It’s been a while since I posted something. Things haven’t been going all that great in recent months, and I’ve had to dedicate less time to my illustration and animation work as a result. However, this is a piece that has been on my ever growing list of things to do, and I’m glad that it’s out of my head. I watch a lot of Japanese television through NHK world and one of my favourite shows is 72 Hours, a documentary series that spends 72 hours in a particular location as people come and go. A few months back I saw an episode based at Mt Kongo in Osaka. At the summit there is a web camera that takes a photo on the hour, and this attracts a lot of people to climb the mountain and pose for the photo.
Some people do this because they have family abroad, and it gives them a chance to connect. Others who are just visiting, as well as tourists, like to be part of it too. On the documentary there was this one guy who climbs the mountain everyday, and he poses in a similar fashion to the clock that can be found there. It seemed so important to him that, in a way, this is preserving him as a part of the local history. I do love the idea, it seems to generate a lot of tourism and I’ve since found myself thinking about similar ways that my own home town could introduce something to draw people in. I sometimes take a look at the live Mt Kongo webcam, but due to the difference in time zones (I’m based in Greater Manchester, England) it’s usually around 2am when I do. This is represented by the clock in the illustration, though in reality it’s normally 11am. The documentary is available to watch on YouTube, why not take a look at it. Or better yet have a ganders at the live web cam, on the hour.