2017
Classmates Visited My Deceased Son's Grave
(Installed on 2017/12/29, No.145)
My Deceased Son's Grave was warmed today with flowers and offerings brought by his old classmates.
After visiting the grave they also visited our Buddhist altar in our house and we spent a while sharing the old memories about my deceased son.
We are very grateful to their hearty friendship. Thank you very much for visiting the grave on a cold day at the end of the year.
A Happy New Years to you all!
The First Snow Covered This Winter
(Installed on 2017/12/27, No.144)
I woked up to find the world outside all covered with snow for the first time this winter.
It made sense that it was unusually cold last evening when I went for a walk putting on one more coat than usual.
The first snow was already reported a few weeks ago but it melted as it landed on the ground. So the scenery was very fresh. It was almost after twelve months since I saw one last winter.
The snow seemed melted as it fell on the street that it caused nothing to the car traffic.
A Gas Tap Was Newly Installed In The Tatami Room -3/3-
(Installed on 2017/12/19, No.143)
I made a wooden panel and its base frame for a gas tap, which I finished one day beforehand.
We had arranged that the tap window on the panel could be made on its installing day as we needed precise size data.
The contractor finished installing work successfully in less than two hours, perhaps on account of my good preparation.
Now we are liberated from taking care of the kerosene heater.
A Gas Tap Was Newly Installed In The Tatami Room -2/3-
(Installed on 2017/12/19, No.142)
I had a prearrangement with the contractor and decided where to install a tap.
In order to cut down the cost I undertook the preparation work.
The first work was to take off a part of the clay wall.
A Gas Tap Was Newly Installed In The Tatami Room -1/3-
(Installed on 2017/12/19, No.141)
We had a gas tap newly installed in our only tatami room.
Until last winter we had used a kerosene heater, which needed bothersome care.
A gas heater is much easy and comfortable to use. It's odor free plus you don't have to fill the tank regularly.
Flowers And Green Twigs To Our Deceased Son
(Installed on 2017/12/18, No.140)
On Dec.17 we noticed someone offered the beautiful flowers and vivid twigs to our tomb. They are dendroviums, chrysanthemums and sakaki(?) twigs. I was very much pleased.
As have been repeated already before, they must be offered to our deceased son.
He was known among his friends as a man very smart in choosing clothes. They visit the tomb and offer floweres from their true cordiality. I'm sure the person who offered dendroviums chose them as the flowers which became him.
I heartily thank the person for the offerings!
Two-Day Trip To Ise-Shima -3/3-
(Installed on 2017/12/12, No.142)
In the afternoon we visited the Ise Shrine and the O-kage Yokocho, the shopping lanes off the shrine before we started for home.
When we came back home we were greeted with an occasional freezing rain and were pulled back to an ordinary life.
Two-Day Trip To Ise-Shima -2/3-
(Installed on 2017/12/12, No.138)
On the second day we went on board and enjoyed a short cruise of Ago Bay in the morning during which we could see the pearl works and the villa built by Kokich Mikimoto.
Two-Day Trip To Ise-Shima -1/3-
(Installed on 2017/12/12, No.137)
On December10 and 11 we drove to Ise-Shima with four friendly couples. The Japanese islands had been visited by a cold wave and snow had been forecasted on the Sea of Japan side. However, we were blessed with warm and sunny weather as Ise-Shima was jutting out to the Pacific Ocean.
On the first day we visited the lighthouse at Daio-zaki Point. The lighthouse was impressively white against a blue sky over the deep blue ocean.
We enjoyed watching stars at night through a big telescope on the housetop of the hotel too. The astronomy man there showed us the Pleiades and others. We learned the area is now among the best areas in this country for an astronomical observation.
More Dried Persimmons To Be
(Installed on 2017/12/6, No.136)
We were given more sour(astringent) persimmons. So we peeled and hang them again to make more dried persimmons.
The persimmons I hang a little while ago became much smaller as they got dried。But they are not yet ready to be eaten as dired persimmons.
We have a lot of persimmons as fruit so I can wait keeping myself cool until they become perfect sweet dried persimmons.
More importantly than waiting, I don't have to ingest too much of such sugar-rich tasty food. I have been yielding myself to the temptation. Dried or not they are too tasty.
Quartz Movement Revived -3/3-
(Installed on 2017/12/4, No.135)
The photo shows how the condenser was attached to the movement.
As the condenser was attached the clock, the rotor of which only twitched even with a new battery, started to rotate smoothly again!
Inexplicable but it worked! It's real fun.
Quartz Movement Revived -2/3-
(Installed on 2017/12/4, No.134)
I made tags with a piece of copper foil and attached them to the leads of an old condenser I had as shown in the photo.
The condenser I used was of 30μF/16V.
Quartz Movement Revived -1/3-
(Installed on 2017/12/4, No.133)
The quartz clock shown in the photo below stopped working again. Changing the battery didn't work.
Had it come to the end of its life at last? It had got an operation in September 2016 already when it stopped for the first time. It revived after I opened its movement and cleaned it.
"What could be done with it this time?"
I thought there were two solutions. One was to change movements. The other was to try "condenser tuning."
The latter was an illogical way but it was successful in improving the performances of my tube amps.
So I adopted the same method again.
Beautiful Flowers Were Offered To My Deceased Son
(Installed on 2017/11/24 -2-, No.132)
The photo was taken in the evening the next day.
On Saturday evening as I dropped in to our family tomb I found fresh flowers were newly offered, no doubt, to my deceased son. They were gerberas and hydrangeas.
The big and white gerberas caught my eyes first. The whiteness of the flowers was breathtaking. Getting close, I recognized the green things under the gerberas were young and fresh buds and leaves of hydrangeas.
I supposed the person who offered the flowers picked them at the shop as he or she thought they become my deceased son who was smart and dressy.
In next February we see the second anniversary of his death. I heartily appreciate the person's visit with my both hand joined in prayer for I know it's not usual for anyone to visit his grave this late.
(Installed on 2017/11/24 -1-, No.131)
We were given sour(astringent) persimmons from a friendly neighbor. I peeled and hang them in order to make dried persimmons. By drying them the water-soluble tannin within changes into insoluble tannin and thus they taste very sweet.
A few years ago when we did it for the first time the persimmons were so many that my wife and I had to cooperate. This time I did all the processes alone as my wife was busy and the persimmons were only about thirty.
My hands roughen easily, so I whetted a kitchen knife beforehand wishing to shorten the time of peeling, and wore elastic gloves as I washed and peeled persimmons. Preparations protected my hands successfully.
All the proccesses such as washing, peeling, tying two persimmons with a piece of thick thread, dipping them into the boiling water to sterilize and hunging them took me about two hours. In two or three weeks they would make sweet dried persimmons and contribute for me to get even fatter.
Condenser Tuning Of Tube Amps -II- -2/2-
(Installed on 2017/11/16, No.130)
The result was that the improvement observed on the blue waveforms was only about 10mV.
The professionals may get some different data differently and may locate a different cause of the improvement?
Those who are interested in such a topic please visit my site for more details.
Condenser Tuning Of Tube Amps -II- -1/2-
(Installed on 2017/11/16, No.129)
I got data of the recent successful condenser tuning of tube amps. The tuning resulted only in 0.005% improvement of fluctuations of the DC voltage of about 190V of the 6N6P amp, which was far from what my ears recognized.
The photos are the hardcopies of the voltage fluctuations observed on an oscilloscope.
The blue waveforms represent the fluctuations on the DC voltage supplied in the amp. The red waveforms monitor maximum output without distortion.
I Dredged The Ditch -2/2-
(Installed on 2017/11/10, No.128)
The photo(bottom) shows one of the leeches.
I found a crayfish and two leeches for the first time while dredging. Is the water becoming cleaner recently?
