Tom & Nana: Time Goes

Creaking through the creek.

Summer's day in Asakusa.

Wishers buy their wellness.

Pigeons and park-men scrape by.

Tom's Notes—Home or Away

Not knowing where home is makes feeling homesick a confusing business.

I'm English, so you'd think England would always be "home" for me. But I never knew what I loved about England until I went to live in Japan.

Life, in practice, was better in Tokyo: customer service was excellent; there were more cafes, record stores, clothes shops and commodities from around the world, than any other place I've been; it was safe; it was affluent. But it was ugly. I'll be frank. The Japanese idea of a park is often just a tree with an uncomfortable bench next to it—some ghastly granite statue or concrete fountain put in for good measure. No pomp no majesty; nothing even close to the architectural and natural splendour citizens of London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Barcelona, Prague, Moscow, Washington, or New York enjoy. The new the old, the natural—it was all equally hideous. I realized that a large part of life was missing for me in Japan: the aesthetic.

You can grin and bear it. I did for almost 10 years. But life becomes an empty chore.

At least, mine did. I don't think this holds for all people; take a look around you—it's obvious that aesthetics aren't everyone's top priority. Living in Japan made me realize though, they are for me.

I knew I'd get a bit more soul-food living in England. So when the chance came to go back, I grasped it. Now we're back, guess what. I miss the service, the cafes, the record shops, the clothes shops, the wealth of commodities. I miss the safety. I miss the affluence. I miss it all.

And I know what'd happen if I went back to live in Tokyo—it'd hate it all again.

It's classic case of wanting to have your cake and eat it too. Perhaps the only solution is think of "Home and Away" rather than "Home or Away." But then, I don't know which place is "home" and which is "away."

Go figure...

Tom & Nana: Composition Nation

They say squares represent the complete mind.

That there's a symmetry in all of us.

That stone is something like our soul.

It's worth thinking about.

Tom & Nana: Enoshima Memories

Provincial kids and small stations.

No major waves.

Off the beaten track perhaps.

But popular enough.

Townies try to settle in.

Locals just watch the tide.

Tom & Nana: Asakusa Oldsters

Otis Reading disease.

Modern day Diogenes.

Life means labour.

Try to keep the pace.

As best you can.

Keep on keepin'.

Tom & Nana: Seaside

A place for love.

For fun and free times.

Where we can leave the armour of daily life behind.

Where we can be human again.

A place to watch life come and go.

Tom & Nana: Cafe Culture

The difference between Ladies and Gentlemen.

The ambience.

The view.

The personal corner in a public place.

Away from our mad passion for the passage of time.

Tom & Nana: Steps

Steep isn't it. Fear loses to comfort, one step at a time.

They're the furniture of our outside.

Conveyor belts of humanity.

Escorting us from A to B. On and off.

From fear to comfort.