blog-L by Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon, Images Through Glass, Tokyo

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blog-L (2006b)

2006/12/30

"Looking for Continuity"

In pondering my interest in the 1929 Sanshin Building, it occurred to me that its standing in the middle - between the beginning of the Meiji Era (1868) and today - makes it a kind of link enabling a feeling of continuity. Tokyo is badly lacking this feeling of continuity - there are some old pre-Meiji things, and then everything else "newer" than that 1868 line is relentlessly destroyed to feed the voracious appetite of the construction industry. When buildings are made better and stronger, it's generally a good thing to replace them, but that's not always the case (as recent news has shown).

The Sanshin Building was built in 1929, not long after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 that destroyed Tokyo, and they seem to have overbuilt the structure, if anything, so I don't think there's any issue with the building's safety. It appears to just be a case of suits armed with PowerPoint thinking they can get more money out of the land by making a modern tower there (by also knocking down the next building and using the combined space) and making yet another structure with overpriced shops and restaurants at the bottom and top, and overlit sealed air system office space in the middle - the whole towering box casting an ugly shadow over neighboring Hibiya Park. And they're right I suppose, but this line of thinking is destroying the culture of the city. I suppose many European countries go to the other extreme, and would do better to renovate a little more, but Tokyo has almost eradicated its own history - what's left of value, like the Sanshin Building, should be kept alive to use and help future generations tie together the flow of time and the changing of generations.

The Dai-Ichi Building, just down the street, is being preserved, which is great - but it's a completely different style, and there's a highrise that's been put in the middle of it! In walking around the building a few days ago, it looks as though they disassembled the rear of the building, put up the tower, and then reassembled the facade of the old building around that on the back half of the block. The front, as least, seems to be unmolested (they may have only taken off the back of the building to make it one with the new tower). Fine, but it's a completely different style and type of building than the Sanshin Building. Well... whatever! I'm getting tired of thinking about it, but I really would like to see that building put to good use!

There are a good set of photos of the Sanshin Building at this (Japanese language) site:
http://nekosuki.org/landscape/index2/sanshinbuilding.htm

And my page (previously mentioned) in English:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/SanshinBldg01.html

- and in Japanese:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/i_i_v/jpage/f1/SanshinBldg01j.html

Lyle

2006/12/18 05:55

The Sanshin Building

I like old buildings - or more specifically, I like a mix of new buildings and old buildings. All old buildings or all new buildings produce a desire for change, while a mix of new and old enable a view back and/or forward, depending on which buildings you spend time in. Tokyo is very lopsided on the "new" side - to the point of old buildings having been nearly eradicated from the city. The next target of this relentless push to the new seems to be the Sanshin Building, which its owners (Mitsui Fudosan Co.,Ltd.) want to tear down, but others want to save. One last tenant is still in the building (a restaurant & bar) and there's a "Save the Sanshin Building" website:
http://www.citta-materia.org/sanshin.php

I've ended up getting interested in the issue myself, as I've always liked wandering through that building and think it would be good to renovate it - especially if they could restore it to its original style. It was built in 1929 - conceived in the rush of the 20's and finished just in time for the Great Depression. Post-war, it was not a time for opulence and the building was used in a practical way, with some of the nicer elements (chandeliers, etc.) damaged in the interest of pragmatics.

Anyway, I've put up a page about it here:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/SanshinBldg01.html

Sore dewa,

Lyle

2006/11/26

I got a couple of new things on-line today:

"Mt. Takao Moonrise Over Tokyo" - (Japanese Version)
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/i_i_v/jpage/f1/TakaoMn1aJ.html

- and:

"Musashino Art University Outdoor Exhibit in Kodaira Chuo Park - 2006"
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/i_i_v/jpage/MusashinoArt2006a.html

The Musashino Art page also shows the fall colors of a Tokyo park. The colors of the leaves in Tokyo this year are better than usual due to the temperature having taken a more sudden dive down than is usually the case.

Sleep... need sleep.....

Lyle

2006/11/05 17:19

"Ikebukuro - September 8th, 2006"

I've been meaning to get some photos of Ikebukuro up, and finally did today:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/Ikebukuro01.html

All of the pictures on that page were taken on the evening of September 8th, 2006. Ikebukuro is one of the major train hubs of central Tokyo, just four stops from Shinjuku. Shinjuku is the bigger and better known of the two, but Ikebukuro has a lot to offer in the way of shopping, restaurants, movie theaters, a concert hall, etc. as well.

Lyle

2006/10/29

"Lumix LX-2 Camera"

I think the official name is actually "Panasonic Lumix DMC LX2", but the real name of the company that manufacturers it is Matsushita; I have no idea what that "DMC" stands for; and I think it's better to write LX-2 than LX2, so I'm calling just calling it the "Lumix LX-2".

I have only been using mine for about a week now and I have yet to completely familiarize myself with it, but I'll still comment on some of my impressions so far, both good and bad. (20 pictures taken with the camera can be seen on this page:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/IroiroOct01.html

Good:

- The unique wide aspect ratio finder and CCD are the primary reason I bought the camera, and I'm finding it quite interesting to take pictures in that wide format.

- So far, I've found the auto-white balance to work well, something I've been not always been happy with when using several other digital cameras.

- The camera looks really cool - especially when it's sitting on a desk and it looks rather like an old classic 35mm film camera. (This comment for the silver one - I'm not sure how the black one would seem.)

- The lens seems very smooth and precision-built as it powers in and out of the camera.

- Other things are good too, but the other things I can think of off hand are good on all digital cameras I've used, so there's no point in noting them for this specific model.

Bad:

- The big beautiful display seems to be a power hog! The camera uses the same battery (not only the same specs, but actually the same part from the same factory I suspect - only the sticker is different) as my Ricoh R4 and Ricoh GR, but they both keep going much longer than the Lumix, particularly when they're in the mode that leaves the monitor off except when lightly pressing the shutter button to activate the screen just before taking a picture.

- That big beautiful display stupidly stays on for the entire time that files are being transferred from the camera to the computer. This is a really stupid design decision (that someone should lose their job over!) and something I haven't seen on any other digital camera so far. Not only does it waste power, but it increases the chance that the battery will run out of power in the middle of a file transfer - something that could damage the flash memory card.

