All images were photographed with iPhone 4s during the hottest days of summer 2015 at sundown. Grainy textures came, mostly from the lack of light, and a slight bit from editing with vscocam.
Category Archives: Diary
Hear/I am.
About a month ago the year turned. While it was turning I rushed to a close by temple for the once-a-year opportunity to hit a big bronze bell they got there with a rather large log positioned to swing horizontally.
The bell is there year-round but I waited a whole year, for I feel too polite to just walk up there any old time and hit it as I like, the booming resonance it produces.
I had an opportunity to talk with the head monk afterwards, a carefree random chat the first thing in the year. He shared with me what’s been taught to him;
to find “Hotoke” – by whom no words be voiced – listen to the water, the wind…
ALERT:
This video contains flickering lights.
(Sunlight reflections on Sea surface.)
The footage’s of the sea lit with the first sunlight of the year, coupled with the booming bass from the aforementioned bell.
That is what brings everything together really, the boom of the bell, so do make sure to boost the lower frequency.
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Sado Island Purse, revisited.
Photographed and uploaded to Flickr on January 28, 2015, revised edit made on February 14, 2021.
The purse itself was created circa 2004, out of vintage futon fabric I found during my visit to the island in early August 2003. The peak season with very few tourists, I was often alone, the only car on the road.
The place has a unique history as an island of exile, “…was a place of banishment for those who had fallen out of favor with the rulers of the day. More than 70 people—notably aristocrats and artists—were exiled here” (within “” from Smithsonian magazine).
Strange, felt like home there. I wrote a bit about my visit on: Dried persimmons from Sado Island made me think of.
Published on February 14, last edited on February 15, 2021.
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Inspired Moments, 2014.
May a rainbow follow your stride…
Illuminated Shadows
ALERT:
This video contains flickering lights and very bright colors.
(Flashy Christmas tree ornaments, blinking traffic headlights and slow moving color blocks in luminescent, contrasting saturation.)
The whole thing was shot on the 23rd of December, 2014. From a window of a “design station” (as in design hotel) with a floating lounge overlooking Pacific, then at a Christmas “illumination” event, where the whole town square was lit too bright and over saturated.
The sound, I took it off a webcast at slooh.com for Ursid Meteor shower that was taking place on the same day. I recall it said was recorded in Canary Islands.
Happy Holidays everyone, wish you all a wonderful time. Be safe, keep warm (if applicable), and stay cool. Cheers.
Shades of Holidays 2013
On my way to apple store, London UK somewhere, fully lit and ready for Holidays (top), and macro shots of vintage pheasant, preserved perfectly, a gift given to me earlier this year (thank you).
Best Wishes for the last bit of 2013 and beyond.
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Lily Overload (and a few images from random Autumn scenes).
Just wanted to see how a longish title would look.
As a research for my upcoming dye piece, I’ve been taking way too many photos of spider lily blossoms. Through this practice ideas seem to emerge. Well, they better.
Here I picked the best of, all taken just recently.
つい先日一般道で新潟まで出かける機会があった。太平洋側はそこらじゅうで満開だった彼岸花だが、那須高原を越え新潟までの道程ではほとんど見かけなかったのが不思議といえば不思議。育たないのか、育てたくないのか。
それにしても南会津の星空は迫力があった。ここの住人にはこれがあたりまえなのか。地球みたいな星がこのなかにどれだけあるのか、自分みたいな奴がたったいまどこかで同じような事を考えているのか。
こんなに疑問ばかり並べていないで早く寝た方がいいのではないか。
最後の一つだけ答えがわかりました。
追記 on 2020年11月29日：
彼岸花は真冬にすらりと洗練された深緑の葉っぱを生やして日光を独り占めするのです。だから雪の積もるエリアではあかんのでしょう。
ああもうなんてかっこいいんだろう、完全脱帽状態です、惚れ直しました。
Last Edited: November 29, 2020.
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To West and Back
This year summer arrived late. Right when it did, I headed west in my little Honda. Along the coast of the Great Channel of Far East (formally known as Japan Sea), until I hit the region called San-in, “in the shadow of mountains”.
I’ve taken city street, cutting through “Japan Alps” at midnight (not the smartest idea), so as to really hear cicadas sing, millions of trillions of them. Each and every mount tall and small buzzed like it is a space craft about to take off, sound that goes well with the blazing summer sun.
Beaches of San-in have minimum dose of concrete holding them in. Mounds of thriving woods in sharp angles and rocky little picturesque islands grow out of glassy teal sea. They perch at the edge of water, appearing wild, but also somewhat reserved. Polite yet unrestricted, the harmonious anarchy.
