Oh, no… it’s almost a month ago, but here it goes. It’s about people in Japan today. I love them all. (of course, I love people around me here, too.)

About 30 people gathered for my dad’s 88 years old birthday party.  They are all my relatives.  I could only greet them because we simply didn’t have much time, but it was indeed nice to see them there and sharing the moment together.    I must say my dad is one of the happiest people in the world having all of us there for him.
It was not so long ago last time I met them, yet I found new lines of wrinkles here and there on their faces.  It’s funny that I don’t want to see wrinkles on my face, but I found them beautiful on their faces. Indeed, they are their history of lives.
父の88歳の誕生日祝いに集合した家族達、30名。落ち着いて話す時間がなかったけれど、共に過ごした一時はやはりいい。
以前会った時は、確かになかった皺。1本、2本と彼らの顔に発見すると、なんだか愛おしい。自分の顔にはあってほしくないけど、彼らの顔に見えていた皺は美しかったよ。生きてきた証だものね。忙しい中を都合を付けてきてくれたみんな、父は、世界一幸せ者なのだ。

Can you see a smiling old woman on the left in the picture below?
She is a proud mother of the shop owner, a soba noodle restaurant we went to. Her son makes soba noodle in the room behind everyday. I could see how much she cares about the restaurant, and loves what she does.  The food was wonderful, and she served us so well, but I must say she gave us more than that, something very warm, a true hospitality.
下の写真、左端のおばあちゃんこそが、本当は撮りたかった人。（クリス君、ごめんね）
彼女はこのお蕎麦屋さんのオーナーのお母さん。この息子のレストランを大切に思う気持ちが全身から感じられた。
それって、いいな。手打ち蕎麦は勿論美味しかったけれど、おばあちゃんからそれ以上のものをもらっちゃったよ。日本の暖かい心。

An old man is delivering an order to his customer with a bicycle by carrying a tray on his shoulder. It’s a sight I often saw when I was young, but I don’t see it so often any more. It reminded me of a happy old days…
お馴染み、自転車にまたがってランチの配達風景。下町ならではの光景でしょうか。もう見なくなっちゃいましたね。

Unfortunately, I couldn’t take pictures so much about lovable people in Japan. So it will be my next assignment. It’s far from colorful and fancy, but they are something I want to treasure. I could hear from their wrinkles; they said it’s all right, we are doing all right.
ちょっとほほえましく思えたショット、沢山あったのに、どれもボケまくり。日本の街中で人々に一眼レフを向けるのって、結構勇気がいるのね。でも、今度ね。次は大好きな日本の人たちの何気ない様をもっと撮りたいな。