- Part of the camera's claim-to-fame is its "Leica" lens (manufactured by Matsushita to Leica specs is how that works I think), but it's not as good a lens as is on my Ricoh GR - not surprising since the Ricoh GR has a fixed focal length lens and the Lumix LX-2 has a variable focal length ("zoom") lens.

- Light-touch switches. The dial that is used to select modes and playback is so light touch that it's easy to overshoot your target and you have to carefully feel for the overly-light touch of the stops. Worse - such a light touch suggests the contacts inside the switch are not likely to be durable.

- Weird USB connector. This is something nearly every digital camera manufacturer is guilty of, but others' guilt makes not for innocence! Of the digital cameras I've used - Olympus (three different connectors on three different models); Pentax (two different connectors for three different models); Casio (weird size for the one machine); only Ricoh (same standard size small USB connector for four different models) seems to be behaving logically here.

- Bulky. The same bulging lens barrel that makes the camera look retro cool also makes it more difficult to get into a pocket (don't even try to put it into pants pockets!).

Beyond that... I need to use the camera more before making further comments. Have a look at the twenty pictures on this page to get an idea of what sort of pictures the camera records:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/IroiroOct01.html

Lyle

2006/10/28

"Thought Typhoons"

I self-published a book at the end of 2000 called "The LL-Letters" (same name as the newsgroup I moderated/wrote for ten years (in a period of hibernation at the moment), and I recently sent a copy of it to a beyond-the-horizon, over-the-ocean friend. His letter follows, followed by my answer....

"I am about 30% into your book and find it interesting but then I know you. A stranger would find little interest. I'm reminded of Francis Hall as I read, except his era was more intriguing for today's readers.
Perhaps another story starting at the beginning of your arrival in Japan and on to slowly getting familiar with the language, romances, jobs and impossible situations would be a good thing. This could be light comedy with the misunderstandings and blunders of fitting into Japan. Readers like chuckles more than moans. Thing is, a story needs a beginning, which you have, and an ending when all loose ends are tied neatly. THAT is difficult when sticking to facts, as is comedy, but a satisfactory ending can be concocted. Just thoughts."

Your letter triggered such a storm of activity in my mind that I'm not sure where to begin or whether I have any real chance of actually getting the typhoon that blew through my thoughts - into words. That's the core problem in communication I think - people do not (contrary to what they seem to think) actually think in words. They think, and then the thoughts are translated into words for the sake of easy communication. In this sense, words are actually a cause of stupidity in some (many? most?) people, since they forget the original thought and focus instead on the degraded and mutated version of it that remains in words.

That book... there are a mountain of things I would change with it if I could jump in a time machine and go back to when I was going through the process of having 2,000 copies printed (most of which are still with me - taking up space in my apartment), but the random nature of the letters I might not change, even though that would probably lead to the same result of the book not selling.

Selling.... Personally, I view Stephen King and that director - what's-his-name... wow... I really can't remember!.. the "E.T." and "Jaws" guy... Spielberg! Stephen Spielberg! - as sell-outs for profit. I'd rather go to my grave having written something that I believe is worthwhile that didn't sell than to have had a wildly - financially - successful sell-out book that contributed to the general stupidity of humankind! If you compare a movie like "Stray Dog" to "Jaws", most people would probably say that "Stray Dog" was boring and "Jaws" was exciting. In my book, "Stray Dog" is a thousand-fold better than "Jaws".

The original idea.... The original idea for my starting the LL-Letters project, was to act as a sort of bridge between Japan and English-speaking western countries, since I knew something of both, I thought I could act as moderator in an exchange of letters going both ways. Two things changed that; 1) Very few Japanese people contributed to the letters, and 2) The interest of people in countries all over picked up, making it more International than I had first envisioned it would be. A third factor, is that individual foreigners living here in Japan, like me, generally are a little mixed up - as they well might be, having dived head-first into a foreign culture - so they more often attack each other than help. So, for me, the ordinariness of the exchanges was an affirmation of a common thread through people's lives anywhere in the world. I think that's something people should think more of - and stop letting fanaticism - of one kind or another - destroy civilization!

Well... there was much more to the wordless typhoon, but I need to do some work on my photos, so I'll stop here.

Incidentally, I bought a new camera - a Lumix LX-2, that is delighting and enraging me... the most interesting thing about the camera is its uniquely wide aspect ratio. I'm hoping to get some of the first pictures from this camera on-line during the weekend - if not this weekend, then maybe next.

Lyle

2006/10/20

"Bludgeon Words"

There's this thing advertisers, PR companies, and mediocre mid-management types do, and somehow (amazingly) get away with. They need to divert people's attention away from thinking and towards a path (in thought or action) that reasonable people would never take if they were paying attention. How to simultaneously turn them into (temporary?) zombies and get them to think something they wouldn't ordinarily pollute their minds with? Use a bludgeon word. Some examples:

While at the PR agency, one of our semiconductor industry clients sent us a promotional video of the head guy at the company talking about the semiconductor industry and his company's role in it. Every other (sometimes every) sentence contained the word "solution", said with an accent that heavily emphasized the "LU" - "soLUtion" - so there was this "Blabbidy blabbidy blah, soLUtion, blabbidy blah soLUtion blabbidy blah-blah soLUtion blabbidy blabbidy" mantra that went on and on and on, and to this day - some six years down the road, whenever I hear or read "solution", I am thrust back into the nightmare of that incessant "Blabbidy-blabbidy-blah, soLUtion; soLUtion; soLUtion, Blabbidy blah" video that I was unfortunate enough to have been exposed to. I would like to delete that memory from my mind, but it was bludgeoned in and will be very difficult (impossible?) to eradicate.

At the printing company, there was a certain worthless (worse than worthless actually, "destructive" would be a better describer) mid-management bozo who regularly held three-hour meetings with content that could typically have been covered in ten minutes. Being a spineless bugger, he couldn't deal with non-special-papers me, so he latched onto this consultant "Bob" who used to work at a famous advertising agency. Day-after-day, week-after-week, we had to listen to Mr. Spineless Mid-management Bozo drone on-and-on: "Nantoka-pondoka, Bob-san desu ne, nantoka-bontoka, Bob-san, Bob-san desu ne..." Bob-san has this great idea; Bob-san worked at Big Advertising, Inc. before; Bob-san will be in Tokyo in two months, etc. Bob was convenient since he was from the US, had lived in Japan, and was - at the time - living in Italy. He blew through town once every six months or so with slick talk, collected a pile of cash, and flew back to Europe to spend the Tokyo cash on nice restaurants in Rome. To this day, I still have that bloody "Bob-san desu ne... Bob-san - Bob-Bob-Bob desu" ringing in my ears.