While treading water impressed, ocean decided to rush into my snout, sending an army of microorganisms as plenty as cicadas in summer hills, on a mission to unlock my senses from inside out. Thanks to them the buzzing intensified, and for a few moments I felt I could almost ‘get’ what their song is all about.
From top:
1 and 2 – Tango Peninsula, Kyoto
3 – Yasugi Beach, Hyogo
4 – Aizu South, Fukushima
5 – Kasumi, Hyogo
All photographed earlier this month.
Heartfelt “Thank You!!” to all of you generous souls I encountered during my trip.
コンクリで護岸処理をしてある海岸線を通ると、セーラー服着用を義務づけられた６年間を思い出す。着たとたんに魂の電源が切れるというか、情熱に石棺処理を施されたような息苦しい感覚である。もちろん世の中には正反対の反応をなさる方もたくさんおられるようなのでこれはごく個人的な問題なのだけれども、不自由感を感じていないふりを自分にしないとやってゆけなかったから余計話はややっこしかったのだ。
新潟の海岸線はコンクリ使用量がとても多いようで、もったいない話だが制服トラウマの再燃に追い立てられる様にいつもあわてて通り過ぎてしまう。どこか影のある北陸を過ぎ若狭湾をこえたあたりで突然当方に変化が起きる。肺が勝手に深呼吸をしチョウチョの様にぱたぱたと羽ばたき始めるような胸いっぱいの開放感の発症である。
『山陰』という名前からはほど遠く明るくひらけた京都から兵庫、鳥取あたりのあの一帯には前述の護岸処理はあまり見当たらない。すくなくとも当方はもうそれどころではなくて、叫ぶような蝉たちの鳴き声にのって自らが飛び立っていってしまいそうで、一杯空気を吸い込んで軽くなった肺胞が風船の様に勝手に空を目指してしまいそうで、そんななかば宙に浮いた視界に入ってくるのは、石庭のような波紋を描く水面から生える、みっちりとはち切れそうな緑に覆われた小さな山々や日本画から抜け出たような岩の数々から、発車寸前の宇宙船のように響き渡る蝉の声が太陽光線といっしょになってすべてを震わせ前述の生き埋め感覚を木っ端みじんに粉砕する、そんな一大事な真夏の光景なのである。
上から、
写真１、２ 丹後半島 京都府
写真３ 安木浜 兵庫県
写真４ 南会津 福島県
写真５ 香住 兵庫県
写真はすべて今月はじめ頃に撮影。
旅行中こんな当方に親切にして下さった皆様に心から感謝いたします。
I recommend Dawn.
Summer dawn, what’s not to love. It’s here today, not to stay for long.
Up the hill, or down to the beach. Will drive empty streets. Watch the light sneak into the pre-dawn quiet.
I’m the sinister figure looking into your rice field, or up at the sky with my back facing the sun asleep right below the horizon.
What’s she doing out there, which planet is she from, she waiting for a ride back home, oh look, she’s talking, to her friends in the sky, or spirits of frogs ran over during the night…
In fact I’d be talking to myself, can I just not move for a moment or two, which ain’t audible to rural early risers, not until I laugh fairly loudly at my own sloth; I hate tripod.
All the images were shot in late June, 2013 – sometime around the solstice, by yours truly the staying upper, camera hand held.
近頃カエルの声がいくぶん大きくなったように感じる。個体がでかくなったのか、声帯だけぶっとくなったのかそれとも頭数が増えたのか。謎は深まるばかりだが、目にする単体は無邪気に小さくて愛くるしい。
なかには夜になると田んぼから飛び出し、夜露のアスプァルト上を弾性の嬉しそうなカーブを描いてはねるのもいて、こっちはたいした善人でもないが慌ててジグザグ走行に入り、このときばかりは過疎暮らしに感謝する。
夏の明け方は夜通し鳴きつづけたカエルたちの声もこころなしか疲れ気味でその数も少ない。車を止めて一歩踏み出すと、子供部屋のベッドリネンの柄のようにコミカルなポーズで真っ平らに轢かれたカエルたちが目に入る。彼らはまたカエルとして戻ってきて明日の夜あたりには大合唱に加わるのだろうか。無風で湿度の高い薄明かりに謎の粒子がみっしり詰まる夜明け前の一瞬である。
写真はすべて夏至あたりの早朝に怪しく撮影。
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Seagull, you fly.
Memories of many flights linger. Of gliding through salt water mists and sprays. 90 degree dives, the impacts, the chills. How sardines danced on this beak.
空を翔んだ記憶が波音のなかに消えてしまうまでもう少し時間がある。
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