Manhole covers in Japan have designs that reflect the city on them, in larger cities some even have color!
I live in one of my university’s dorms but it’s located in a residential neighborhood so I see Japanese families, people walking their dogs, and little old grandmas on bikes everyday. Most of the time I’m just trying to avoid bicycles and cars on the narrow neighborhood streets.
Even though I live in a Japanese neighborhood I feel like I’ve gotten used to the sights I see everyday or at least don’t focus on them anymore.
When I was walking around taking pictures I realized that since I’ve been here that my gaze has always been centered on right in front of me or low and not I’m not really looking around.
I looked at the sky and how the clouds and sunlight looked against the buildings. I felt like I was seeing the neighborhood differently and really taking things in for once. There’s a little bridge that I cross to get to the grocery store where all the little shops and restaurants are. I looked off the bridge to the little creek and houses and was impressed by the water, greenery, and mountains. Looking up around the neighborhood there are so many power lines that create interesting patterns and look so different from power lines in America. I like how jumbled they look and how some are older than others.
I started trying to look for some nature in my neighborhood since I feel gray and brown kind of define the neighborhood. Rice fields occupy small packs of land right next to houses and apartments. It’s nice to see the bright green fields just along sidewalks.
Focusing on looking beyond buildings allowed me to view where I live in Japan differently and see some beauty that I thought was covered away.
