torii gate.
Not a barrier, but a welcoming. Ive walked through a few Torii gates this trip. At first I just strolled through, looking up ahead at the temple or shrine or whatnot. But I learned. It is a gateway. A liminal space. A threshold. Intended to separate the sacred from the mundane. A portal to mix…
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The door of carriage 9.
Catching the local train from Gora to Hakone Yumoto. We pull up at a tiny station and the doors open, and there is this amazing shrine cut right into the face of the rock right outside the door. Complete with stone dragon and steps leading up into the murky darkness. I mean you could reach…
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Koi II.
So I’m going to give myself a 9.9/10 for this one. Shot late in the afternoon just after arriving in Hakone. It was like 3.30 pm but the sun was just setting behind the tall mountains that cusp this town. Nothing special, just a pool of fish in front of an old hotel. But that…
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Observations and annotations.
After a dreary, grey-rain morning in Kyoto, the sun unexpectedly rearranged the sky palette into scarlet purples and deep magentas, and low-hanging mist. A postponed excursion out to the Philosophers Path was now the perfect response. The path curves along the route of a canal and is lined with hundreds of cherry trees that explode…
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