The leeches, which I mistook for chips of shiitake mashroom first, were much bigger than those which used to suck blood around my ankles in rivers as a boy.
I Dredged The Ditch -1/2-
(Installed on 2017/11/10, No.127)
One of two big regular cleanings in the neighborhood is scheduled on Nov.12. I usually do it on the day before as I need more hours to finish my place. But I did it two days before this time because Nov.11 is forcasted to be rainy.
The work was weeding along the ditch and its dredging. Weeds were less but the ditch mud was not less. I dredged six sandbagful of mud. Carrying such bags was very hard labor for an old man like me.
I Trimmed The Side Hedges Of Our Tomb
(Installed on 2017/11/4, No.126)
The tomb of our family is located at north-east corner of a public cemetry which is surrounded by the hedges of podocarp or Chinese black pine. The work took me two and a half hours including weeding and cleaning of the site.
It was windy and rained a little as I started working but soon it cleared up and it became hot. I sweat a lot.
One of the regular cleaning days is set on Sunday tomorrow but I did my work one day before as I usually can't finish my work within a scheduled time of one hour.
It may be ungraceful not to finish the work with other people.
I Added Big Condensers To My Tube Amps
(Installed on 2017/11/2, No.125)
A condenser tuning or an improvement with a condenser had once been done on cars. I did it on my tube amps this time.
However such artifice has often been illegitimate among learned engineers. Unfortunately(?) I'm a do-it-yourselfer to whom all's well that ends well.
There are three tube amps on my audio rack. The most frequently used amp is the smallest one, the lower sound of which however was a little insufficient in strength or in depth.
Remembering that once I successfully improved the sound of an amp by adding big condensers, I tried the same to this amp. This time I added condensers not only at right next to rectifiers but also to each amplification stage.
The photo shows the amp to which I added more condensers. Three cylindrical objects on the shassis are the condensers newly added to the amp. There are more condensers added inside the chassis with needed resisters to protect semiconductors.
What was the result? Very satisfactory!
The sound improved not only in lower range but also in higher range too. So, I did the same to other two amps on the rack and the result was very satisfactory too.
The improvement of three amps was to such degree that I had to attenuate the higher range more with the speaker system.
Now as the sound of the smallest amp has enough volume and quality, other amps are not needed. I have built nearly ten amps and I finally got a cynical result of do-it-yourself.
A New FM Tuner Joined To My Audio Equipment
(Installed on 2017/10/14, No.124)
The photo shows TRIO KT-8300 on top of my Nautilus-type speaker system. It is big though almost empty inside. The small aluminum box on top of the tuner is a new BPF(Band Pass Filter) installed FM booster that happened to be completed on the day before the tuner arrived.
Trio KT-8300 has newly come to our house. It is of course a secondhand article which was put on sale more than forty years ago. I found it was on sale while surfing over the internet trying to find articles about the measures against noises on FM receiving.
I hesitated for two days but the price was very reasonable. I thought it can be a spare for the present tuner. So I decided to buy it being aware of the probable need of repairs.
However, it was complete. The sound was so superb that it was my old Pioneer TX-6300 that retired. I have been enchanted with the sound.
Pioneer TX-6300, which I bought new, was put on sale for 24800yen (in 1975) while TRIO KT-8300 was put on sale for 63000yen (in 1978). It took me more than forty years to learn that price and quality are so closely related.
Listening to the music on NHK-FM I emotionally feel my audio equipment has come to a kind of completion. It has been seven years since I started building a small tube(6N6P) amplifire in 2011.
I Pruned Our Three Tall Trees
(Installed on 2017/10/9, No.123)
Photo: Taken by my wife as I was pruning mukutree.
We have three tall trees. They are Kaki, kurogane holly(Ilex rotunda) and mukutree(aphananthe oriental elm). Kaki and mukutree had started letting their leaves fall.
I have never pruned these trees this early before but as my wife was free and could help me and the weather had been forecasted good for three coming days I pruned them at this time.
I finished pruning Kaki and kurogane holly during the morning. Mukutree is the biggest among the three and I pruned it in the afternoon. It took a longer time than it took me with any of two other ones.
Mukutree is my favorite tree because it makes a large shadow I like during the summer time. That is, purning it is difficult because many slender long branches sread in a high place. However, through many pruning experiences in the past I have learned how to rest a ladder against the tree and I could finished the pruning work very smoothly this time.
There were many hairy caterpillars on the branches and leaves but luckily I could finish the work safely. My work for tomorrow is to shred branches and stuff them into plastic bags for them to be picked up by a city garbage truck.
I'm looking forward to the return of the shadow in the next summer.
Old Letters Sent by Tomohiro -2/2
(Installed on 2017/10/3, No.122)
Photo(bottom): Taken at Altyn Arashan, Kirgiz. Memo on the back:A bigorous little girl like motherless Heidi.
In the third letter was written, "I, Takeda is still walking as before. ...
I have travelling Muslim countries and I haven't drunk alcoholic drinks a bit for more than a month. I have been doing my best hoping to get to England and live there as I had dreamed of."
I am thankful to the people who presented me with the letters for their warm conideration. They are precious articles of my deceased son. I treasure them.
Old Letters Sent by Tomohiro -1/2
(Installed on 2017/10/3, No.121)
Photo: Taken at Khiva, Uzbekistan. Memo on the back:The conbination of Arabesque and blue. I like it!
I was presented with three old letters my deceased son sent to some people of a bar parlor with whom he worked and to whom he had been thankful for their friendship.
The first one was sent from Corgus, China on May 19th. Some parts of the letter say, "I'm now waiting for the Kazakhstan border to be opened. I have been idling away my time in a Sichuan restaurant, leaning Chinese from the owner and his families...."
Everything is slow. I alone crossed China in a hurry. I was lucky to have arrived here without any physical trouble. Now I take a rest and prepare for proceeding forward to Central Asia. I'm in good spirit. I'll do my best....
The second letter, which was sent from Kyrgyzstan on June 13 with a few printed photos, says, "It's been a long time. How have you all been doing?"
I'll be 22 when you receive this letter. I'm in Kyrgyz. It is a very very hot country at the eastern end of Central Asia where I'm now preparing to go on to the next country. I crossed Asia to the Caspian Sea, from where I advanced south and then I traveled back toward eastward across Uzbekistan. The Islamic overwhelming architecture enthralls me.
...The next country is at last Pakistan. I'm looking forward to letting me melt into Mother Nature of Pakistan where the scenes of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind were laid."
I Finally Set Up An Antenna For FM Radio -2/2
(Installed on 2017/9/6 -2-, No.120)
I made an economical use of what I had at my home, an old ham antenna, a balun for the old VHF TV set and a distributer which was used reversed as a mixer.
I made two antennas, for I didn't satisfied with the first one, which I found could be much improved.
The red circled box in the photo is a distributer used as a mixer, which was a new discovery for me.
I Finally Set Up An Antenna For FM Radio -1/2
(Installed on 2017/9/6 -2-, No.119)
Causes unknown, noises into FM receiving increased recently. I had been enjoying FM music with only occasional noises without a dedicated antenna.
What I did first was to connect an antenna cable to our TV antenna pole. It didn't work at all.
Reluctantly, I set about building an FM antenna. I calculated the length of the element after a long long time. I set it up below our UHF TV antennas as shown in the top photo.
We Harvested(?) A Cluster of Grapes
(Installed on 2017/9/6 -1-, No.118)
We harvested(?) a cluster of our deceased son's grapes. It was not yet ripened but we cut it off the vine because it was pecked at by crows and was showing a shocking figure.
It was the most beatiful cluster on the vine. Other smaller clusters were safe.
We offered it on the tablet of the deceased and reported the situation to our son.
Later, I tasted a grape. It was sour and less sweet. It was faintly astringent too. I have never eaten astringent grapes before. I remembered it was because they were wine grapes? Or, will they become sweeter when they are fully ripened?