And then there are advertisers, PR companies and politicians (one for all and all for one?). Hopefully there is no need to point out specific examples here. It's all about getting your very own bludgeon word in front of people (primarily through the media) to hammer people into senselessness with. If it weren't for advertising, then we'd probably be more sensitive to it, but we've been hit so many times with bludgeon words, that we're numb, punch-drunk... and don't have the will and/or courage to challenge those who would destroy the language as a medium of true communication.

Lyle

2006/10/09

"Mt. Takao Moonrise Over Tokyo"

Mt. Takao is the most convenient mountain to go to for a large percentage of the people living in Tokyo, being within an hour of Shinjuku and with a cable car that is just a five minute walk from Takaozan-guchi Station (on the Keio Line). It's not of astoundingly high elevation, but when you walk up the valley towards the cable car station, the cool mountain breeze that greets you is - I hesitate to use the word, but - fantastic! Or at least it feels that way to me when coming from the center of the city after breathing the city air for many months straight without a break.

Yesterday (October 8th), I visited Mt. Takao and was rewarded with the best nighttime view of Tokyo I've seen from a distance. One picture is here:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/TakaoMn1a.html

The view from Mt. Takao isn't always as clear as it is in the photo - there were strong winds both on Saturday and Sunday (October 7th & 8th), which blew away the noxious breath of the fire-breathing machinery (the internal combustion engine - the curse of humankind!), producing a rare view... but it shouldn't be rare! Cars are something I love when I'm behind the wheel (and hate when I'm not!), but they need new propulsion systems. Here's to returning to living in transparent air!

Lyle

2006/10/01

"Midnight Chuo Line" - September 29th, 2006

The 22-year-old Chuo Line trains are not long for this world I fear... and when they are replaced with newer types, it is certain that they will not have windows that open at the bottom as on the current Chuo Line trains. And so the days of being able to open the window and hang your head out in the wind a little - out there in the real world, will be gone. They are practically gone already actually - I was getting some very strange looks when I took these pictures:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/MidChuo01b.html

I just don't understand people - they suffer in a sealed box, painfully waiting for the transit purgatory to end and their freedom to come when the doors open and they can escape the box. With an open window, the trip at speed is fun! The wind rushes in; the clacking/screeching/grinding of steel on steel is heard; the sounds of the night come in from place to place.... I'm of the opinion that it's better to live in the world than to shut it out with sealed windows and refrigeration. Why are people afraid of the wind?

Lyle

2006/09/24 15:43

"Shinagawa" - September 1st, 2006

When I went to Shinagawa on September 1st, I was primarily going for photographs, but I ended up writing about that trip and the memories it brought back ("August/September 1984/2006"). Nevertheless, I did take a few pictures - some of which are here:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/Shinagawa02.html

I need to take more daytime photos, but in order to do that I'll have to take them early in the morning, so I tend to always end up taking night photos (I wish Tokyo was in the right time zone!).

Lyle

2006/09/17 04:24

"At the Foreign Correspondents' Club, in Yurakucho"

Way back when, long-long ago, I wrote about almost going to the Foreign Correspondents' Club (see "One Cold December Day"), and I finally actually did go. I took too many pictures, some of which are here:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/FCCJ02.html

Lyle

2006/09/02

"August/September 1984/2006"

I crossed the Pacific in mid-August of 1984 - and many things happened in the early weeks and months I was here. The impressions and drama of the first few weeks in fact were so strong that it comes back to me powerfully from time to time, particularly in late August and - this year - early September.

Last night - September 1st, 2006 - I went straight from work to Shinagawa, where I stayed for my second week in Japan. ....... Sigh... I guess I have to write this down in sequence. I was only intending to mention a part of it, but it all came back so powerfully yesterday, and the images and memories are still strongly lingering today, so I suppose this is the time to put it into words.

The moment of walking off the 747 into Narita Airport in August 1984 - I was immediately struck with the realization that I was walking into something very different from what I had left behind. Different radio waves in the air, different smell and different general feel....

In the regular Keisei Line train (not the reserved seat Skyliner) with Tokoko (a high school student - one of four pen-pals I exchanged letters with before coming here) on the way into central Tokyo, I looked around, noticed that I seemed to be the only non-Japanese person in the train and wondered at Tokoko's having written "There are many foreigners in Japan...".

Standing off to the side in a very busy station with people rushing about everywhere, watching Tokoko asking a station worker how to get to Kanda after she had put us on a wrong train (probably she got on a Keihin-Tohoko Line train going away from Tokyo instead of into it).

Walking down a street in Kanda (on our way to the Kanda YMCA), I looked up and noticed the utility poles were indeed the unusual type I had first noticed in a Japanese movie at the Kokusai Movie theater in San Francisco. I spent enough time watching Japanese movies and reading books about Japan, that - for most things - I was not surprised about too much; rather there was a feeling of "Oh yeah - that's what I saw in that movie!" or "Oh yeah - that's what the book said!". A huge exception was the (ongoing) experience of dealing with other foreigners in Japan! Nothing can adequately prepare you for that! Psychosis 909!

Jaywalking across a street with Tokoko to get to the Kanda YMCA building (an old brick building, built in 1928 and - unfortunately - torn down in 1988; the old building had a lot more character than the new one does), as we crossed, a policeman blew a whistle and yelled at us - Tokoko bowed an apology and we were allowed to proceed under the fierce gaze of the policeman (jaywalking was very rare then - it's become more common over the years).

Walking into the Kanda YMCA and meeting Tokoko's father (who had made a reservation at the Kanda YMCA for me - at Y5,000 a night, not the best option when there were "gaijin houses" at Y1,400 a night) and a translator friend of his (who claimed he had translated for President Carter when he visited Japan). I stupidly paid for a week in advance (meaning that, with food costs, I would be out of money at the end of the week!), and we took a creaky old "Made in USA" Otis elevator down to the time-slip dining room in the basement with "Made in USA" silverware! After getting used to practically everything being "Made in Japan" when I was living in the US, it was amusing that the first elevator I got on in Japan was "Made in USA" and the first spoon to go in my mouth was "Made in USA".

