RURAL JAPAN, KANAGAWA PREFECTURE 1961

RURAL JAPAN, KANAGAWA PREFECTURE 1961
Originally uploaded by roberthuffstutter

I JUST DISCOVERED A FEW HUNDRED EKTACHROMES TAKEN WHILE IN JAPAN AND I HOPE TO BE POSTING THEM AS TIME GOES BY........

Shortly after arriving in Japan, I purchased a little 90cc motorcycle, more akin to a Moped, but yet a motorcycle. For a guy who liked to get out in the country and shoot photos, it was the perfect little bike. It was difficult to get a passenger on the back, and within a few months, I no longer felt like sketching alone.

The cycle went for $25. Yes, some romantic young artist must still be motoring around the rural areas at this moment. My only fear, however, is that most of the rural area has disappeared. Such is youth; such is progress as time goe by.

a trip to Hakone began at the Railway Station...

HOTEL IN MOTOMACHI 1963

HOTEL IN MOTOMACHI 1963
Originally uploaded by roberthuffstutter

BECAUSE I HAVE SO MANY IMAGES OF JAPAN AND THE PAST in my phototstream, I have had some friends suggest I return to Yokoham and go ambling about in all of my old haunts. Thanks, but no thanks; I have learned that the old adage "the more things change, the more they remain the same" is a tragic myth. It's impossible to go back, at least for me.

The error in this train of thought is that although there might be a few of the old haunts left, they would not be the same: those that were there, those who made the tour such a beautiful and romantic interlude would be absent. There is this matter of aging in the flesh; there is this matter of how quickly youth is spent.

There is the reality of the wrinkles that replace the rosy and sanguine cheeks and lips, the lustre of the hair and the light of hope in youthful eyes. No, there is no way to go back...