Editorial article:

Sun falls on Myorenji

In vicinity of Yokohama, exists a small town called Myorenji. I, like most of the people, had never heard of this town, before I moved to live here.

Myorenji is hardly a town at all, when compared to super-urban centers such as Minato Mirai. There is only one supermarket, a few coffeeshops, DPE and pharmacy. And in center of this, exists a huge shrine. The town was named after it, Myo-ren-ji.

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A pond which is located on small park serves as a gathering place for the neighborhood cats. On pond, you can see a flock of ducks with their babies, practising diving, and being a target for amateur photographers.

Some people choose to enjoy their lunch boxes here. In summer time, the park must be a very pleasant place.

JR trains don’t move here, but local Toyoko-line does. It takes only twenty minutes to Shibuya which is rather surprising, being different city.

Rather many old people seem to live in this area, and here is a special kind of quiet atmosphere, which is hard to describe. All the small shop owners are very kind, and they always have time to chat with their customers about weather.

Tofu selling cars move on day time, and housewifes gather near trash gathering areas to gossip about latest things.
So far I haven’t seen a single foreigner (except when I pass the shiny window of a flower shop).

Myorenji is a residential town. Middle-class people live here, driving their shiny over-sized Mitsubishi 4WD’s. Some of the houses are really like a small castles with their huge balconies, while another houses look like textbook examples of modern Japanese houses with their tiny gardens and plum and persimmon trees.

It isn’t expensive to live here when comparing to Tokyo. Still, most of the necessities of modern life exist here, post office, three convenience stores, a public library, elementary school, and so on, so you don’t have to go far for your daily business.

When evening falls, the windows of the houses light up and you can hear TV’s sound and people having a dinner. A balding grandfather slowly takes a walk to nearby sake-shop to buy can of beer to enjoy after bath, talking to the cat that stalks passing people near the garbage box. Silently, the sickle of the moon shines through the mesh of phone wires lazily hanging between the poles.

I can imagine people who lived here before and were moving through the stillness of space. I try to imagine what kind of stories they would have to tell.

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