Making a (very expensive!) semi-local call to Kathy in Saitama, my Japanese-American girlfriend, who had flown over with me. Where was she staying? At a former boyfriend's apartment! (I was BF#3 who was Japan-bound, so she decided to tag along this time, meeting up with BF#2 in Saitama and BF#1 in Kyushu.)

In a Shinjuku department store, going from floor to floor via escalators with Kathy and a local friend of hers (who was the new girlfriend of BF#2 I think) - no non-Japanese anywhere.... Again, I remembered Tokoko's "There are many foreigners in Japan" remark and thought "Where?!" (remember I came from San Francisco, where there is no clear majority of any race). Later, when I was about to head back to Kanda, I was feeling a bit lost and scared in Shinjuku Station as I was about to set off alone, so I asked Kathy's friend which platform I should go to and she told me "Take the Yamanote Line", so I said "Yeah, I know, but in which direction?", to which she flippantly told me to take it in either direction - it would get me to Kanda. I walked under the tracks within the station, darkly thinking "Thank you for your rudeness and thank you for your disregard for my time! I'd like to take the shorter/faster route..."

Day three or four - I meet Tokoko and a friend of hers, Kibijin. They take me around Kamakura to the temples, and Kibijin refuses to go past the gates of anything not specifically her version of Buddhism (the newest, strictest version of it).

Probably the same day as the temple visits - I visit Kibijin's house with Tokoko, and Kibijin's mother takes a liking to me (no, not in *that* way!).

Day four or five - I wake up early in the Kanda YMCA (jet-lag/supercharge and in-wrong-time-zone Tokyo effect), open the windows and look down at the street below (from something like the 7th floor, I can't remember exactly). I ponder the fact that I have a few more days before I'm out of money and out of a place to stay, look at the people walking along the street, realize that I can't talk to them (no Japanese language on my side, little English language ability on theirs) and break down for a minute beside the bed in the closet-sized room "What am I going to do! Sob!-Sob!". But I snap out it, and take on the "March into it man! Do what you can!" attitude necessary for survival if you're a freelancer in this life, without connections.

Day... five or six? I go into a barbershop for a haircut and the oldest barber there that I immediately think "No... not him... please...." jumps up and indicates a seat. I sit down, hold up my thumb and fingers, indicating that I just want a centimeter or so taken off. What happens? The bugger takes off everything in a flourish *except* a half-centimeter! I may be wrong, but it sure did seem deliberate and that guy did seem to be sadistically enjoying my extreme discomfort at having all my hair cut off! It took three months before I wasn't ashamed of my appearance and was a contributory factor in my eventually swearing off barbers of all kinds - I've been cutting my own hair for ten years now, saving money, time, frustration, and all to better effect.

And now, finally, Shinagawa enters the story. Strangely, I can't remember how it was set up at all. An initial phone call? A question in person? I have no recollection at all, but - in one way or another - as my time at the YMCA was running out, Tokoko let me know that Kibijin's mother had put in a good word about me to her husband, who owned his own company in Shinagawa. All this is conjecture of the obvious - I had to be informed and it had to come from Tokoko or Kibijin, but the memory of the actual event is gone. Now - back to memory video clips, which are clearly remembered:

I'm sitting in one of the cushy customer seats by the window on the fifth floor of Mr. Shacho's (Kibijin's father - President and owner of his own business) company in Shinagawa, looking out the window at the many trains going by - the Yamanote Line, the Keihin-Tohoku Line, the Tokaido Line, etc. I notice that not all of the Yamanote Line train cars are air-conditioned (they got all the trains air-conditioned about a year or two after that), with the non-air-conditioned cars having dry roofs with round cover/intakes for the ceiling fans inside the train, and the air-conditioned cars having large air-conditioner units mounted in the middle of the roof, with much of the roof wet from the water taken out of the humid air by frigid coils. I sat there feeling a combination of nervousness and ease. Nervousness at the sort of interview situation, and ease at sitting there in the air-conditioned office in the comfortable chair, with a cold drink and a view out the window of the passing trains. Smiling Mr. Shacho sits opposite me, and the memory fades....

It's decided that I will work for Mr. Shacho, helping with English correspondence and also handle phone orders in Japanese(!). A series of memory video clips:

Mr. Shacho takes me over to an apartment he rented just behind his company's office. He explained that he had a heart condition and rented the apartment so he could go there and rest from time to time during working hours - a quick escape from the stress and noise of the office. The apartment doubles as storage space for things from the office, with boxes piled up in the bathtub and no hot water as the gas was shut off. He says I can stay there for a while (and take showers at another place that he'll show me) and takes me to a nearby shop where he buys a new futon, sheets, blanket, and pillow for me. I remember feeling slightly uncomfortable that he was laying out cash for me before I'd done anything for him.

We then walked back towards the station and he took me to another apartment he was renting as his overseas division. One woman named Minami was working there alone (for another three months, at which time she was going off to Australia to get married), and other people would pop in from time to time. Mr. Shacho introduces us and after he's gone, Minami looks at me with a wondering look and asks "So you're going to work here?" I nod, and we end up talking a lot about things in general as she shows me the work she's doing and I begin to help out. A few days later, she gets that wondering look on her face again and asks "So you're really going to stay here and work?". Maybe we were talking about general things too much or maybe she was thinking about how I didn't speak Japanese, but I would need to speak it in order to take over her job when she headed to Australia. A couple of times, she followed up her "Are you really going to stay here?" questions with the question/statement "Don't you think that it doesn't matter where you live? I think everywhere is the same." I found that a strange sentiment at the time and just looked at her as I pondered the concept that everywhere is the same, but in hindsight, I wonder if she was trying to convince herself of that, as she was about to move to Australia to live. (She had spent a couple of years there studying, so she spoke English fluently, and presumably she met her soon-to-be husband while living there.)

