HIROSHIGE AND VAN GOGH

HIROSHIGE AND VAN GOGH
Read About Van Gogh's Secret Visit to Japan

WELCOME TO BLOGABOUTJAPAN

WELCOME TO BLOGABOUTJAPAN
IT WAS A SPECIAL TIME IN MY LIFETIME

APT WITH TATAMI MATS, a special time in my lifetime in Japan...

APT WITH TATAMI MATS, a special time in my lifetime in Japan...
Watercolor by R.L.Huffstutter

COMPARISONS IN ART

COMPARISONS IN ART
HIROSHIGE'S WORK ON LEFT, VAN GOGH'S ON RIGHT

YOKOHAMA PICTURE SHOW

YOKOHAMA PICTURE SHOW
Shot with my Petri in Yokohama 1962

RICE FIELD IN JAPAN 1962

RICE FIELD IN JAPAN 1962
I took this with my PETRI in Kanagawa Prefecture

Thursday, January 28, 2010

五反田駅


五反田駅
Originally uploaded by Danburg Murmur
A SHORT ESSAY ABOUT THE TRAINS OF JAPAN: LOOKING BACK AT THE TRAINS OF 50 YEARS AGO. Thanks to the photo by Danburg Murmur for the photo that inspired my recollections.

Almost 50 years have passed since I rode my last train in Japan, it seems like almost yesterday. While in Japan from 1961 until New Years Eve of 1963/64, I rode the trains between Sagami-Otsuga and Yokohama almost every weekend. Yes, I took the train to Tokyo too. There were many times when I simply got on a train and let it take me to wherever it was going, spending more than a few weekends simply riding the trains and transferring from one to another.

On a few occasions, I ended up in faraway towns and was unable to catch the train until the following morning, so I spent my layover in a local sake house. I was always treated friendly and made to feel quite welcome. My heart warms when I recall those days of youthful adventure; I recall the gentle smile of the older gentlemen whose memories were full of much more history than mine, yet they extended hands of friendship.

I am so thankful to my friends in Japan, though some I only saw once. For a young American who had grown up in the midwest of America, my time in Japan was a most fascinating experience and has left me with many golden memories as I reach my golden years. Throughout the years since my departure, I have kept up with all of the news from Japan and about Japan.

I have watched Japan grow into a great nation with great new cities. It is with much admiration that I recall how much progress Japan has made in the last fifty years. Someday, I hope to return and ride those trains again.

五反田駅
Waiting to take the Yamanote line (山手線) to work

Uploaded by Danburg Murmur on 6 Jun 07, 2.26AM PST.

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