Our Water Pump Revived Again -2/2-
(Installed on 2017/8/28, No.117)
As it has been used for more than thirty years I was about to accept the end of its life. However, watching the inside of the controller box, I found three chemical condensers. It has been said their life is rather short.
I surmised they can be causing the trouble and replaced them with new ones.
Luckily I was right. After replacing them the pump started to work normal as before. The touble was not with the senser but with the power supply to the senser.
Checking the condensers that were plugged off the controller board I found one (the biggest one at the top in the photo) of them was dead. It was the first one that was placed after rectifiers. Other two were amazingly still normal with their capacity.
Our Water Pump Revived Again -1/2-
(Installed on 2017/8/28, No.116)
The pump which applies more pressure to our piped water has often begun to be non-reactive. It has been working for more than thirty years.
We had a similar trouble before. It was caused by some insect which built its nest inside the photo senser switch. At that time the pump revived after cleaning the switch.
This time the inside the switch was clear. There was no response to the senser pressure adjusting, either. I doubted a deterioration of the photo sensing unit, for which I neatly cleaned the surface of the switch but it didn't work.
Beautiful Flowers Were Offered To My Deceased Son
(Installed on 2017/8/19, No.115)
Today, a couple with their little children came to visit the tomb of my deceased son. The couple were his friends. The wife once worked part-time with him together in a sushi restaurant too. We heartily appreciate their friendship.
She picked up the flowers as you see in the photo. They are gerberas I suppose. The language of them are noble beauty or mystery. I'm afraid they are too much to him, though. She said she didn't like the conventional offering flowers but picked up those because he was very smart. I appreciate her thoughtfulness too.
I had heard another man was coming together but he had to cancel coming as his little child suddenly got ill. I wish they could come together next time and stay a little longer with us so that we could hear what memories they have concerning my deceased son.
I Repapered The Screen Doors Of Our Tatami Room -2/2-
(Installed on 2017/8/11, No.114)
I repapered the screen doors in our tatami room. It is used for important family gatherings. The first gathering will be the O-bon Buddhist memorial service in August.
I didn't touch those small doors at ranma above. Their brown color stand out but I try not to see them. I exhausted all my energy and will-power for the larger doors.
I Repapered The Screen Doors Of Our Tatami Room -1/2-
(Installed on 2017/8/11, No.113)
I took off old paper under the shade of my mukutree. You may imagine it was cool in the shade but it was humid and the temperature on the day was above 35 degrees C.
It was above 33 C the following day when I put on new paper in my workshop. You can't do the work out as the starch dries out too fast.
It was real clothes wringing hot.
I realized why my mother used to repaper the screen doors at around the end of the year.
I could learn the knack of repaparing this time, with which I can do the work much neatly and with good finish next(?) time.
One Of The Grape Vines Suddenly Disappeared? -2/2-
(Installed on 2017/8/8, No.112)
Photo: A beautiful cluster on the other bigger vine tree.
Of the other vine, it had been growing bigger but I must report I didn't take enough care.
It was damaged by scarab beetles. They ate leaves a lot and I'm afraid the grapes lack nutrition.
Those beetles used to come on to a sal tree nearby but they had much sweeter leaves this year. Carelessness can be very dangerous. I learned I must take hearty care of the vine next year.
One Of The Grape Vines Suddenly Disappeared? -1/2-
(Installed on 2017/8/8, No.111)
We had typhoon #5 during the night at our place. I was anxious about my deceased son's grape vines. Luckily, the wind was not so strong.
However, I found one of them was gone as I went out in the morning to check them. It was gone whole with its root. Why? Totally puzzling and dissapointing! I only hope the vine suvives somewhere.
I have updated the cover photo of my web site
(Installed on 2017/7/24, No.110)
Our mukutree has made another wonderful shade this year again.
I have been enjoying doing my outside work without spreading a big shading sheet.
It is a bit too hot now but when it calmed down we can enjoy having teas and lunches in the shade.
Nautilus DIY Version Has Been Completed
(Installed on 2017/7/11, No.109)
I have completed my NAUTILUS DIY version at last after the long toil since March. Please visit here for details.
I listened to some music with the systems today for the first time.
With some adjustments of attenuators for mid and high range speaker units, the sound proved to be what I have expected. It was rewarding!
The speaker unit(38cm woofer) being mounted with a pseudo infinite space behind the cone is free of any loss or addition that derives from an enclosing cabinet. So the sound is true to the electric signals.
A Reunion Commemorating Tomohiro's 31st Birthday
(Installed on 2017/6/18, No.108)
June 16th is the late Tomohiro's birthday. As they did last year his intimate college classmates had a reunion at our house commemorating his birthday. They visited his grave first and then had a BBQ in the shade of a muku-tree in the yard just like they had those with him while he was alive.
In spite of the rainy season, the weather was mild and we could enjoy the BBQ in a peaceful and nostalgic atmosphere.
Nautilus D.I.Y. Version
(Installed on 2017/6/9, No.107)
I've been building a pair of new speaker systems since March. It may take another month before completion.
The idea was first realized in Nautilus that it can dissipate the sound radiated behind speaker drive units.
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In point of fact, those box speakers on the market have a structurally inevitable fault for a hi-fi playback. They are the results of the compromise between cost and practical use.
B&W in Britain challenged the technological difficulty and produced Nautilus with a Tapering Tube.
The Grape Blossoms
(Installed on 2017/5/23, No.106)
The grape vine my son left is in full blossom. It will bear fruit this year. I'm looking forward to offering a big cluster of grapes before his tablet.
The other vine has been growing okay. It is about one and a half feet tall now.
Shooting Out Of The Grape Vine My Son Left
(Installed on 2017/5/6, No.105)
One of the two grape vines my son left had not been responsive to the new season but it finally put out new shoots of leaves. My great lelief. I haven't waited in vain!!
They were from near the root as you see in the photo. That is, the two vines that had grown about one and a half meters long last year seem to be dead? I had been watching only those buds on them and had not noticed the new shootings until two days ago.
Compared to the other vine which has been rather smoothly growing, the future of this vine looks full of vicissitudes.
Two Grape Vines My Son Left -2/2-
(Installed on 2017/4/26, No.104)
The buds on the other vine are still holding themselves hard. The growth of this vine was timid from beginning. On top of it, I have planted it between taller trees that blocks off sunlight worse in the afternoon.
I'm planning to weed around the vines as my first job tomorrow in the morning.
Two Grape Vines My Son Left -1/2-
(Installed on 2017/4/26, No.106)
The leavebuds of one of the two grape vines unfolded at last. There are blossombuds too. There wasn't any last year.
As was forecasted it's been raining since morning and I could take some photos of them, wet and fresh.
On the net I had seen some earlier reports of grape viens growing afresh. Our vines are planted at warmer spots but they are among other plants which, I'm afraid we had planted too dense. They might be hindering others from growing.
Offerings Of Flowers -2/2-
(Installed on 2017/4/15, No.102)
Photo: Someone else also offered flowers.
As I wrote before, the grave is within a stone's throw and I visit it as I go for and come back from my evening walkings. I had noticed weeds were growing and I had just thought about weeding the day before. They came only a little too early as ill luck would have it. I weeded the grave that evening.
P.S.
As I dropped in the grave in the evening, I found the flowers increased. Someone else offered them. I heartily appreciate the person's condolence.
Offerings Of Flowers -1/2-
(Installed on 2017/4/15, No.101)
Photo: Flowers offered by three friends of my son's.
The other day we had unexpected visitors to our son's grave. It was a weekday. They were three of his friends. They offered flowers to the tombstone. I really appreciated that they spared their precious time and came all the way to visit his grave.
After offering flowers, one of the visitors started weeding. I hastely asked the person to stop it. This person, who had once offered flowers to the altar in our house soon after the funeral, said "I had come to his grave at last" after offering an incense stick. It was such hearty words that described their visit was real.
