Sleeping history in a small Japanese town
Posted on September 20, 2017
日本語
Not too long ago our family arrived in the town of Ogawamachi, Saitama (map here) located about 75 minutes away from Tokyo/Ikebukuro at the end of the Tobu Tojo line. (about 80 kilometers by car from central Tokyo). Nestled within some smaller mountain ranges it contains a number of sometimes overlooked treasures. With this I don’t mean the already world famous organic rice fields, vegetable gardens, or, unbelievable amount of wildlife. I am also not thinking about the Ogawamachi produced paper, called washi in Japanese, known for its toughness and beauty.
What I would like to describe is the large number of ancient, and, historic buildings occasionally dating back to a time around the Meiji Restoration in the late 1860s. Some of them are well preserved. Looking at them you can almost feel how lively this town once must have been. It was not only a center of silk production. Ogawamachi also has a charming past, somewhat shy, however very happy and full of celebrations. It was a town known for its traditions around geisha culture.
Now, this wonderful time is long gone. However, allowing for a little daydreaming and imagination, maybe the sound of a koto mixed with the clanking of sake cups and clack-clacks of wooden geta sandals can still be heard. Shadows of kimono rushing by ready for an appointment, and, if lucky enough, maybe there is even a secret, embarrassed smile of a beautiful artist geisha. A dream of a time long gone. A dream still touchable, its soul alive, however, slowly disappearing into libraries and books in form of letters and pictures.
From a photography perspective capturing an architectural historic situation sometimes takes looking at building several times. I might have walk passed interesting houses several times not realizing an interesting feature on a roof, or, something hidden in the shade of an entrance. Maybe a falling apart building with rotten walls stands out so much that some hidden treasures behind it are ignored.
Below is a collection of photos of buildings and structures in and around Ogawamachi in Saitama. They portrait their real status in terms of preservation. It does not help pointing out only their beauty if, on the other hand, nobody really hears these buildings silently weep waiting for help while gradually bowing out from this World saying: “Sayonara…”
The good news, however, is that some buildings are in great shape and well taken care off. They should function as an example to others what could be done.
For this type of photography, besides a camera which is capable of low light photography without two much noise my standard lenses are a wide angle lens around 15-20 mm and a mid-range tele lens around 70 – 200 mm. The wide angle lens is necessary for tight buildings, or, narrow streets to still capture an object very near to the camera together with its surrounding. The tele lens is used for objects relatively distant from the camera and unreachable. A monopod is usually helpful. I’d rather use a strong hand held light than a flash to illuminate objects. A flash is used to brighten up shadows.
Thank you for visiting my page. Please feel free to comment, or, send me an email if you should have any questions. I might update this blog over time, hopefully documenting visible changes to the appearance of this beautiful town.
Comments or questions are very much appreciated. Please click below.
Your message has been sent
Cafe Gute Katze & GoodTimes English 