Travel Series: Japan
Tokyo always seemed so busy to me. I was never alone at a crosswalk or even in an obscure alleyway. I was never alone with my thoughts, and I always lost composure in crowded spaces. After a few days in the city, I decided to leave.
Away from that city, in the north of the country, the trees reached high toward the sky and to each other, a net that enveloped the landscape below. The sky was blue, as was in Tokyo, but it was less busy with fewer skyscrapers in the way. Looking at the sky, I could make out a whole body of cloud. When I was there, I stayed in a small town, and it rained for a few days. The sky was no longer blue, but the breathtaking view was left untouched. Every morning, the mist would scatter over the mountains that surrounded the town. The valleys and hills welcomed each of my footsteps, yet I remained a bystander who was simply granted a chance to take in the view in front of me. The world rested at the touch of each raindrop. That was when it was the most peaceful, when raindrops were the only sound knocking at my heart. During its slumber –– it might be minutes, days or even months –– the world was comforting and quiet.
When I was in the south of Japan, I stopped by a beach. It was just past midnight, and the coast was clear. There weren’t any streetlamps, so the only light guiding my vision was that from the moon and the stars. As the sky enveloped me, I couldn’t help but stare right back into the void, the empty spaces between each flashing star. The ocean waves gently brushed over my toes, relieving pressure from the stifling summer air. It was well past midnight, and I found comfort and peace far away from the flickering city lights and bustling cars. The illumination from the stars could not amount to that given by the neon lights, but stars were far more inviting than any sign hanging from a building. They were hints of reminiscence and capsules of memories. They stored every moment they saw, or rather those I let them see. Moments that were filled with happiness, sorrow, fear, hatred and love were all captured in their raw forms. When the stars fell from the sky, the past became faint, distant and forgotten.
There is more to Japan than the bustling city life. As you venture deeper into the blueprint of the country, you will begin to find places that make you appreciate moments of silence and serenity.