Somewhere in Japan

Category: At Home

Dispatch № 40: Celluloid Time Machine

Photograph showing an inverted photo of strips of freshly developed negatives hanging to dry

Rainy season has come early this year, and so has my annual effort to catch up on my undeveloped film. I’m not sure how many rolls there are, but I’d guess about fifty rolls.

Dispatch № 35: Open Wide

Photo showing a traditional house and neighboring buildings at dusk in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, Japan

Breeze and birdsong alike flow liquidly, languidly into the apartment through windows thrown open wide to invite the atmosphere in.

Dispatch № 28: The Mountains and The Sea

Photograph showing the light of a ship on the horizon at dusk. Photo taken at Tsujido Seaside Park in Kanagagwa Prefecture, Japan

If you grew up near the ocean, you likely take its presence for granted, in a way that you wouldn’t if you grew up far inland, where its existence seemed more academic.

Dispatch № 27: 2,194 Days

Photo of Tokyo showing the construction of a new high rise near Tokyo Tower

Six years I’ve been in Japan. This last Wednesday was my sixth Japaniversary. Rather than reflect on the occasion in my usual way, though, I thought I’d expore that time through numbers.

Dispatch № 25: An Aside

Skyline of Tokyo, looking in the direction of Azabujuban from Roppongi

Indulge me, if you would, and let me have a bit of an aside for today’s entry. The last couple of weeks have been incredibly intense and have contained both some of the most trying and most amazing moments of my life.

Dispatch № 23: The Thinness of Walls

Photograph showing the corner of a traditional Japanese room with tatami mat floor, closet door, and typical textured wallpaper

On Tuesday at 4:56 AM, an earthquake woke us. Not especially strong, but it seemed to last a long time. I reached over, took Mayumi’s hand, and we laid there wondering how long the shaking would continue.

Dispatch № 22: The Laundry Forecast

My bathmat drying outside, only it got rained on and froze solid

A long metal pole has invaded my living room on several occasions. Supported with a camera tripod on one end and a light stand on the other, it is always festooned with sodden garments that didn’t make it inside before the rain arrived.

Dispatch № 19: Faster Shoes

Detail of the laces on my old boots

I need faster shoes. Not shoes that make me faster at running or anything like that, but shoes that are faster to put on and (especially) to take off. Living in Japan, I often have to remove my shoes, and if you’re waiting for me, I feel bad for you.

Dispatch № 12: Hearing Earthquakes

Photo of the light in my kitchen, adjacent to the shelving that holds cookbooks, a microwave, and a small stereo

It’s like an impossibly large machine has just switched on, far enough away that the actual noise of it is gone, but the low rumble of its vibrations carry through the ground and into your body.

Dispatch № 10: Thirty Years

About thirty years. That’s the average lifespan of a house in Japan. The day a new home is finished is the day it begins depreciating. Within twenty years or so, the value of the structure will be zero.

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