The Life Of Tomohiro In The Shared Flat In London -2/2-
(Installed on 2017/4/9, No.100)
Photo: His private room.
I could know that he enjoyed living there with those nice guys as well as working part-time in a pub. I had heard he wanted to train himself in London in order to be a bartender before leaving Japan.
More than anything, the information filled the gap I had suffered. With the information I could grasp the whole route of his journey as one complete ring. That was soothing as I was greatly relieved. Was it a luck given by my son?
The Life Of Tomohiro In The Shared Flat In London -1/2-
(Installed on 2017/4/9, No.99)
Photo: The common living room in the shared flat.
As I wrote already on March 10, while in London, my eldest son stayed first in a guesthouse and then in a flat which he shared with three other Japanese young men. But I didn't know anything about his way of life in London.
On the anniversary of his death however, we were connected through facebook with a person who stayed in the guesthouse whle he was there too. We could know the way of his life there for the first time. We were lucky.
That we got some information about his life in the guesthouse made me want to know the life in the flat more than before. Luckily, I could reach one of the three men through facebook again. He was kind enough to write to me the way he lived there.
The Cherry Blossom Road After Decades Of Years
(Installed on 2017/4/5, No.98)
Another cherry blossom season has come. I appreciate the blessings of nature as I happened to remember the old road through which we went to school decades of years ago. It was lined with cherry trees on both sides and it was natural that we went to school walking between rows of cherry blossoms in the season.
The road, which ran along an irrigation channel, wasn't paved. There was a bridge at the cherry tree far on the right side in the photo. There was a path to the water a little downstream from the bridge and there used to be some older women washing clothes there.
During the period of rapid economic growth in 1960's the channel was covered and the original road turned into a widened paved road. The banks were changed into sidewalks. The cherry trees were left unattended and died away one after another. There were rows of company owned houses at the place where big apartment houses have been built.
Provided that we have the old dirt road and the irrigation channel with rows of cherry trees on its banks now, it surely is a place of relaxation for the people. We have traded off the old graceful site with a new convenient but drab one.
To Be Kind To Others
(Installed on 2017/3/31, No.97)
I received a book sent to me the other day. It was the book published in commemoration of closing a society. It was sent by the president of the society I withdrew from about ten years ago.
I deeply apreciated his kindness. The incident reminded me of his repeated kindness in the past which I had clean fogotten and I had never thanked him for. So I wrote him a letter thanking him for sending me the book as well as for his kindness I had received while I was a member of the society.
On reconsidering the matter, I had never been thanked for likewise by someone. I have lived only for myself? I haven't had it in me to be such a person whose kindness touched other people.
Offering of Cherry Blossom Branches
(Installed on 2017/3/21, No.96)
The photo was taken on March 21.
The grave of the Takedas is located within a stone's throw from the house. I drop at the grave each time I go for and come from a walk in the evenings.
A few days ago, I found someone concentrating on arranging flowers to the grave. I called the person's attention to me gently from behind. The person was one of the fans of our son's cooking and talks over liquors.
The visit was late more than one year but the person had another engagement on the day of his funeral. Calla lilies and branches of cherry blossoms were arranged to the grave. I had'nt have the idea of arranging the blossoms of the season. I thanked for the person's warm consideration.
It has been warmer and the blossoms began to open. The day I took the photo was rainy and was a bit chilly but the buds were bulging as if they were ready to open. I thank the person for arrangeing us the opportunity of cherry-blossom viewing with our son.
To tell the truth, there were not a few people who couldn't come to the funeral but visited the alter and/or the grave later, regardless of the distances they had to travel, to pray for the repose of the soul of my son. Some of them were engaged in other things, others were in other countries traveling, on business or living at the time of the funeral. Their friendship with our son was so precious that it consoled us more than enything.
There Is Always Something To Learn -3/3
(Installed on 2017/3/17 -2-, No.95)
Photo: After re-soldering
I learned that I have never used a double-sided circuit board that had large thermal dissipation areas. Such boards need more heat as you solder parts on them. I've got a new eye and it found several suspected imperfect solderings in the changer. I soldered them neatly again and the changer was restored.
There Is Always Something To Learn -2/3
(Installed on 2017/3/17 -2-, No.94)
Photo: Magnified imperfect soldering.
The mal-function of the changer didn't happen always, nor longer enough for me to open it and find where it was caused. So it took many months to fix it.
I have experienced soldering for many many years and I didn't suspect my skill. Why such a mistake.
There Is Always Something To Learn -1/3
(Installed on 2017/3/17 -2-, No.93)
Photo: One of the boards in the changer showing a typical imperfect soldering.
When tired or after meals, I often sit on the sofa and relax listening to music played by a set of audio equipments of my own building.
About two years ago I added a selector to the set. It is a remote controlled selector of amps and speakers. After using for a year it started to cause breaking off of sound.
The changer is built with many relays and at first I suspected one of them. But the actual cause was my imperfect soldering.
Two Grape Vines My Son Left
(Installed on 2017/3/17 -1-, No.92)
Photo: Bigger vine of the two taken on March 17.
We have two small grape vines planted among our hedges. What kind of grapes we don't know. They were pieces of vines cut short. They were perhaps brought home by our deceased son from a vineyard in Yamanashi, where he enjoyed helping with the work of harvesting grapes in August in 2014. We were not conscious of asking him about them. It's possible anytime we thought then.
I'm not too sure but I rcognized them anew in early summer in 2015. They were left rolled in with paper, and perhaps in a plastic bag, for a long time. My wife vaguely remember he handed them to her saying "water them." It seemed too late but if they put forth buds it would cheer him I thougt and I arranged them in a glass bottle filled half with water and placed it at a sunny place inside the house.
Soon they put forth many white buds of roots and they grew longer, gradually filling inside the bottle. It was moving. Wishing them to go on growing I planted one in a pot and the other directly onto the ground soil. Luckily both of them took root into the soil. I told it to my son and he beamed.
During the summer, the one which was planted to the ground soil grew about as tall as fifteen inches putting forth a new branch too, whereas the one in the pot grew about as tall as ten inches. They didn't grow as I expected. I was afraid if they could survive winter.
Many would know that a grape vine looks dried up and dead during winter. So they looked until late in the next spring. I checked if they were alive or not by breaking a tip of a vine. To my disappointment, it was crispy and easily broken. I thought they were gone with my son and told my wife they died. However, I was wrong. They put forth new buds and started to grow. I was very glad and transplanted the one in a pot to the ground.
During the summer in 2016, the one planted to the ground from the beginning grewinto two long vines but the transplanted one didn't grow as long. But the vines grew longer anyway. At this time they look like dead vines but I know they are alive. I'm looking forward to seeing they start growing again soon. Would they bear grapes this summer?
A Mysterious Turn of Fate After Nine Years
(Installed on 2017/3/10, No.91)
Photo: London Bridge taken on Nov.24, 2008.
On the very day of the anniversary of our son's death, I was connected through facebook with a person who stayed in the same guesthouse for several days where my son had been staying. It was in October, 2008. I could get an important piece of information about my son from this person.
It happened to be the time I was about to finish my tracing of my son's backpacking abroad. I had been tracing it with the photos he left to us, checking them one after another. After backpacking, he stayed in London, the final destination, for a while. But the information we had about his life there was very limited.
The person was kind and serious enough to recall and describe some episodes that were very fresh to us. Unexpectedly, they disclosed that he was at the bottom of his distress. However, when he came back home in about six months, he looked thoroughly liberated from the distress, with his calm and relaxed character being kept enhanced thereafter. I realized by his contrastive manners how significant his journey was to him.
