UNDERGROUND

At long last I've finished reading Haruki Murakami's Underground. The book is based on testimonials by people involved in the 1995 Sarin gas attack in Tokyo's subway.

Perpetrated by Japan's religious cult Aum Shinrikyo, the book attempts to paint a full picture of the event. What interested me the most was not the people's recollections of that spring day, but rather the insight into the pysche of the Japanese society the book gave. Underground is written in two parts: the victims and the cult members. The interviews reveal to the reader an understanding of the two extremes of Japanese society; those that are 'a cog of society's system' and those that are not. When one begins to question their role and purpose, their attempt to search for answers usually end up at religion's doorstep. It is then easy to see how those that question the workings of Japan's utilitarian society, are easily tricked into something as extreme as killing people. Those that joined Aum did just that, wanting to find a deeper purpose in life they simply annunciate the secular world. When this happens layers of reality begin to be distorted thus making individuals and groups dangerous. Haruki writes:

The sad fact is that language and logic cut off from reality have a far greater power than the language and logic of reality - with all that extraneous matter weighing down like a rock on any actions we take.

Since living here, I've been fascinated by Japanese society and it's workings. Reading this book made me think that I'm glad I'm not a cog in this country's system. Definitely recommended reading.

Natura 1600

scanned my negatives for this test roll today, and boy am I impressed with the colours. However, there was a problem with my camera and the film had light leaks on most of the frames. I blame the camera for this. Some photos required a bit of fixing up but the ones that were ok, I'm happy with.
I wanted a low quality, grainy, saturated look and the light leaks kind of add to the character of the photos.
No doubt I will be using this film stock again, but in a different camera. Here are some of my favourites.

In The Miso Soup

One of the most entertaining and fast paced books I've read this year. Its a psycho-thriller set in the heart of Tokyo, namely Kabukicho.
Basically the plot revolves around a young Japanese guy (who works as a sex tour guide for foreigners in the Kabukicho district) and his American client whom he suspects is a serial killer. Murakami has done well in developing each character and a plot that keeps the reader entertained. I read this in a day and it's a fairly easy read, though I must warn you that its pretty gruesome towards the middle. Highly recommended.

Late Spring

Directed by acclaimed Yasujiro Ozu in 1949, the movie is a family drama set in post war Japan.
I won't go into details about plot here, but really wanted to talk about the visuals of the movie. Ozu's camera work is genius and compositionally inspiring. I say this because in the entire movie he never once zooms or pans the camera. Each frame is shot at a very low angle. As a result, some frames are just still shots of a scene sans actors. This film is definitely a good precedence for my photography.