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Cars
By lylehsaxon (Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 10:08:31 AM EST) (all tags)
Within Tokyo, it's not practical to go most places by car, but when you get away from the larger cities, Japan has become very much a car culture, with two-car families quite common and people depending on cars for their daily transportation.  Yesterday, riding down a back road in a car, I spotted a woman walking down the road with a white parasol, looking very much like a 19th century painting. .....

..... I took a picture - which is at the top of this page:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgc/Walking01a.html

 - and I've been thinking how it feels to walk down a road compared to how it feels to ride down a road in a car.  It's comfortable riding around in air-conditioned cars, just sitting there at speed, but there's something to be said for walking and being in touch with the landscape as well.  The thing about being comfortable all the time is that you end up not appreciating things as much.  After a long walk in the hot sun, cool shade and a cold drink at your destination are more appreciated than after stepping out of a chilled car interior.

Retro-traditional culture.  After decades of traditional Japan slipping away with new things nearly always being bland-international, there seems to be at least a slight trend back towards traditional design, as evidenced by a new traditionally styled retro-traditional restaurant I ate at soon after seeing the woman from the 19th century painting (see "Walkways & Carways" in the Photo Gallery):
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/LHS_PhotoGallery.html

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/

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"Walkways & Carways" | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback
That traffic scene by blixco (2.00 / 0) #1 Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 10:11:55 AM EST
looks like Phoenix or Los Angeles.  Anonymous.  Not what I would have expected in Japan, where every picture I see is typically cities crowded with buildings or countryside.
---------------------------------
"You bring the weasel, I'll bring the whiskey." - kellnerin


Scene Choosing... by lylehsaxon (4.00 / 1) #2 Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 02:40:59 PM EST
That's because photographers here focus on what they perceive to be peculiar to Japan, which is more interesting to look at outside this country.  But believe me, that car scene is not at all unusual here.  The central city areas can not accommodate cars for everyone and the deep countryside retains something of old, but the vast area in-between those two extremes is awash in cars and mundane scenes.  There are a couple of other photos like that under the "Suburbia" link on this page:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PDF/PDF_02/PDF02.html

Camera angle is another issue - behind me and my camera for the bridge picture on the left on this page:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/Nikko01.html

 - was a busy street full of cars and buses!

Lyle

The shortest way home is the longest way 'round....
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"Walkways & Carways" | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

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