His journey was an object he wanted to try at first. As he went on from one place to anogher, it gradually betrayed him a different aspect. The journey didn't let him dodge what it covered him with nor let him postpone the solution. The troubles condensed themselves to the core subject he had had for a long time. It was the subject related to his father complex, I suppose.
As he reached Yemen, he felt he was about to find the answer. But after all he arrived at London withou having solved the question. Thus, the person witnessed him when he was at the bottom of his distress. We know nothing with what opportunity he solved the question but he did it while staying in London anyhow.
So far, I have thought his backpacking journey was his precious experience. It was but not enough. It should be more correctly expressed that he got over the trouble which was related to his father complex through the journey including the life in London.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXVIII Supplement-2 The end of the series)
(Installed on 2017/3/1, No.90)
Photo: The railway station at Dover? He seemed to have moved to London by way of Gatwick Airport by Gatwick Express.
I have traced his journey through with all the photos he left to me for. The truth was I didn't want to end it. Now I have to find something else with which I could feel being near to him. For the time beeing, I can be with him reading his bad handwritten notes.
Tracing his journey took a long time. It was a just indoor work during the winter. I had many questions while writing and I often wished if I could have done it while he was alive. However, I could feel I was near to him, which was possiboe only by reliving his journey. Writing about his travels for him must have been something different.
I realized keenly again that I lacked a sense of compassion. The worries and distresses he suffered during his journey didn't exist before. The fault I have repeated on my children. To rear children with enough compassion as well as with appropriate coolness may be very difficult...but I repent the failure.
Hereafter there might be occasions when I write about my son but this is the last installment of the series of tracing his backpacking journey.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXVII Supplement-1 -2/2-)
(Installed on 2017/2/27, No.89)
Photo left bottom: The boots he used during his journey. They are soiled and look haggard but not broken nor frayed. They are ready to be used.
I picked him up at the nearest railway station when he came back home on June 24th in 2009. He was almost in the same appearance as he left home, looking a little more stout than before though. He had no new physical belongings outwardly.
The most important thing(?) he brought home was his experience. It was expressed in his first words as I met him at the station, "I had a precious experience. Thank you."
(Writing such words I badly want him to come back again with that smiling face....)
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXVII Supplement-1 -1/2-)
(Installed on 2017/2/27, No.88)
Photo left top: Arabian costumes for men(kandura and shomagh?) and the backpack. I'm glad he left us the costumes he liked most. He often wore a white one while he was in Arabian countries.
I found a small notebook, where he wrote what he thought occasionally. His handwriting is bad and it'll take time for me to decipher some of the notes. I'd enjoy doing it.
There were a very few things he bought and brought home in the backpack, among which were a MacBook and Arabian costumes. There might have been some other smaller things but they seem to have gone somewhere before they cought my eyes. He bought the laptop while he was in London.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXVI England: Dover)
(Installed on Installed on 2017/2/23, No.87)
Photo: Triumphant arrival at the Dover ferry terminal.
The last photo in Praha suddenly and enigmatically jumps to the first photo in England taken at the Dover ferry port. It is dated August 24th at 00:26 a.m.
He visited Bulgaria after Turkey without stopping at Rumania, Hungary and Slovakia. He passed Belgium, Germany and France, too. He passed all these countries even without taking a photo. Why?
He told me before he set out on his journey that he would like to reach London by the middle of July. Behind the schedule couldn't be the good reason for his hasty moving. He could renew his schedule as he liked.
He had at last arrived at England. At the back on his right is seen a gate "Calais." Until I found his notes I had been searching where this was taken relying on the sign.
I also found in his notes that he bought a through ticket to London from Praha. But later he decided not to go to Belgium and Germany. He worried if the ticket was still available. It was. He wrote he was excited that he could, at last, cross the Strait of Dover by ferry, which he dreamed of as he left Japan. But there was no mention about his hasty moving.
The enigma, retrospectively, had already started in Istanbul. He must have been exhausted. He was really exhausted. Even beautiful Praha couldn't revive him. He had to skip the cultural and historical charms in those countries. He had no physical strength to spare. That I'm sure.
Anyhow, he left home on april 18th and arrived at London after four montns and a few days. His parents in Japan felt greatly relieved at the news and were liberated from the anxiety about the risk of his life. However, we were too simply innocent to imagine the hardship of his journey. I only knew it as I traced his journey after he was dead.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXV Czech: Praha -3/3-)
(Installed on 2017/2/22, No.86)
Photo bottom: St. Nicholas Bell Tower taken somewhere in the Plague Castle site.
(continued)In the other, which is dated 21st, is taken my son. He is sitting at a table resting elbows on it with his eyes closed. Between his fingers is put a Camel butt. He looks tired.
The last photos taken at Praha are dated 22nd, among which the last two were taken at the veranda in the dusk where he is sitting and smoking against city lights. Had he been smoking for two days?
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXV Czech: Praha -2/3-)
(Installed on 2017/2/22, No.85)
Photo middle: Plague Castle over the Stefanikuv most(bridge). It seems he took the photo from the Hlavkub most(bridge), the next downstream bridge.
According to the dates on photos, it seems he didn't go out on 21st and 22nd. He took many photos but they are still less than a half of those he took in Cappadocia.
There are two photos taken at a dining hall. It looks very much like those we find in Japanese local towns. In one of them a middle-aged woman wearing an apron is taken. She looks like a typical Japanese mom.(to be continued)
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXV Czech: Praha -1/3-)
(Installed on 2017/2/22, No.84)
Photo top: Wenceslas Square in front of National Museum. The square was filled with people when Gentle Revolution took place in 1989.
He arrived at Praha on 19th, the same day as he left Sohia. How he moved is unknown. There is only one photo dated 19th. It seems he took it on the way to Praha. That is, he didn't do anything else in particular on that day.
The dates of the photos show he did the sights of Praha only on 20th. He took photos of Stefanikuv most(bridge) from Hlavkub most(bridge), Wenceslas Square, Plague Castle, Old Town Bridge Tower, St Nicholas Bell Tower, Charles Bridge, Tower of Old Town Hall, one of Franz Kafka Monuments, etc.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXIV Bulgaria: Sofia -2/2-)
(Installed on 2017/2/21, No.83)
Photo: The Memorial Temple "St. Alexander Nevski." The daytime colors are: The top black dome roofs are gold, the lower roofs are green and walls are cream yellow.
He took a photo of the building and a photo of the Memorial Temple "St. Alexander Nevski" too but they were taken in the night and not clear. There aren't any other photos worth picking up here.
He left Bulgaria for Czech on 19th.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXIV Bulgaria: Sofia -1/2-)
(Installed on 2017/2/21, No.82)
Photo:The Monument to the Deity All-Holy Sofia. It is built facing the Former Communist Party Headquarter.
The first photo in Bulgaria is dated August 16th.
He stayed in Bulgaria until 18th but there are only thirteen photos. They are all taken in Sofia. It is more difficult to grasp his activities in Sofia than it is in Istanbul. He must have been in bad health.
THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF TOMOHIRO TAKEDA'S DEATH
(Installed on 2017/2/19, No.81)
Photo: Tomohiro at Sher-Dor Madrasah in Samarkando(the same photo uploaded on Dec.1st 2016). It took him a month to come to this place since he left Japan. The historical sites and buildings in Uzbekistan were among the most important destinations in his backpacking. He looks quite contented. One of the best shots I like.
On Feb.19th we had the Buddhist service for the first anniversary of our son's death.
Some people by whom he was trusted as well as those close friends with whom he studied at college together paid their visits to our family Buddhist alter in our house and to his grave. We thank them for their friendly visit.
Now and then his memories come back and they cover me with the reality that he never comes back. Each time, however, I am soothed by the fact that his life was short but blessed with many people by whom he was supported and with whom he fulfilled his life.
