The Moving Shrines Are Coming...

I was walking to the train station from work today, and this warm feeling of joy just snuck over me. I get it every once in a while when it hits me just how lucky I am in life. Walking along the tiled roofs and past small racoon-dog statues, this is truly a world in which the regular takes on a certain charm and mystique, and often when I least expect it.

This week, the realization was driven by the pluthera of large, pink and red paper flowers that have been hung up around the sleepy little surburban town of Takasago. They hang from lightposts like vines, marking the arrival of moving shrine season and echoing wonderous discoveries of the past year.

As I walked past the small liquor store, whose owner I have now formed a friendship with without ever having spoken a common word, my eyes wandered down a narrow alley and out sprung another discovery: a small shrine, protected by veering stone fox status and tucked between standard, wooden houses. I wandered into the alley and spent several minutes just surveying the area (a little amazed I had missed it all this time) before going on my way. After a year in this country, and especially after spending the majority of my week in this small town, I thought I would know all there is to know... and have once again been proven wrong. Embarking upon my second year has, if anything, given me not only time to relish in what I have already mastered but also time to face more adventures and challenges with with a more experienced perspective.