Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Wednesday In Japan. . . memories

I have been in an introspective mood lately.
Many reasons but maybe age is playing a huge part.

So this is a repeat from 2010
Hope you enjoy the updated post.
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On a trip to visit Japanese son, 
who at the time was living and teaching in Sanda, Japan.
I came to realize how much I loved Japanese Vending Machines.
Sanda is about 35 kilometers beyond the Rokko Mountain range from Osaka.
This is a big agricultural area known for Strawberries and the famous Kobe Beef.
It is about a hour train ride into Osaka through some of the most beautiful mountains, 
tree covered tunnels (each tunnel has a name) to bridges over rocky crystal clear rivers.
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It is a visual heaven to this desert dweller.
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Sanda is a commuter family town that has a vibrant city area and train station.
I lived out in the countryside so I had a charming but very tiny train station.
Next to the train station, there were fields of rice and vegetables along both sides of the road that I walked to get to my apartment.
You rarely see a plot of land that is empty in Japan. 
If it is flat there is always something growing on it from rice, vegetables or flowers.
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Very late one evening  after we left the lights of the train station, parking lot and taxi stand and a few late night riders, it was just daughter and I walking down a very dark and quiet road. There were a few homes and street light by where we lived to the right
but it was very dark and quiet walk.
So quiet that I swear I could here the rice growing in the field next to me.
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Then right before me glowing in the dark standing all by itself next to an electrical pole and the rice field was a soft drink vending machine. 
Softly glowing in the dark all by itself,  just standing there lighting our way.
I came to really love seeing that vending machine on those late night walks home.
I miss that walk. 
I miss that vending machine and I can't believe I never took a photo of it.
But I remember it all, like I was just there.
Walking down that road over the stone bridge and stream again late last night.
So strong is the feeling that I swear can hear the rice growing once again.
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I never took a photo of the vending machine at night
or the hilly area right where I was living.
But the photo above does look like the hills at night near where I walked.
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memories. . . parsnip
Music. . . A Place We Must Return To,  OST Final Fantasy
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As I read this memory I feel that I should have known there were
 Totoros and a Catbus guiding my way home,
right there in the rice fields and wind above me.
Magical is all I can say

19 comments:

  1. With a memory and description like that, I doubt you really need a photo - I can see it now

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    1. Thank You so much.
      There are several memories like this for me. Walking through a pineapple field in Hawaii, around the gardens at Leeds Castle, Stonehenge on a blustery morning. But for some reason so many magical moment are in Japan.

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  2. Sounds very magical. Isn't it odd the way some moments just stay with us forever.

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    1. They are so strong I feel like I was just there.

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  3. Such a great post. You are a great writer

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  4. It looks like a very serene sky, and sounds like a peaceful place.

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  5. i lived three years on okinawa but only visited japan briefly, in 1967, long time ago. it was so exciting in tokyo though.

    smiles, bee
    xoxoxoxoxo

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    1. Tokyo Is always exciting but I really love Osaka. The who feeling of the town is so different and fun.

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  6. Nice, poetic description. As someone else said, you didn't need a photograph to convey it.

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    1. Coming from you who writes such interesting post that is a nice complement.

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  7. Replies
    1. and coming from you too, your photos are always so fabulous !

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  8. One of the great things about getting older - one can enjoy the same thing twice as if it were the first time:)

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