Back to the motherland!

journal of a nonbinary mixed-race person in Japan (from California)

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Big City Blues (Say You Miss Me Too)

A year since my last visit to Osaka. Oddly, I didn't find myself pining so much to move back as I had last time. Perhaps I had bid farewell in my heart at last.

The name of each place I had ever lived and loved, only to leave, flashed across my vision. Memories of returning somewhere with all my hopes of being reunited, only to find and feel nothing.

That realization of time as a place, one you can't go back to except in memories. Memories will fade over time, emotions lose intensity.

Some things, you're not going to get back no matter how hard you search. You might feel torn for what you've lost. Perhaps you feel freed for what might come next.

Regardless, time keeps moving, so you better get going too.

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I spotted some pink blossoms too 🌸

(This is a miniature shinto shrine in the yard of an apartment complex.)

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Here in Japan, we are all unquestioningly masking up since early last year. Even Miffy complies.

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横浜市内（どこか）

Whoever's house this is, everyone is stopping to photograph the plum blossoms. The weather warms for days, until rain spills. Setsubun has passed and spring is coming.

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大阪市 大川 (天満橋)

I never tire of this view.

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大垣市 岐阜県

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大垣市、岐阜県

be nowhere, be nothing.

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a small shrine in the wind at Osaka Tenmangu

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太陽の塔（岡本 太郎）

大阪万博記念公園 吹田市 大阪府

Tower of the Sun, a building by the artist Okamoto Taro. It opened in 1970 for the World Expo being held in Osaka at the time.

Inside the tower is the Tree of Life, which extends from the floor all the way to the ceiling. It showcases creatures from the begining of time at the bottom such as sea anemone. As you progress the stairs, time progresses and the creatures become more complex till you reach the top where cro-magnum sits. Some of the figures in the original exhibit moved, though now they do not. Tower of the Sun shut down after the 1970 World Expo ended. Decades later, renovations began on the tower in 1994. Limited public viewing was allowed from 2003.

The Tower of the Sun is not only interesting artistically, but the history behind the building is quite mysterious as well. Okamoto Taro himself is really strange...

Fun fact: over in Tokyo's Shibuya Station, between the JR station and the Keio Line, there is a large mural by Okamoto Taro!! I have stared at the mural so many times throughout my life. I was thrilled to know the artist was behind the Tower of the Sun as well.

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鳥羽市、三重県

Toba in Mie Prefecture is a beach resort area not far from the famous Ise Jingu. The city is most famous for the pearl industry (especially Mikimoto Pearls) and its sealife. Both are depicted in public art throughout the city.

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Seongsan Ilchulbon Jeju-do, South Korea

This is a famous crater volcano, but once we reached the top, the clouds had moved in and there was nothing to see but white vapor. Maybe one day I will get to see the actual crater, or be there for the sunrise, as its name translates to ‘Sunrise Peak’.

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The Cliffs of Yeongmori Coast Jeju-do, South Korea

How young and insignificant I felt next to these ancient cliffs. Stacks of cooled lava, weathered into these beautiful formations by thousands of years of pummeling from the ocean.

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Bijarim Forest (비자림) Jeju-do, South Korea

A forest of 500- to 800-year-old nutmeg trees.

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My favorite pharmacy sells herbs out front 🌿

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大阪天満宮

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Osaka Thai Festival 2018