It's sad (but somewhat comforting) that at least parts of Japan have the same rundown, neglected look as the USA except where the 10% or so with disposable income and leisure time choose to live or play: company in genteel poverty.
Yes. I don't like the shiny, the new, the rich, sleek and arrogant. Your Japan is the one I would prefer to visit: old, worn, modest, perhaps broken and repaired with kintsugi. I don't like cities, and in cities I like the abandoned, in-between places of rust, crumbling concrete, nature returning: small beauties amidst urban ugliness. There was a movie made of nature reclaiming cities if humans abandoned them: it was beautiful. If there was a pottery studio in a semi-abandoned Japanese village far from the big cities, I'd happily end my days there, throwing simple functional stoneware.
I love these portraits of a less glitzy Japan. There's something moving to them.
I'm glad you like the ordinary sights that I like too.
I'm amazed at how there is grittiness (rust, decaying stucco, bare dirt) but no trash. It's gritty, but clean.
It was only when you pointed it out that I noticed their absence.
It's sad (but somewhat comforting) that at least parts of Japan have the same rundown, neglected look as the USA except where the 10% or so with disposable income and leisure time choose to live or play: company in genteel poverty.
The sadness and comfort you felt may be feelings that lead to "wabi-sabi".
Yes. I don't like the shiny, the new, the rich, sleek and arrogant. Your Japan is the one I would prefer to visit: old, worn, modest, perhaps broken and repaired with kintsugi. I don't like cities, and in cities I like the abandoned, in-between places of rust, crumbling concrete, nature returning: small beauties amidst urban ugliness. There was a movie made of nature reclaiming cities if humans abandoned them: it was beautiful. If there was a pottery studio in a semi-abandoned Japanese village far from the big cities, I'd happily end my days there, throwing simple functional stoneware.
The mix of wooden and concrete architecture is fascinating. Also, I love how clean these places are!
I like places that have different materials and a mix of old and new.