Walking into an expensive restaurant at the top of the Hotel Pacific [newly opened in 1971 - closed on September 30th, 2010] in front of Shinagawa Station with Mr. Shacho. A group of women bowed as we entered and we were shown to a table by a window with a great view, but as we were talking the whole time and I was giving Mr. Shacho my full attention, I wasn't able to take in the view much. I remember him telling me that his ancestors had been wealthy, but his father had spent all the money, so by the time he came along, he had to work hard to make a living. He also mentioned how he took the "Green Car" (1st class car - of which there are generally two on a 15-car Tokaido Line train) up from Fujisawa every day. As we walked back towards the elevators, several women at the entrance to the place bowed to Mr. Shacho's departing back. (I thought it rude at the time, but I've gotten used to the idea of just marching out of a place like that with my head held high and the staff thanking me and bowing to my departing back - that's just the way it's done here.)

Standing in front of the apartment building containing the export branch office/shower spot in the August heat with the cicadas making their summer noises overhead - a sound I had never in my life heard before. After all these years, when I hear the cicadas, I remember that moment in Shinagawa in front of that apartment building, waiting for Mr. Shacho to get a car out of the parking lot. Whether that was the first time I met Mr. Shacho's son, I'm not sure, but I distinctly remember him on that occasion - positively radiating doubt and irritation in my direction. I had been told by Mr. Shacho that I would only need to know numbers and some set phrases to handle orders on the phone, so I had set to memorizing numbers right away, and he asked me in the car to read the numbers of the license plate on the car in front of us. I slowly, but accurately, read the numbers out in Japanese, and Mr. Shacho turned smilingly to his son with a "See?" expression and the son tilted his head to the side and gave a "Hmmm.... I don't know...." look.

In a car (the same day as above?) as it passed the US embassy, which Mr. Shacho pointed out. We then ate in a restaurant near the embassy, where I was introduced to an acquaintance of Mr. Shacho's. All I remember is being looked at skeptically and feeling uncomfortable.

Meeting another business acquaintance of Mr. Shacho's in a restaurant in a five-star hotel. I sat there not understanding what they were saying in Japanese, and so there was nothing to interject and nothing to do but dumbly wait. The acquaintance at one point turned to me and said something bland, like "So you'll be working for Mr. Shacho then?" to which I responded, and then they set to discussing things in Japanese again. The only word I remember catching was "telex" (as in "He'll be useful in sending and receiving foreign correspondence - he can run the telex machine", or something to that effect I imagined).

Back in the export office alone while Australia-bound Minami went out for some reason or another. An older man came by and he came in and sat next to my desk - talking to me in Japanese. He would say "Nantoka dokonanka dareka" ("???") etc. etc. and I would say "Wakarimasen" ("I don't understand."), and he would then say "Desukara, dareka donadesho" ("???"), to which I would say "Wakarimasen". I don't remember how long that went on, but I eventually called the main office and put the man on the phone to them. Who he was or what he was visiting for I hadn't - then or now - the slightest clue or idea beyond that it was probably business. He seemed like a friendly and calm person though, so I wish I could have been able to talk with him....

At the end of my second week, I explained to Mr. Shacho that my Japan Rail Pass was good for three weeks and I was hoping to do a little traveling on it before it ran out, so he said "Where do you want to go?", "Hokkaido" I answered, and he told me I should go and gave me a few days off and some money as an advance on my salary.

I took the Shinkansen (super-express or "bullet train") north, thinking of Kathy, who had headed in the opposite direction - to Kyushu to stay with BF#1. The plan was to go to Hokkaido where another of the four pen-pals I had been writing to was from and where she told me I was welcome to visit. Very unfortunately, I got to thinking of Kathy down in Kyushu, and when I got to Morioka (the terminus of the Shinkansen then - it's further north now), I got out of the train, looked around at the city down below the elevated Shinkansen platform, and then walked back into the train, intending to go all the way down to Kyushu. Unfortunately, the Shinkansen I eventually took south from Tokyo went only as far as Osaka and then the system shut down for the night.

I spent the night in the cab of a small truck in a... junkyard? Construction site? In the morning, a man appeared and - nervous that he'd be upset about me being in the truck - I opened the door to get out. The man looked up in shock, emitted a stream of sparks from his hair standing on end, and practically ran out of the area. Maybe he thought I was a ghost - or maybe he wasn't supposed to be there either....

I met the third of the four pen-pals the next day who was - conveniently enough - from Osaka. She and her friends took me to Osaka Castle. There was something uncomfortable about my time in Osaka. I think I was supposed to go to Hokkaido and the gods of travel were frowning down at me tossing mini-lightning bolts - "Idiot! Why did did you turn around?!"

For two decades I have kicked myself for not having gone to Hokkaido that day. I finally made it up there this year (to Hakodate), but still I regret not going up in 1984.

I can't remember for sure, but I think I actually took the Shinkansen down to Kyushu the next day - what I do remember very clearly is:

On a Tokyo-bound Shinkansen, sitting in one of the non-reserved seat cars. The train was very crowded and somewhere along the line, I looked up to see Mr. Shacho's son leering at me from the end of the train car. I thought "Great... I was given time off to go to Hokkaido, and here I am seen by Mr. Shacho's son in southern Japan". I looked up a few times, and each time, Mr. Shacho's son practically doubled over in laughter. (At the time, it was mortifying, but if that happened now, I'd go over and talk to him - explaining what was what.)

Later, back in the office, Mr. Shacho's son came by and talked with Minami for a bit and she turned to me and said "Did you go to Hokkaido?". "I went up to Morioka, but then changed my mind and went south instead" I told her. She looked thoughtful, and looked off into space for a moment - I think she understood what was happening on both sides and also understood there was no point in trying to explain anything to the hostile son of Mr. Shacho.

The following Friday evening, Kathy - being back in Tokyo, came to visit, so I showed her the sleeping apartment behind the main office, and since it was without hot water and half full of boxes, we went over to the export office. It was Friday night, so, figuring that no one would be using the office on the weekend, we spent the night there on the sofa, awakening early on Saturday morning to the sound of a key in the door! Kathy dove into the next room and I stood up with only a towel on as Mr. Shacho's son walked into the room with a "What-what-what...?" look on his face. Kathy then made her appearance (with her dress on backwards) and he fell into a "You devilish foreigner you! Preying on the local woman are you?!!" look on his face. I didn't speak Japanese and he didn't speak English, so I couldn't explain to him that she was actually American and was my long-time girlfriend from the US who had come over with me.

