Category: Summer
Photography in Shonan– Mid-August 2023
After a hiatus of about three years, I’ve resumed attending meetups. The pandemic and subsequent family hardships led me to withdraw from socializing. I’m uncertain if I’ve fully recovered from the trauma. Nonetheless, I’ve noticed a significant change in my mindset recently – I now crave real in-person interactions, moving away from exclusively online ones. …
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 …
Learn a Language and Inhale the Culture Behind it
“War is what happens when language fails.” ― Margaret Atwood I do believe learning a language is a life-changing experience. According to a Google search, roughly 6,500 languages are spoken in the world today. It’s an astonishing number! So, there are 6,500 opportunities to view the world differently and 6,500 chances to understand those who have different backgrounds. They may have different perspectives and beliefs than yours, but it doesn’t mean you have to disagree with them. We, humans, can understand each other through words. That’s what apart us from other types of animals. Languages could be as harmful as a knife and hurt our feelings, at the same time …
Think Twice
“My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” ― Abraham Lincoln If you are an enthusiastic Trump supporter and are going to vote for him in the upcoming presidential election, please think twice… I know I’m not an American citizen and don’t have any right to participate in the upcoming election in November, but I want to share my thoughts here. And this post is especially dedicated to my international friends in North America, because the White House’s directions heavily influence its allies, including my country, Japan. When I was a kid, I grew …
Throw Flowers at Your Enemy
“I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.” ― Abraham Lincoln “I can’t breathe,” said George Floyd. It was his last words before he was murdered by a Police officer, Derek Chauvin, in Minneapolis. It didn’t take long before his death sparked thousands of people to take action. “Black lives matter!” Not only did tens of thousands of Americans railed in cities and towns all across the nation, even Europeans, and Australians joined the global protest to fight racial discrimination against Black people. When I was young, I didn’t care about what was happening in America or any other country simply because my small town was …
Early Summer with Handheld Fireworks – Part 3
“Every reader wants the same thing: to open the cover of a book and watch the words explode like fireworks off the page.” ― Kim Lehman Here is the final part of the photographic series Early Summer with Handheld Fireworks. This post’s main focus is long exposure photography. If you’re into photography, probably you’re familiar with this technique. Usually, I use this technique in urban areas, where city lights are growing and cars are turning into red lines. This time, though, I took advantage of this skill to capture people swinging handheld fireworks, having them look like wizards. It was right that I brought my old tripod on the day. …
Early Summer with Handheld Fireworks – Part 2
“When you meet someone so different from yourself, in a good way, you don’t even have to kiss to have fireworks go off.” ― Lisa Schroeder, I Heart You, You Haunt Me As I introduced in Part 1 of this series, Early Summer with Handheld Fireworks, handheld fireworks are ones you can lit and hold in your hands. When you fire them up, they make a “shuu” sound, and fire will come out of it. This time, I photographed attendees of the meetup event. What I love about handheld fireworks is that their sparks resemble our life’s beauty. Even though their shine doesn’t last long, at least we can witness …
Early Summer with Handheld Fireworks – Part 1
“There should be fireworks at last, when a dream dies.” ― Kirby Larson When Japan enters an early summer, fireworks festivals are held across the country, lighting up the Japanese night sky with splendid bursts. This time, though, I’m introducing handheld fireworks that are also one of our summer features. Handheld fireworks are ones you can lit and hold in your hands. And you can buy them in convenient stores, supermarkets, and any local shops. Some countries, especially in the west, prohibit selling this kind of fireworks for safety reasons, but Japan- along with other Asian nations such as Taiwan – has it available across the country. So, even kids …