Current location:health >>
VOX POPULI: The power of old photos and a deficit
health18998People have gathered around
IntroductionA photograph can bring the past back to life.Even if it’s black and white, the picture is in vivid c ...
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.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“International Inklings news portal”。http://juandenovaisland.cumberland-sausage.net/content-58b899939.html
Related articles
Adams, Reyna, Turner, Ream are US concerns ahead of Copa America
healthNEW YORK (AP) — Tyler Adams, Gio Reyna, Matt Turner and Tim Ream will be given the three weeks ahead ...
【health】
Read moreEdmunds: What you need to know about wrapping your car
healthGaze around the next time you’re stuck in traffic and see if you’re not surprised, maybe even a litt ...
【health】
Read moreTennessee lawmakers join movement allowing some teachers to take guns into schools
healthSome public school teachers in Tennessee could gain new powers to carry concealed guns into the clas ...
【health】
Read more
Popular articles
- ‘The Blue Angels,’ filmed for IMAX, puts viewers in the ‘box’ with the elite flying squad
- Josef Newgarden’s win in IndyCar’s season
- Struggled with 'I am not a robot' captchas lately? It's not just you... they're getting harder
- More than 1 in 4 US adults over age 50 say they expect to never retire, an AARP study finds
- Travis Kelce downs whiskey shot on slice of bread at Kelce Jam without Taylor Swift
- Heartbroken woman confronts her obsessed ex
Latest articles
Saudi Arabia is going to sponsor the WTA women's tennis rankings under a new partnership
Italy bans loans to Minneapolis Institute of Art because of long
Primary voters take down at least 2 incumbents in Pennsylvania House
With lawsuits in rearview mirror, Disney World government gets back to being boring
Young Boys seals 6th Swiss soccer league title in 7 years after rallying from firing coach Wicky
Blinken begins key China visit as tensions rise over new US foreign aid bill
LINKS
- Thailand: Water guns in full blast to mark New Year festivities
- Slovak, Polish protesters ease blockade on borders with Ukraine
- Int'l ministerial meeting calls for peace in Gaza
- Strike takes place in Jordan to support Palestinian people in Gaza
- Princesses Maria Carolina, 20, and Maria Chiara of Bourbon
- Simone Biles sets her sights on the Paris Olympics as four
- Brad Marchand caps Bruins' four
- Chinese official meets North Korean leader Kim in highest
- Int'l ministerial meeting calls for peace in Gaza
- Outlook for China's energy transition released at COP28