As I got dressed, he went into the next room and made a phone call somewhere - speaking somberly into the phone - explaining the "terrible" situation to someone I imagined. I imagined Mr. Shacho's wife and felt like she's be shocked and disappointed in me. Feeling shamed by the whole thing, and also painfully aware that I was going to need more than three months to learn enough Japanese to actually do my work there in the export office alone, I left with Kathy (I think we stayed at BF#2's place that night - he was out of town for some reason) and I came back on Sunday to get my stuff together. I put a few things together in my smallest bag and packed everything else into a bag that I stuffed into the space over the unused (and thus cold) water heater in its closet, which was behind an unlocked door beside the entrance door to the apartment, accessible without any keys. I figured that no one would look in there and it could sit there for a week or two untouched (luggage lockers were - and are - a bit expensive here).

I then went over to the export office/shower spot, took a shower, slept on the sofa, and early on Monday morning before anyone came in, I wrote a note to Mr. Shacho, and then dropped it and the keys to the apartments through the door mail slot after locking the door. (I wish I remembered what I wrote in that note! Hopefully I explained about Kathy, but I'm not sure what I said.)

I then went down to Kyoto, where I stayed at a cheap place (how did I find it?) and explored the city, going over to Osaka to look for work. I even found a job towards that end, but after the man said I was hired, I said "Thank you, but please wait for a few days for my answer, I have business to attend to in Tokyo first. The man looked none-too-pleased and I - indeed - ended up getting work in Tokyo and not returning to Osaka. I suppose if Kathy hadn't been in Tokyo, I would have started working in Osaka - maybe I'd be there still? I suppose I can both blame Kathy for ruining my Hokkaido trip and thank her for bringing me back to Tokyo. (I'm assuming that Tokyo was the better choice of the two - that's how it feels anyway.)

I saw Minami one last time in Tokyo - she was walking the other way down the street (in Harajuku I think) on the arm of a foreigner, presumably the Australian guy she was to marry. She pretended not to - or maybe really didn't - see me, and I didn't call out, because I sensed that she didn't want to make the man jealous and get any mistaken ideas. I would love to meet her today to talk about that brief time we spent working together in that Shinagawa office. From her side, I think she was aware of what was going on all the way around, but I was somewhat in a fog - my first time overseas and all. I would also like to hear some details about what happened after I left and also talk to her in Japanese about that time! (I wonder if she's still in Australia?)

Fast forward 22 years and I visited the old export office apartment in July - minus the company's name on that apartment door (on the 4th floor), it seems not to be there anymore. And then on September 1st, I walked over to the main office - or where it used to be in any case. I looked at the company name plates for the building and the fifth floor was blank. I almost just walked away, but I decided to take the old elevator up to the floor for the experience of riding that era elevator again (which tend to have the lights for the floors shining through number cutouts in an aluminum panel, and large noisy fans right in the center of the elevator ceiling) and also see if I recognized anything up on the fifth floor. In getting off the elevator on the fifth floor, I was surprised to see the door to the empty office open, so I walked in and found myself standing in front of the same windows I had looked out on the passing trains from back in July 1984. It was a strange feeling. I had often - through the years - thought I would someday go back to the office and meet Mr. Shacho to both thank him for helping me out at a critical point in my life and also apologize for whatever embarrassment I may have caused him in the company and at home.

How to describe it... standing there in the empty space and remembering how I felt when I was there before. Aside from the melancholy feeling that anyone would expect, there was also a feeling of... not futility, but maybe... loss? Regret? Nostalgia? All of the above? In writing this down, I realize more clearly now than I did at the time, that the situation held both promise and danger. I was non-verbally aware of the threat of Mr. Shacho's son, but I didn't properly realize that the hostility from him was directly tied to the opportunity that Mr. Shacho was offering me. All in all, I suppose it wouldn't have worked out, but maybe it would have. Maybe if I'd stayed there and hadn't invited Kathy over, it would have launched me into business here instead of into the wild and unstable world of freelance work. But then I would have missed meeting the many people I met? Who knows - but when I think of it now, it was a pretty cool setup -I would have been working in an office in an upscale apartment building alone, without having to deal with too much office politics... maybe? Naw... you can never escape office politics! And Mr. Shacho's son was a determined foe!

Anyway, Mr. Shacho - thank you! It was a critical time for me and that job may have saved me from disaster.

PS - My bags were still sitting (where I had left them) on the unused water heater about three weeks later when I found a semi-long-term place to stay. I felt somewhat nervous going to the apartment to pick them up, but didn't see anyone coming or going....

Lyle

2006/08/27 18:09

"Iroiro, August 2006 (Ota-ku, Gotanda, & Shibuya)"
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/IroiroB.html

I should be focusing on specific areas, but I was testing an SLR camera body (Pentax ist DL2 - with a film lens (50mm f1.2) and I decided to toss some general photos from that camera-lens combination onto the wires.

My assessment of the Pentax ist DL2? It was cheap - about Y50,000 - and works well in natural lighting, but I'm very disappointed in its performance under artificial light. My compact Ricoh and Olympus cameras do a much better job. The 50mm f1.2 lens I like - I wish it were an Olympus lens instead of Pentax though....

Lyle

2006/08/20

"Ginza - July 2006"
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/Ginza.html

A page of photos of historically fashionable Ginza. They were taken at around 6:00 p.m. on a weekday, so most of the people on the streets were women. Ginza is popular with women anyway, and at many companies, women tend to get off earlier than men. (Many women work vast amounts of overtime mind you, but still, percentage-wise, more women get off work on time than men overall, so at 6:00 p.m., you see more of them outside, particularly in Ginza!)

Lyle

2006/08/20

"Listening Practice"

My technical level of Japanese is pretty sloppy, but I was able to get used to the rhythm and feel of the language through a lot of listening practice. I bought a Y30,000 yen "Professional" Sony recording Walkman in 1985 that I used to make tapes of children's books that I listened to (nearly) endlessly while studying the books. Typically I would understand very little the first few times I listened before having struggled through the book with a dictionary (getting help from Japanese friends for parts I couldn't find in the dictionary on my own), but then the meaning would come through loud and clear after listening to the tape several times after having read the relevant pages in the book.

