A photograph can bring the past back to life.
Even if it’s black and white, the picture is in vivid color in the viewer’s mind, where the image becomes animated, so to speak, as if enkindled.
Has anyone experienced this strange power of photos?
The Yodo Line of the JR Shikoku Railway runs in the mountains of Ehime and Kochi prefectures.
I got off the train at Chikanaga station and took a narrow street in front of me. I soon arrived at a photo shop on a small shopping street.
Chikanaga Camera, as the shop is called, had many old pictures on display at the shopfront. All of them had been brought by neighborhood residents.
“Every one of these pictures tells an old story, and I am delighted to hear it from my neighbors,” said Tsugiko Kagajo, 64, the owner.
One photo showed a young man carrying a “mikoshi” portable shrine. In another, parents wore big smiles as they rooted for their children at a school baseball match.
And there was a picture of a bare-footed little girl, sitting on a pile of straw, her face all wrinkled from a huge grin that seems to be rippling throughout her body. What could have amused her so much?
The neighborhood used to be filled with people. But Kagajo observed, “A big road was built and life became more convenient, but that changed the fabric of our community.”
The Yodo Line on March 1 marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of the entire line.
Unfortunately, however, this is one of the nation’s numerous deficit-ridden railway lines.
A revenue of 100 yen requires an expenditure of 1,718 yen. But the locals are pushing for its continuation.
Local towns are shrinking inexorably. Shinkansen lines may keep expanding, but there is no stopping local trains from going obsolete, one after another.
Somewhere along the way, we must have made a mistake and started going in the wrong direction.
Looking at pictures of smiling faces, I became lost for a while in glum, silent contemplation.
--The Asahi Shimbun, March 2
* *
*Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Philippines blames China for loss of giant clams in disputed shoal and urges environmental inquiry
Bridgerton fans are all saying the same thing about season 3's costumes as new trailer drops
Civil Aviation backtracks over technology for medical checks on pilots, air traffic controllers
Man United are 'playing like a small club', blasts Roy Keane after their 2
Ship that caused Baltimore bridge collapse has been refloated
Scary Movie is back! Franchise will be rebooted 11 years after Scary Movie 5 was released
Neymar jokes about his contribution to Al
PLAYER RATINGS: Scores revealed for DIRE Liverpool stars who flopped in first leg against Atalanta
Ben Whishaw lights up the Croisette as he joins his co
GRAND NATIONAL COUNTDOWN: Willie Mullins bullish over eight
Brazil replaces injured goalkeeper Ederson in Copa America squad
Kris Jenner, 68, looks chic in D&G dress for 'date night' with longtime boyfriend Corey Gamble, 43