"Sky
Sushi"
This is a single photo by the way - not a composite. One exposure
out the window of a highrise during a sushi dinner up in the
sky.... This culminated a day of interpreting for a used clothing
importer and one of his overseas suppliers. It was a fascinating
day of traveling around from one retail shop to another. The
number of unique and fascinating retail outlets was astonishing.
I have always liked the back-drawer aspect of Tokyo - you dive into the
city and you never know what you'll find. A casual stroll
generally leads to one discovery after another in any event, so when
you're with a professional who knows any specific aspect of the city in
detail, the vast number and variety of things out there in any given
field is an eye-opener. After an exhausting day for the aging
supplier, a slightly more interesting day than usual for the
born-and-raised Tokyo man, and busy but fascinating day for myself, I
was happy to find myself with them up in the sky for a meal of sushi.
Should
I stop there? Probably. But to give you the whole story, I
should mention that after I said good-bye to the used clothing people
and watched them drive off in a taxi, I found myself standing out alone
at the base of the high-rise, so I wandered around a bit, feeling the
decompression effect after exiting the East-West bridge function that
interpreting is. Imagine it - there you are with a foot on two
ships, both captains looking to you when they want to communicate
something to the other captain. You feel as though the world is
this warm and exciting place and that you're helping to make it
so. Maybe you are... or maybe it's only an illusion, but either
way, when the two ships sail off on their respective courses, you find
yourself alone in a turbulent sea wondering what happened to that warm,
energized world you thought you were a part of. A
complaint? No... just an attempt to tell you how it was that
night and other similar nights when I've done interpreting work.
Copyright
2004 - Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon, Images Through
Glass, Tokyo
