Cup holders.

( Klasse W, Velvia 100 )



A male nurse who works with me was asked to come to a car dealer with his girl friend. She asked because she does not have much knowledge about car.

As soon as they got to a car dealer, a sales person came up to them with friendly smile on his face. The sales person asked what kind of car they were looking for. As a matter of fact, a male nurse who joined her wasn’t notified what kind of car she wanted.

What she said was actually astonishing. She said “I want a car with cup holders”. Yes, a car she wanted was not a SUV, sedan, or even minivan. She wanted a car with cup holders!

You are not talking about Ford T type that was made 100 years ago. I can’t imagine there are cars without cup holders. However, I found out I was wrong when I visited Japan last month.

A car my sister drives did not have cup holders. If you stopped by at the nearest gas stand to buy a bottle of water, you would end up with holding a bottle until you finish it up. Well, you can exercise your muscle on your arm while you are driving. The car manufacturer is really concerned about you health, I guess.

The fact that there are cars without cup holders in this 21st century is more than just a surprise to me. It makes me even laugh. I can easily foresee that my sister will be looking for a car with cup holders next time she will change her car.

For your information, her car was made in somewhere in Europe. They withdrew from Japanese market since they did not sell very well. I wonder why.



(Japanese translation)

Anime Weekend in Atlanta 2008

( hasselblad 503CX, Planar 80mm F2.8, Flash-D 40, Portra 160 VC )




Now Japanese “Anime” is all over. Not only you can watch them on cable TV. You can find “Anime” and “Manga” in most of the book shops in the U.S.

Once you like something, people with mutual interest start gathering. It must to a human nature. Just like bikers drive together on weekends. “Anime” is not an exception. There are many conventions and gatherings for those “anime” lovers. Anime Weekend Atlanta is one of the biggest conventions in the U.S. It is held annually in every September. This year was the 14th convention.

They had a lot of sessions, such as workshops and panel discussions. You name it, they had everything about “anime”. It was a great fun to shoot “cosplayers” in the hotel lobby.

I, however, have no knowledge or interest in “anime”. Despite the fact that I simply can not tell who was wearing what, I decided to go there with my great curiosity.

The camera I brought was Hasselblad 503CX with PME 3 prism finder. In addition, I used D-flash 40. This was really a heavy armament. I felt as if my neck and shoulders were being pulled out by their weight. My guess is that they weighed about 4.5lb or even more! It was almost hanging tank from my neck.

As soon as I got the convention, I noticed a lot of “cosplayers” everywhere. They were the people who wanted to be photographed. I was the one who wanted to photograph them. We had mutual benefits. Once I pointed my camera, they immediately posed and acted for me. I must be honest. There were people who I strongly recommend to lose their weight to halves before they cosplayed. I dare not to waste my films by shooting those people. I carefully chose models by my own criteria.

Well, here are some shots (slide show provides pictures in better quality).

You can spot these photos are not great. The axis of my flashlight must have shifted too low without realizing it. In addition, I am still not sure I should have used slow sync to expose the background more or I should keep it this way to black out the background.

To make a confession, I enjoyed much more than I thought I would. My sister in law who is very interested in this kind of things (“otaku” culture) is now saying that she wants to come next year. By all means. And I will go there again too, with my tank hanging from my neck.



(Japanese translation)

Back again!

( Canon F-1, FD 50mm F1.4, Kodak E100VS )




I have just come back from my one week vacation in Japan. It is kind of difficult to say. I mean it was too long and too short at the same time.

As some of you might know, Tokyo is where I was born and grew up. I visited my mother, sister and her family, and other relatives. In addition, I visited graves of my ancestors.

Since I was unexpectedly busy, I could not spare my time to shoot photos with my range finder camera that I brought. That was actually my biggest regret of this visit.

I need to mention, however, that I managed to see my old friend and spent unexpectedly valuable time. Yes, it was an unforgettable memory for the rest of my life.

I visit Japan only once a year, a week at a time. I now realize that I should schedule my visit in a different way. I should take at least one day that is totally free from any family duties. I, for sure, will do that next year.

As I wrote, I decided to take only one camera with me this time. I chose Zeiss Ikon (ZM) with Biogon 35mm F2.0. This is my most recent acquisition and I was really looking forward to using it. It was a great shame that my busy schedule did not allow me to use it as much as I would like to.

The only places I managed to shot this time were “ Yushima Tenjin” and “ Kanda Myojinn “. Both are Shinto shrines. The former is God for learning and wisdom. People come to Yushima Tenjin to pray to pass their exams. The latter is famous for their religious festival in every May.

It was the first time in 30 years for me to visit Yushima Tenjin. 30 years ago, I was a 12th grade student who was going to take an entrance exam for med school. I went to pray in Yushima Tenjin with at-that-time girl friend. She donated 100yen to pray. I donated 50yen since I did not have 100 yen coin. You know what happened? She passed the exam and went to art school. I miserably failed the exam.

Well, my life is now back to normal. Another a year of hard working is waiting for me before I will visit Japan again.


( Japanese translation )