I also remember he was calm in his bed in hospital. He showed us how to live at the risk of one's life, which made the best gift to the bereaved family. I thank him and pray for the repose of his soul.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXIII Turkey: Istanbul -2/2-)
(Installed on 2017/2/16, No.80)
Photo: Quitting time(?) in Istanbul. One of the photos taken on 11th.
He didn't take photos on 9th, 12th, 13th and 14th. There are three photos which are dated 10th. They are all taken inside the lodging. On 11th he went out and took a few photos.
The last photo in Istanbul is the one which was taken on 15th at a railway station. It is succeeded by the photos taken in Bulgaria.
Istanbul was the place for him to have a rest. Revived in Yemen in middle July, he energetically moved from one place to another ranging Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Syria and Cappadocia(Turkey). It was natural that he needed rest. East Europe was awaiting him.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXIII Turkey: Istanbul -1/2-)
(Installed on 2017/2/26, No.79)
Photo: Istanbul in silhouette just after sunset.
He stayed in Istanbul for nine days from August 7th to 9th. He had a long rest there.
The first photo in Istanbul is dated August 8th. However, most of them were taken at the Galata Bridge. Many people who were fishing on the bridge and distant views of the city are taken.
He stayed there for several hours until it got dark like he did at the site of the Golden Temple in India. He didn't go anywhere else.
He took a few photos on his way to the lodging. They include those of the Galata Tower and Saint Antoine, a Christian church.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXII Turkey: Cappadocia -2/2-)
(Installed on 2017/2/15, No.78)
Photo: At Uchisar with one of a group of young men who gave him a ride there.
He took many photos in Cappadocia, among which are those of an underground city in Kaymakli, houses and a church carved out from the soft rocks in Gereme and Uchisar and a lot of chimney like rocks and Rose valley in Cavusin.
I found a name of a motel in Gereme in his notes. He might have stayed in the motel at least one night.
There are no photos which suggest the number of nighs he stayed there or where else he stayed while in Cappadocia.
On 6th he left Cappadocia for Istanbul again by hitching rides.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXII Turkey: Cappadocia -1/2-)
(Installed on 2017/2/15, No.77)
Photo: Hitching a ride for Turkey in Syria.
He moved north to Turkey from Syria hitching many rides. He hitched rides on passenger cars as well as on trucks and trailers. He slept one night in a yellow trailer on the bed which was installed behind the driver's seat.
He continued hitching rides on the following day(4th) until he finally reached Cappadocia.
He did sights in Kaymakli, Uchisar, Gereme and Cavusin.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXI Syria: Hama-Aleppo -2/2-)
(Installed on 2017/2/11, No.76)
Photo: The Citadel of Aleppo.
The photos he took in Aleppo are much fewer. Main objects of photos are the Citadel of Aleppo and souks(shopping streets). Interestingly there is a shot among few others that shows a wharf on a screen in a movie theater.
Both Hama and Aleppo look peaceful in the photos. They are taken in 2008.
Time has passed and Syria has become a hell on earth. These cities were not exceptions. I saw many photos on the net which showed the destructed cities.
He left Syria for Turkey on August 3rd.
May peace return to Syria!
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XXI Syria: Hama-Aleppo -1/2-)
(Installed on 2017/2/11, No.75)
Photo: The waterwheel with 20 meters in diameter and my son.
He entered Syria to Hama after dark on August 1st and started doing the sights of the city the next day.
In Syria he put on that native costume again, moving to Aleppo after visiting some sites of waterwheels. He stayed overnight in Aleppo at a small hotel named "ZAHER AL RABIH". The hotel seems to have been named after the owner.
Most of the photos taken in Hama are of the waterwheels.
There are many of them. I could count three different wheel sites. Two of them are located on the other side of the river to each other. Another one among three, which is said to be the world largest waterwheel with 20 meters in diameter, is located a little upstream from the former. Apparently, he visited Hama in order to see those huge waterwheels.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XX Jordan by Jericho -2/2-
(Installed on 2017/2/9, No.74)
Photo: The bottle of Dimple Whiskey in a shopwindow(?) in Amman.
I once heard from him that he visited the King Hussein Bridge but he took none of its photo. But he took a few photos in the city among which is a photo of a small bottle in a shopwindow. It wears a beautiful label of "Dimple".
I didn't know anything about Dimple. So I searched for a similar bottle over the net till I came across "Dimple, John Haig & Co, 12 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky, Scotland". I remembered he had said he wanted to learn to be a barman in London. The bottle might have been something to him.
He left Amman for Syria in the evening.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XX Jordan by Jericho -1/2-
(Installed on 2017/2/9, No.73)
Photo: The Mountain of Temptation.
Jerusalem is a holy place for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I'm interested in this city myself too and I tried to identify the more spots of the photos than usual spending more hours in order not only to grasp his activities but also to fulfill my interest.
The photos on the second day are only two of Damascus Gate. The photos during the morning on the third day(29th) includes those of souks(markets), the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount.
In the afternoon he went to the Dead Sea and enjoyed the buoyancy of the water.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XIX Israel: Jerusalem & the Tomb of Jesus. -3/3-)
(Installed on 2017/2/7, No.72)
Photo: The Tomb of Jesus.
There is a photo of the tower of the Church of Saint Anne, in the building site of which is the grotto of the Nativity. It is also the church where Via Dolorosa starts.
There are photos of a grotto of which I was unable to identify even after a long and repeated searches over the internet.
He went to Syria next by way of Jordan on August 1st.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XIX Israel: Jerusalem & the Wailing Wall. -2/3-)
(Installed on 2017/2/7, No.71)
Photo: The Wailing Wall.
After coming back to Jerusalem, he walked around the old city area until even after dark taking photos of Abbey of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary and Zion Gate, etc.
His night walk continued till after midnight. Then strangely the date went back to 29th in those photos of the people in pilgrimage of Via Dolorosa. Did he adjusted the date or did something else caused it? There is no way to pin it down.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XIX Israel: Jerusalem & the Dead Sea -1/3-)
(Installed on 2017/2/7, No.70)
Photo: The Dead Sea and my son.
It's been a week since my last installment.
He arrived at Jerusalem on July 27th. On 29th, the third day there, he made a quick day trip to the Dead Sea. I'm writing this as I have been doing so basically relying on the dates recorded in the photos.
t and dead sea Jerusalem is a holy place for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I'm interested in this city myself too and I tried to identify the more spots of the photos than usual spending more hours in order not only to grasp his activities but also to fulfill my interest.
The photos on the second day are only two of Damascus Gate. The photos during the morning on the third day(29th) includes those of souks(markets), the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount.
In the afternoon he went to the Dead Sea and enjoyed the buoyancy of the water.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XVIII Jordan: Petra -3/3-)
( Installed on 2017/2/1, No.69)
Photo: Al Khazneh(The Treasury).
The man in front of Al Khazneh is my son. He is waring that long native costume he bought in Yemen again. It looks the best clothes than anything else under such strong sunshine.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XVIII Jordan: Petra -2/3-)
(Installed on 2017/2/1, No.68)
Photo: The Royal Tombs on precipices. From left to right, the Palace Tomb, the Corinthian Tomb, the Silk Tomb and the Urn Tomb. The last one is seen between colums.
Petra is the historic site in a dry valley located between the Dead Sea and Aqaba. The remains are scattered in an extensive area in rocky hills as well as in flat areas among the hills. His photos cover many remains in many shots.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XVIII Jordan: Petra -1/3-)
(Installed on 2017/2/1, No.67)
Photo: Tha narrow path of Siq(the shaft).
The photos of Jordan are all about the historic site in Petra except one on which my son with a young man is taken somewhere else. I learned about Petra through his photos for the first time.
Petra was an important place for trade as well as for defence as it is surrounded by rocky hills. So you have to walk more than 1km along a narrow road between precipitous rocky walls of up to four scores of meters high. The only choice other than walking is by riding a camel.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XVII Egypt Giza-Dahab-Mt.Sinai -3/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/28, No.66)
Photo: Mountains of Sinai glowing in the morning sun.