I made copies of the master tapes that I then listened to with auto-reverse walkmans (walkmen?). I had an auto-reverse machine for my bag that I listened to all the time while outside - walking down the street, riding the trains, etc., and I had one for when I was sleeping. Typically, the sleeping model would burn out every four or five months from excessive use, and I went through a small mountain of machines over the few years I was most intensively studying this way.

It's much easier now with MP3 players. Recently I've gotten ahold of some Japanese audio books that I like. One by that famous actor Taka... something Ken, that is quite entertaining and interesting to listen to, and Botchan, which is great - particularly after reading two separate English translations of the book (the one by the Japanese translator is vastly superior to the one by the western translator - who over-translated it, doing stupid things like calling soba noodles "buckwheat noodles") and half of the Japanese original. Same as back in 1985, I understand the part I read very well, but am missing things in the last half, which I've yet to read.

In the "Why am I doing this?" category, I've obtained recordings of "The Tale of Genji" and "Heike Monogatari" (What's the English title for this? The Tale of Heike? The Heike Tale(s)?). These are useless for modern Japanese, but since everyone here studies them, and even has to memorize part of "Heike Monogatari", they are interesting to listen to in a way (with very low compression!).

Just some random stuff I guess. But I do have a specific question. Does anyone have any information on available Japanese audiobooks? The concept seems to be not nearly as popular as in the US. I guess people prefer to actually read books (gasp!) than listen to them. Actually, I prefer reading books too, but I *can't" read things like "Heike Monogatari" and in the sardine trains of the morning rush, I can't even hold a book in front of my face, so audiobooks are the only way to go!

Lyle

2006/08/16 21:13

Hakodate, Hokkaido - Yunokawa Onsen

It may have just been in contrast to my long stretch of living in mega-city Tokyo, but Hakodate seemed at the time - and seems still now in memory - a bit like San Francisco to me; cool air slightly damp with a sea breeze, hills with old style houses from the late 1800's, city by a bay, less people density than Tokyo (of course!), clean air, relaxed atmosphere....

I'll try to get more pictures up, but for now, here are a few of part of the waterfront and also of the Yunokawa Onsen (hot springs) area:

http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/h/Hakodate01.html

Lyle

2006/08/15

"Walking in San Francisco & Hakodate"

A friend working in San Francisco wrote this bit:

"My manager let me get off early today, and I took some time to walk all the way down to the Ferry Building, following the concrete ribbon structure along the way. It was a beautiful day outside, and as I walked I watched the ocean. I had a great view of Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge. Along the way, I briefly skimmed the little informational bronze plaques and square towers, read a poem from an Angel Island inhabitant, and walked and walked and walked. It was fun, but am I tired!"

This reminds me of the two years I lived in San Francisco (mid-1982 to mid-1984). I would typically go out with three rolls of 36-exposure film (Tri-X B&W) to take pictures of one area or another of San Francisco. I would walk and walk, and while I did get tired feet, I didn't get overly hot and I didn't get very thirsty in the pleasantly damp ocean scented air. Walking in Tokyo can be like that, but only for a very limited number of days in the spring and autumn, and on a day after a typhoon or at least a strong wind (to blow away the effects of the fire-breathing automobiles).

On the same line of thinking, I went up to Hakodate in Hokkaido this month, and the port city with its hills, low lying clouds that engulf the tops of the hills, pleasant and clean air, old street cars brought out for the summer tourists, and old brick shipping warehouses converted into shops and restaurants... had me daydreaming about moving up there and settling in. Before making such a move though, it would be a good idea to visit in the winter and see if I could bear the (according to the taxi driver I talked with) -10 temperatures.

Lyle

2006/07/23

Boso Peninsula #8

Back to working on the set of pages on the Boso Peninsula - the eighth page is here:

http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/b/Boso08.html

And there is more to go - someday I plan to finish the series....

Lyle

2006/07/09

"City Dreams" - Shibuya & The Yamanote Line

"What? More pictures of Shibuya?! Why?!" Yeah-yeah - I know. I should be focusing on areas of Tokyo that are not yet represented on the site rather than putting yet more material up about places that already are, but... but... I carry a camera with me to the places I have to go to in Tokyo, and so the ordinary places I go end up being photographed more than they deserve. Oh well... in any case, this one is about modern life whizzing about the city at speed possibly not being any more advanced really than ancient times when people had to walk to where they needed to go....:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/CityDreams01.html

Lyle

2006/07/02

"Outside the Boxes"

Generally being sealed into boxes on wheels when riding modern trains, my camera takes a quick look at the world outside of one speeding box:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/Outside01.html

Lyle

2006/06/28

"Bob Dylan - 1966 Concert"

The only things I had heard of Bob Dylan's until a week ago (when I began listening to a live recording of Bob Dylan on my MP3 player while walking around Tokyo), were what was broadcast on the radio. The recording I'm listening to these days is the digital version of a double album of a 1966 concert, and something about that recording very strongly stirs memories of the better side of that era for me. I was only six years old in 1966, so I wasn't exactly part of the scene, but I still picked up on the feeling in the air and heard the music on the airwaves (thanks to my older brothers). The stuff of Bob Dylan's that I grew up hearing on the radio sort of bored me, so the excitement this live recording generates has come as a surprise.

"'Sweet' - July 2006"

I previously complained about the new use of the word "sweet" - now being used pretty much like "cool" used to be used, but now it's time to apologize for that rant! There's a guy I'm working with who is around 25 years old and he says that - and other new things - very naturally, and I have to face the fact that 47 is not just an abstract number, it's really how many years I'm been walking around on this planet. Just as I'm getting used to being "middle-aged", I look ahead and see that in a decade or two I will no longer be "middle aged", but will be "old" and looking ahead another two or three decades, I'll likely be dead. Life is short. Enjoy the "sweet", "cool", "subarashii" (or whatever) moments and do what you can to be constructive - it'll be over before you know it.

Lyle

2006/06/26 04:03

"Bad News, Company, Cameras, & Time Zones"

Re: "Saturday again and I am just about numb from all the terrible things in the news such as Global Warming, worse hurricanes on the way, assurance that Los Angeles will experience a bad earthquake, no end to the drought but maybe an end to water, war in Iraq getting worse, Iran building Nukes, North Korea testing intercontinental missiles, and now my newspaper points out that the number of close friends that Americans have has shrunken drastically."

