The Wayfarer Blog

It’s hard to find your own space in a city like Tokyo. But sometimes, in the midst of all those people, you find yourself all alone…

This is the first one I remember seeing. I’m sure it won’t be the last.
Musashi Sakai Station. Tokyo, Japan.

Sometimes you look down and see something funny. I’ve heard of footprints in the sand..but never in footprints in the tracks!

This is part of a mural near Sakae Dori (さかえ通り), in front of Takadanobaba Station, in Tokyo, Japan.

Natsume Soseki (February 9, 1867 – December 9, 1916) is one of the greats of modern Japanese literature. (Personally, I prefer Heian literature, especially Waka, but I have read some of his work in Japanese.) I need to read more…

He lived in England for two years, but he was poor and miserable. After he returned to Japan, he became famous as a writer and English professor.

I used to carry him with me in my wallet–he was commemorated on the ¥1000 bill (the smallest bill in Japan), but a couple years ago, he was replaced by Hideyo Noguchi, the bacteriologist who isolated the cause of syphilis.

Learn More!

Wikipedia Entries for Natsume Soseki:
(English): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natsume_S?seki
(Japanese): ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/????
Japanese Waka: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waka_(poetry)

“Death is the debt we must all pay.” –Euripedes

Back to back posts of cemetery pics might seem a bit morbid, but I can assure you I am not channeling Vincent Price. I pass by this cemetery on my way to the high school where I teach (you can see the school in the third picture in this post, in fact). I have been meaning to take pictures of the graves, and in fact, I didn’t really do it justice today, but I just couldn’t wait any longer. I wanted to at least take a few pictures. At some point, I want to spend more time taking pictures here, as it is a huge cemetery, with a lot of interesting viewpoints.

Japanese graveyards are not so common–at least in Tokyo–so it is interesting to look at them. Obviously, from a cultural and religious standpoint, you can see a lot of differences. But at the same time, I feel a sense of intimacy with these people who have preceded me (just like in American cemeteries). What stories echo on? These people were once alive and had many of the same hopes, dreams, and problems that we still experience today. We are all one. When I was in college, I took a class called, “Death in the History of Religions.” It gave me a lot of insight into how people in various cultures deal with death, grief, and the finality of death.

Death is an inevitability, and it’s good to look carefully at the gravestones and remember that life is short and precious. We shouldn’t waste it on negativity or pettiness.

Enjoy the pictures. (7 total)

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I just had a couple minutes, and it was raining pretty hard, so I only managed to take a couple shots of this cemetary near Musashi Sakai Station.

Some forms of Buddhism in Japan–primarily Shingon (真言宗) and Tendai (天台宗), which were both transmitted from China in the early 9th century–make use of a specialized form of writing based on Sanskrit. I’m not sure, but I believe these say “Aum.” If anyone knows, please feel free to let me know. They are definitely not Japanese.

Every train leads somewhere.

What adventures lie farther down the tracks?
Some trains lead to work.
Some lead home.
Others lead to new experiences, and places you’ve never been.

Sometimes, the train you can’t take is more enticing than the one you must take…

I took a few pics on the Tama Monorail today. Here is one of them. I will post more tomorrow. Early bedtime tonight..

Although I couldn’t take pictures of the eclipse yesterday, I did manage to take a few pictures around Musashi Sakai Station. I had to transfer there to go to the college where I teach on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Although Musashi Sakai is just four stops away from my home station, i have only been there a couple times. Yesterday, I walked around the station, and saw an area I had never seen before. Here are some pictures I took. This is one of my favorites…

Where’s the Princess?

These guys were sitting around, waiting for their princess to show up.

Click the link to see the rest of the pictures (20 total), or you can see them on flickr here.

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Just in case you’re wondering, we couldn’t see the eclipse in Tokyo. It was overcast and rainy all morning. The sun did come out a bit later, but by then the moon had lost interest and moved on.

If you want to see some pictures of the eclipse from other areas in Asia, check out these flickr pics.

Update: Here is an interesting NHK clip on YouTube showing the eclipse. It’s in Japanese, but still worth seeing, even if you can’t understand what they are saying!