Mt. Sinai, 2285m high above sea level, is located west of Dahab in the center of the peninsula about 50 linear kilometers. The road to reach the mountain however makes a trapezoidal detour to the north about 130km. It takes nearly two hours by car.
On 24th he started climbing the mountain at midnight and arrived at the goal in time for sunrise. Blessed by wonderful weather, he enjoyed beautiful sunrise and the views of the mountains.
He got on board the ferry for Jordan on 25th. He managed to digest busy schedule in Egypt except on 22nd.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XVII Egypt Giza-Dahab-Mt.Sinai -2/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/28, No.65)
Photo: A brief rest in Dahab.
He didn't take pnotos, or did nothing on 22nd, the following day. The photos on 23rd begin with those in Dahab, a resort place in the east of Sinai Peninsula on Gulf of Aqaba. He visited Dahab to get ready for climbing Mt.Sinai, incidentally to have a rest, I soppose.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XVII Egypt Giza-Dahab-Mt.Sinai -1/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/28, No.64)
Photo: My son on a camel against Pyramids.
He left Yemen and arrived in Egypt on July 20th. There are photos he took through a plane window and I could identify the places of two of them. One was a lake in Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea between Rabigh and Mastorah. The other one was a town near Pyramid Userkaf. It is located about 20km directly south of Cairo.
He seemed to have enjoyed visiting the pyramids and Sphinx in Giza(Gizeh) from early in the morning on 21st. There are photos of him in a local costume riding on a camel.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XVI Yemen-II Reflection of his mental landscape -3/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/24, No.63)
Photo: My son in a native costume talking with people in Sanaa.
There are some photos which show he is mingling in a native costume with the people in Sanaa. His looks composed. I find in such a look and activities that he had been getting through with the particular difficulties destined to face during such a journey.
As we heard from him after such a long time, the news relieved us greatly. Regrettably what we wished then was his safe return to home only, not knowing what he was journeying for.
But now having traced his journey this far and with some other notes he left, I find he was journeying not only outwardly but also inwardly too.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XVI Yemen-II Reflection of his mental landscape -2/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/24, No.62)
Photo: Gate of the Yemen(Bab al-Yaman). The picture on the postcard to Mr.K
Let me quote a part of what he wrote to Mr.K here too. ".... I got another smiling face here. Skies are blue everywhere I go. ....Does the original core of my self exist on which all of me are formed? ...I have been noticing that there is something that hasn't changed in me. Little by little superfluous things fell off me and I'm getting close to grasping the core. ...."
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XVI Yemen-II Reflection of his mental landscape -1/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/24, No.61)
Photo: A night view of a atreet in Sanaa.
The first time we heard from him was from Korea in April I remember. The second news arrived after a long interval finally from Sanaa Yemen in September. The picture on the card was a Kamaria window, which wasn't attractive to me only because I was ignorant of Yemen. On the postage stamp was printed the buildings in Sanaa with Kamaria windows. No date was written nor stamped on the card.
Let me quote a part of what he wrote. "It has been said that the Arabian Peninsula was discriminated into three Arabias by some great man. They are Stony Arabia in the northern reagion, Sandy Arabia in the barren reagion, the life is hard in either of these two regions, and Happy Arabia in the fertile region. At last I have come to the Happy Arabia, Yemen. At the beginning of this year, the country was acknowledged dangerous but a safe place there is really a happy place."
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XV Yemen-I -3/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/22, No.60)
Photo: My son in a native costume at Kawkaban looking down a valley(Wadi).
Yemen is also famous for its geographical features with great canyons called Wadi. The photos he took at Kawkaban, which is located upon a precipitous hilltop, show what those canyons look like.
His photos of Sanaa and its people look peaceful. Hewever, the country had fell into political disorder in 2011. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan made an official advice not to visit Yemen. It was effective until March 17th in 2016.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XV Yemen-I -2/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/22, No.59)
Photo: A night view of Sanaa from his hotel room.
He seems to have so liked them that he took many photos of them night and day.
He made a trip to Aden where he stayed for three days and two nights but the photos are fewer and featureless.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XV Yemen-I -1/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/22, No.58)
Photo: Panoramic view of the buildings in the old city area.
In strong contrast to his visit to India, he took a lot of photos in Yemen and it took me hours to grasp his whole activities there.
What did he go to Yemen to see was my question. But it turned out to be the question of such an ignorant man like me who only knew the names of the country and Aden, a port town.
He sent post cards to a friend of his and home too. Together with a lot of photos they show that he enjoyed staying there supplying me with enough information for more than a single installment. So this is Yemen-I.
He went on board the plane around 8 o'clock(by the time recorded in the photo) in the morning at Mumbai and arrived at Sanaa in about four hours. It was his first flight during the journey.
There are photos of an in-flight meal. The dish was curry with juice, fruit and dessert. They look so delicious and also it looked so refined to him I guess after a long time with modest local dishes that he couldn't help but take their photos.
Sanaa is famous for its buildings with windows that are called Kamaria windows which make them look like gingerbread houses.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XIV India: Amritsar to Mumbai by Delhi -3/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/18, No.57)
Photo:My son at his hotel or guest house in Delhi
He stayed in Delhi for four days until July 4th. But there aren't any other photos that show his activities except some shotos of streets with small stores lined on both sides in a jumble way where many people are walking, a similar view he saw in Amritsar. Railway station is neat.
On July 11th he moved to Mumbai by train taking only four photos on the way. They include a young boy on a platform and three shots inside of the train, taking himself in one of them.
The photos of India altogether don't impress me he enjoyed staying there. On 12th, the next day he left India to Yemen by plane.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XIV India: Amritsar to Mumbai by Delhi -2/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/18, No.56)
Photo: Digambar Jain Temple
On July 6th he moved to Delhi by train taking only a few photos on the way.
In Delhi he visited Digambar Jain Temple and Delhi Fort(Red Fort). They were taken only from outside. Taking photos is not allowed in the former but he seems to have gone inside of none of them.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XIV India: Amritsar to Mumbai by Delhi -1/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/18, No.55)
Photo: Golden Temple in the evening
He had come at last to India, the country he spent a few days to get a visa to in Korea.
On July 5th his bus arrived at Amritsar in the afternoon.
The photos there begins with those of Golden Temple. He kept staying at the site till after dark taking its photos when it was beautifully lighted up.
After Golden Temple, he had taken a few photos of the people lying on the street on his way to his hotel or guest house.
There is a photo of his face, which suggests he was worn out. I remember once he said about India. It was like "hot and of nuisance." One of my nephews who recently came back from working overseas said the same.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XIII Pakistan: Islamabad to Lahore -3/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/15, No.54)
Photo: Sufi dance in Lahore. A dancer in black seems gone into a trance.
On July 2nd he did the sights of Islamabad in a three-wheeler taxi and moved to Lahore within a day, where he stayed for three days. The photos of Sufi dance occupy most of the photos among not many ones he took there.
He stayed in Pakistan for twelve days and moved to Amritsar in India on July 5th.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XIII Pakistan: Islamabad to Lahore -2/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/15, No.53)
Photo: My son at Shar Faisal Masjid(Mosque) in Islambad.
He left Karimabad and arrived at Islambad on July 1st.
On the way he stopped at Gilgit. There is a photo of a tower of stone blocks crowned with an image of goat, which must be a symbol of the town.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XIII Pakistan: Islamabad to Lahore -1/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/15, No.52)
Photo: A view of Hunza. It seems to be taken from his hotel room(?) in Kalimabad.
From this time on, I can trace his journey referring to the newly arranged probable dates as well as to those he informed me of. The first assignment here is to correct what I wrote about his stay in Passu and Hunza in the "XII Pakistan：Passu to Hunza" installment.
