Category: Bicycles
Monogamy Is an Illusion
“What we wait around a lifetime for with one person, we can find in a moment with someone else.” ― Stephanie Klein, Straight Up and Dirty Son of a bitch. Motherfucker. Womanish. There are a lot of phrases and words that disrespect women in the English language. Even in my native language, Japanese, you can find a certain number of phrases that ridicule them. But when it o comes to men, there are many phrases that praise being a man. You’re the man. Men’s man. And this trend is especially true among baby boomers who grew up without any notions of gender equality. Although I’m a man, I feel sick …
Twelve Midnight
“The finest of pleasures are always the unexpected ones.” ― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus It was twelve midnight in Tokyo. The city fell asleep, and people were missing. Since it was right after the shower rain, haze spilled into the dark night sky. The urban skyline was mysteriously lit up by skyscrapers. It was like an alternative universe where things went differently than in ours. In the night, I had no choice but staying in Shinjuku, Tokyo. After having enjoyed talking with my friend, I realized I missed the last train. Giving up on slight hope of going back to my home in Yokohama, I decided to spend the …
What’s the Meaning of Life?
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” ― Winston Churchill “Okay Google, what’s the meaning of life?” that was my very first question when I bought a Google Home last year. I know, it isn’t a practical question. Google Assistant’s answer was “I have a factory warranty. So I don’t worry about things like that”. Well done, Google. Thanks for such a boring answer… Anyways, what I wanted to do was to cast a human question to Google, and see how it would answer to it. The search giant is famous for hiring gifted mathematicians in all sorts of various sectors, and …
Life in Japan: Expectations and Reality
“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” ― L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between I guess to be an “outsider” and a “customer” is always easier than to be “one of them”, wrote Nell Zhang. That’s how she described her life in Japan. I stumbled upon a question posted on Quora which reads “What is it like living in Japan as a foreigner?”. And Zhang answered the question with her struggling experiences. What her experience stands in the crowd of other foreigners’ is her deep understanding of the Japanese society and most importantly her fluency in Japanese. In most cases, foreigners, especially those from the West, gave up …
Bicycles
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” ― Albert Einstein We need bicycles more than ever, especially in cities. Environmental issues are our generation’s responsibility, and bicycles very much contribute to a clean environment. Investment in bicycle infrastructure is essential to make a city “smarter”. Unfortunately, Tokyo is yet an ideal city for cycling. Hopefully, the city could be cleaner by 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Here are some of my photographs that explore bicycles spotted in Shibuya.