I just realized one advantage to working too much lately - I haven't had time to find out what's happening in the news lately! All I know is what's happening in my own apartment and somewhat at the company I'm working at....

Re: "And that's true, I recall childhood and youth when TV hadn't come along, and people were not so busy. We had friends. Visiting was our entertainment. Now with the Internet, we have friends across the ocean and don't know the name of the people next door. And NOBODY anymore ever drops in for an evening of talking."

Now you mention it, I remember reading how people are skipping having a living room at all and instead using the space for a home office. I remember my parents entertaining people from time to time, but - come to think of it - I very rarely do the same. Actually, Tokyo makes it hard anyway, since most people are living in small apartments for one thing, and often lives hours away from each other on top of that, so get-togethers, when they happen, tend to occur in restaurants, coffee shops, and drinking places - generally in a middle ground between where the people meeting live.

Re: "You are correct when you ask, why can't people have both money and time? Yes, I'm afraid that having enough money to live, and maybe even enjoy some of the good things, requires all our best time and energy at some job we learn to hate. The unlucky man will eventually grow feeble and sick and unable to work and so dies a very poor man. The lucky dog however simply drops dead while at work."

I laughed when I read that. I'm definitely spending more time working right now than I would like to, but it has enabled me to recently get a new camera (a Ricoh GR-Digital), so at least I'm having some fun taking pictures with that. The only irritant being that work ties up most of the day, so I end up with too many night pictures.

Re: "Sounds like the bad news on CNN has me depressed, but not so. I find time for comical films of all kinds and a few drinks... and talking with you (via the Internet of course!). Tell me about your work these days."

Work is going okay, but the projects I've been assigned have been delayed, so I've been filling up the time with reading about past projects and trying to find out the definitions of the very large number of acronyms the company uses! Some of them are international, some of them are specific to Japan, some of them are specific to that company, and some of them are even specific to engineers within the company!! It's incredible, but there I am right there under the same roof as the authors of material I'm reading and many of the acronyms seem to be unknown to everyone! And they still use them!!! I've begun to irritate some of the foreigners I'm working with regarding my quest for acronym definitions, so I guess I better be more quiet about it, but I do strongly feel that you can't really write properly when much of the vocabulary is in code that no one can explain! Rather than "XYZ" and "MNO", they might as well assign their special codes numbers "Attach the 729 to the 503", etc. On the other hand, one of the old-timers who's been in the translation and technical writing business here for several decades has talked with me and told me how he fully understands where I'm coming from and he's given me some database material he's built up while working on projects for the company....

Oh - incidentally, I have a few new pages at my website. Two that were uploaded today are:

Nenogongen Mountain Area
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/i_i_v/s/NennoG1/pg1.htm

- and here:

Tenryuji Temple (Tokyo)
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/i_i_v/s/Tenryuji1/pg1.htm

Those were taken with the same camera on the same day (a Pentax, in May of this year).

This page was taken with my newest camera - the Ricoh GR-Digital:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/i_i_v/s/HigYukiG01/pg1.htm

4:11 a.m., and the sky is growing light. It gets dark at 7:30 p.m.! When the sun comes up at 4:15 a.m. and sets at 7:30 p.m. - you are (Tokyo!) in the wrong time zone!!!

Lyle

2006/06/18 15:49

"Higashi-Yukigaya, June 2006"

Further exploration in Ota-ku (here in Tokyo) brought me to an old temple and house, several photos of which can be seen here:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/i_i_v/s/HigYukiG01/pg1.htm

Incidentally, this is the first page of photos taken with my Ricoh GR-Digital camera. Of note is how the 5.9mm lens (28mm lens equivalent on a 35mm camera) handles lines very well without distorting them - which is evident in some of the close-up pictures of the temple.

Lyle

2006/06/13

"(Subway) Train Yard, Etc."

After looking into it a little more, it appears that the old train car factory/maintenance shed was for wide-gauge subway cars, which the Toei subway system uses, and not in fact Shinkansen cars, as I had initially thought. In looking into the logistics of that old factory, I was led to a new-looking and fairly large train yard about a fifteen-minute walk away - see:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/i_i_v/s/TrnYrd01/pg1.htm

- where evidence strongly pointed towards that old factory being an extension (or vice-versa) of the new factory building. At the large train yard, there is also an older building similar to that old disused factory building, so I suppose those two were a pair and the new building replaced the separate and recently shut-down one.

Not far from the train yard and factory/maintenance sheds is Honmonji Temple:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/i_i_v/s/Hnmnji01/pg1.htm

All of the pictures on the two pages above were taken with an Olympus 810. I'm working towards getting some pictures from the Ricoh GR Digital up next.

4:35 a.m. ..... I need to get some sleep.

Lyle

2006/06/10 11:57

"Ricoh GR Digital Camera"

I recently began using a Ricoh GR Digital camera (the model name "GR Digital" is a reference to Ricoh's well-regarded GR film cameras) and it's an interesting design. It falls right between the low end of the digital SLR market and the top end of the compact fits-in-a-pocket digital market - or more precisely, it *is* the top end of the fits-in-a-pocket digital market (based on my observation of what's for sale at Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku - not on extensive Internet research). What makes it worth considering as something worth shelling out your hard-earned cash on, is the quality of the lens. Being a fixed focal length (thus avoiding the tradeoffs inherent in variable focal length lenses), Ricoh was able to design a lens that is more akin to a quality SLR lens than a typical cheap and fuzzy compact 5X (or whatever) zoom lens.

I don't have any photos from it posted to the site yet, but when I get some up, I'll make a mention of them so you can see for yourself how pictures from the camera look. The camera name and exact specs are:

Ricoh GR Digital
CCD: 8.1 million pixels
GR Lens 5.9mm f2.4

The 5.9mm lens is comparable to a 28mm lens on a 35mm film camera. I've only put in a limited amount of time using the camera to date, but I'm very impressed so far - enough to recommend buying one if you're at all interested in taking quality pictures with a pocketable camera.

Lyle

PS - As there was too much stuff on the page, I moved the first part of this year's postings to the blog-L Archive page.