He entered into Pakistan on June 22nd, okay. But he seemed to have stayed in Passu until 26th when he left for the next place, Gulmit or Karimabad. Hunza wasn't the place he stayed next as I wrote in the "XII Pakistan：Passu to Hunza".
For, Hunza is the name of the vast valley area where Karimabad is the center. Judging from the photos of Mt. Rakaposhi and Baltit Fort, which you can see there he most likely stayed in Karimabad.
Reading through some articles about Hunza uploaded over the net I found one that read there were not a few backpackers who stayed in Hunza for a long time. I wish my son was like one of those who could heal their fatigue both physical and mental there.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (Recofirmation of dates is done.)
(Installed on 2017/1/14, No.51)
Photo: An excel sheet on which I reconfirmed the dates in light blue cells.
The perfect dating was impossible but I have finished reconfirming his itineray through.
It turned out that the camera itself repeated resetting its time to "2005/01/01 0:00" by some unknown cause. He seemed to have noticed such hitches and set them right after a while at the beginning or rather shortly later.
Setting the year to 2009 while he was moving to Pakistan from China was his mistake, not of the camera I suppose. There might have been other cases that he set the wrong date/time but no one can find which was wrong and which was right now.
The discrepancies between the dates I heard from my son and those recorded in the photos were also cased, I suppose, when he acted after midnight. The date in his memory then might have been still the day before. His arrival to England was such a case. The stamped date/time in the photo that was taken at the ferry terminal was "2008/08/24/0:26" while it was 23rd in his memory.
Such discrepancies can not be helped with such a journey of my son. It covered the area of eight-hour time difference where he moved to and fro extending over four months visiting more than 20 countries. Checking the date/time of camera each time one crosses a border during such a jouney is not realistic. All the more, he was keeping a diary every day, a better record.
Thus, though not perfectly, I could arrange the material in order to keep on tracing his journey.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (I must recofirm the whole itinerary.)
(Installed on 2017/1/11, No.50)
Photo: An excel sheet on which I'm reorganizing the itinerary.
I started writing "BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (Pakistan:Islamabad to Lahore)," but was frustrated. For, the date recorded in photos was suddenly reset to Jan.1st in 2005. It happened on the way from China to Pakistan near Karakul Lake. I had tried to reorganize the date relying on the memos which I made helped by my son while he was under medical treatment.
However, the tracing work became very difficult and I decided to reorganize the whole itinerary with dates that are accurate as possible relying on the contents of photos and the memos I made. It may take many hours.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (Am I sharing it?)
(Installed on 2017/1/6, No.49)
I began writing about my son's journey tracing his route by the photos he left to us. I began writing it as I felt I could be with him by so doing. I had no particular image what it would become like. I have been only trying to make each installment shorter as possible.
He set out for Korea from Osaka by ferry on April 19th 2008. I have now traced up to Pakistan which he reached on June 22nd, a halfway to London where he arrived on August 24th.
Selecting photos and identifying them with actual places and buildings is a time consuming work. I started the work in October in 2016. It took three months to cover his two months' journey. I have enjoyed it but honestly speaking, I'm tired.
Feeling tired, however, I hit upon the idea that my son was tired too. Again an understanding that was too late. I regreted the same already not understanding my children while bringing them up. I was awakened to a different way of viewing his journey that was in fact unimaginably stressful. His sleeping must have been like that on a branch hanging over a cliff.
He surprised me at first with his very rough schedule of the journey but now I'm tracing it with admiration, feeling sorry that I was so insensitve, too. I learned his backpacking journey turned out to be a stern trial on him on the way. He accepted it and persevered in his journey. I was imprudent to doubt his slow moving.
After coming back home, he didn't say much about the journey.
While he was under medical treatment I once proposed him to publish it in some way. His reply was there were so many similar records over the net. Now I'm writing something like what I proposed him trying to relive his experiences outwardly as well as inwardly.
There is a photo of his diary opened on the table with a pen on it. It was taken at the lodging at Passu. What was he writing that evening? I badly want to read it now. Mr. you-know-who, please send it back to us!
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XII Pakistan：Passu to Hunza -4/4-)
(Installed on 2017/1/4, No.48)
Photo: My son on a suspension bridge at Passu. It is daily used by the people living there.
Aside from the beautiful sights, his moving speed from one place to another had been slowing down after Uzbekistan. He stayed in Kirgyz for fifteen days, in China for six days and in Pakistan for fourteen days. That is, it took thirty-five days before he reached India.
It seems his visage had changed, too. That beaming face he showed in Samarkand is gone. After Uzbekistan, Altyn-Arashan in Kyrgyz was the only place he wanted to go.
Had novel streets, houses and life-styles been stopping to attract him? Had he been thinking something?
My understanding was that Bishkek and Osh in Kyrgyz, Kashgar and Taxkorgan in China were the relay points for him to go to India. But he stayed longer than needed(?) in these places.
Incidentally, I must say I have been tired of tracing his journey, picking up photos and identifying them with actual places or buildings. I was finding I was in a kind of slack.
While feeling that way however, it flashed on me that the feeling was his, too. He might have been in a more difficult situation alone in a foreign country, much ealier?
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XII Pakistan：Passu to Hunza -3/4-)
(Installed on 2017/1/4, No.47)
Photo: Panoramic view at Hunza.
The village is said to be filled with blossoms of almond and peach in spring.
Hunza is not very far from Passu but there are photos that show my son stayed overnight at each place. The former is reached as you go on the Karakorum Highway to the south skirting around a mountain end along the Hunza River.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XII Pakistan：Passu to Hunza -2/4-)
(Installed on 2017/1/4, No.46)
Photo: My son at the edge of Passu Gracier.
He enjoyed walking up to the gracier, too.
According to an information I found over the net, it is about a two-hour walk form the village.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XII Pakistan：Passu to Hunza -1/4-)
(Installed on 2017/1/4, No.45)
Photo: Panoramic view at Passu. The photo covers Karacorum Highway against Passu Gracier on the left and the Hunza River against Cathedral Peaks on the right with the village of Passu in the center.
Favored with good weather, he must have enjoyed, or even been excited by the grand sights of Karakorum mountains that started from around Taxkorgan.
The sights are so superb as to make you judge that it is the best route to India.
Watching the photos one after another, your conjecture that he picked up the route for the sake of its sights changes to a belief. Cathedral Peaks and Passu Gracier are the highlights.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XI China：Kashgar to Taxkorgan -3/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/3, No.44)
Photo: My son with an elderly man who came from Bishkek?
I found a photo of an elderly man and my son that was taken in Kashgar. I identified this elderly man as the owner of the lodging in Bishkek in Kyrgyz. He was holding a little child in one photo and preparing dishes in another. Kashgar is far away from Bishkek. Why was he in distant two places?
He was coming to India by way of Pakistan at last. India was a country he spent a few days in Korea to get an entry visa to.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XI China：Kashgar to Taxkorgan -2/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/3, No.43)
Photo: Karakul Lake viewed through a window pane.
Taxkorgan, dry and mountanous, is in the westernmost area of China. It is on the route to Pakistan. The route is rich with superb views that are unlikely to China we knew includeing those around Karakul Lake.
BACKPACKING ABROAD OF MY SON (XI China：Kashgar to Taxkorgan -1/3-)
(Installed on 2017/1/3, No.42)
Photo: The market in Taxkorgan.
He returned to China in order to go to India.
The map shows that India is located to the South of Kyrgyz. The shortest way to India is to go through Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
However, the route was impractical because of steep Karakorum as well as the borders of these countries in dispute. That's why he returned to China I gather.
Kashgar and Taxkorgan were the places he would pass on the way to India, not for doing any sightseeing.
However, he stayed in China for one week in total. It seems a little too long a period. Why? His speed of moving from one place to another had been slowing down. I want to consider about this later if it indicated anything.