30 September 2006, noon We returned from Saipan the day before yesterday. We went there for Kumiko's highschool friend, Kanae Aya's, wedding. Saipan is the main island in the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas Islands, which also includes Tinian and Rota, as well as several sparsely-inhabited islands to the north. We enjoyed driving around the island, but it's so small that you can see the entire coastline from the top of the highest peak. It's very tropical, so the weather isn't as nice as Hawaii's. The three days we were mostly steamy jungle heat, punctuated by short cloudbursts. We found the people of Saipan to be quiet and shy compared to those of Guam. I had a hard time communicating despite English being a common language there. When I asked a question, the answers were short and noncommittal and would trail off in volume at the end. Here's an example at the supermarket: "Do you know if there's a bookstore near here?" "Yeah, there's Bestsel..?..." "Bestsell?" "Bestseller." "It's near here?" "Yes, it's just down there (not indicating)." "Down this road?" "You know the Jote..?.." "Is that on this road?" "Yes." "Down that way?" "Yes, at the Joten." "Okay, thank you." Another example was in the car when I asked the rental agency driver about Chamorro culture on Guam and Saipan. I was speaking loudly to be heard over the roar of the 10-year-old car in the pouring rain. He was speaking quietly and not making eye contact, so I had to extrapolate from the snatches of consonants that drifted towards me. He told us that Guam was losing its Chamorro (native) culture, but that Saipan has retained it. When I asked him if he could recommend a Chamorro restaurant, his response was "Chamorro? I'll have to think about that."
Despite the communication difficulties it was a nice place to visit for three days, but we'd pretty much exhausted the tourist spots by the end of that time, so I wouldn't recommend a longer trip unless you're into diving and parasailing and sunbathing, which we're not. The wedding was nice. I think as a newly married couple, it's exciting to watch a wedding and compare it to your own, and hear your friends take the same vows.
So today is the last of a nine-day holiday, and tonight Kumiko and I will go to the opening party for a group photo exhibition. We know two of the four photographers, and the party will include food from an excellent French chef, and a string quartet. A nice finish to our much-needed vacation.
15 September 2006, evening I spent some time in the darkroom today. It's been at least three weeks since I was there. I haven't really had the money to go recently, but I had some money left over from my weekly budget today, so I went in and printed for a photo exchange with a guy in Illinois. His photo arrived here yesterday, a kallitype, which is some alternative process that allows printing on drawing paper, rather than photographic paper. I don't know how it's done yet, but the results look really nice. I won't display it on the internet because it's not mine, and I don't think a scan would really show the subtleties anyway. There are several alternative processes which I'd love to learn, but it's not really an option in Japan. There doesn't seem to be any interest in them over here. I'm looking forward to trying them out when we eventually make our way to the US. I also saw my friend Julio, who's getting ready for a charity exhibition at the end of the month. I helped him edit some photos from Laos, which will be on display. The proceeds will benefit schools in rural Laos. Julio travels there every year to donate textbooks.
a playground rabbit near our apartment
Photo with Franka Solida III on Konica Chrome Sinbi 200
5 September 2006, early morning Bicycles have odd names in Japan. A few weeks ago on my lunch break I walked down one many-bicycled street in Higashi Mikuni and compiled the following list of names:
Compare, Nuance, Broad, Land Scape, Betty Dash, Caraway, DX-Lady, Butterfly Battle, Forever, Missouri, Century Best, Complacer, Agenda, Curse, My Way Dan, My Pallas, Afecto, Super Quartz, Lastin, Whale Land, Fashionable City, Urban Berry, Frackers Cargo, Wild Wizard, Town City, Niti Fashion, Enjoy the Life
That was just one street. Since then I've noticed several others from the "Frackers" series including one called "Frackers Mama". I don't know why, but I think I like the pseudo English ones (Complacer and Afecto) best. I think my own bicycle, the "Taketonbo" (it means "bamboo dragonfly") is the only bike I've seen with a Japanese name. I didn't buy it because of the name. It just happened to be the only brand I could find in an extra big size. Under the name, it says "I'll sticky about my favorite things" in small print. My old bicycle was called "Spearmint" and if I remember correctly, the small print said "Please enjoy the nature scenes" or something close. Kumiko's bicycle has no name on it whatsoever, which is odd. I just went downstairs to check, and it was the only nameless one at our apartment building. There's a bike down there called "Cradle", which reminded me of the one I saw recently called "Carrot". That's all about bicycles for now.
Our friend John just lives for these moments with random drunken "salarymen".
John and one salary man are clearly posing for Tomo (John's wife) while the other two are posing for me.
Photo with Fujifilm Klasse 35mm on Kodak T-Max 100
MARCH 04 APRIL 04 MAY 04 JUNE 04 JULY 04 AUGUST 04 SEPTEMBER 04 OCTOBER 04 NOVEMBER 04 DECEMBER 04 JANUARY 05 FEBRUARY 05 MARCH 05 APRIL 05 MAY 05 JUNE 05 JULY 05 AUGUST 05 SEPTEMBER 05 OCTOBER 05 NOVEMBER 05 DECEMBER 05 JANUARY 06 FEBRUARY 06 MARCH 06 APRIL 06 MAY 06 JUNE 06 JULY 06 AUGUST 06 SEPTEMBER 06 OCTOBER 06 NOVEMBER 06
