Notes from a small group of islands

Despite having spent more than a decade in Japan, the sight of rice fields is still something I find fascinating, and even more so, especially as I’ve seen it just this once, when they are somewhat surprisingly supplemented by a snake — which may well have been a マムシ (mamushi) — enjoying a bathe.

And then a bask on the bank.

The sight of which was a far cry indeed from the preserved and putrid serpents I had last seen.

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An awful lot of Japanese zoos leave an awful lot to be desired, especially the small, half-arsed affairs often found in parks, or even the compounds of castles.

And so, with this in mind, although I’m not for one minute suggesting that this fella deserved to be clawed down and quickly devoured by the capybara and his companions, but a naughty little nibble, or at the very least a sudden and unexpected move by the resting rodent, would have been more than a little satisfying to say the least.

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The cycle home after work, which, for this fella if he’s fortunate, will not have also involved a further stretch on some form of unpleasantly packed public transportation.

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Quite how less crap the camera on the new iPhone 4 is I can currently only read about, as my pre-ordered handset is presumably still being produced, but hopefully, along with the added help of a few apps, it will produce noticeably better results.

In the meantime, however, my trusty 3G still allows me to capture, at least to a passable degree, day to day scenes — moments when the dSLR isn’t being carried, or is simply too cumbersome.

Such as during saunters around the suburbs.

A trip to the supermarket.

Coming home after a long night.

Possibly after further footballing disappointments.

Or sitting. Silently. In the sun.

And, perhaps not so unexpectedly, coming across discarded pieces of porn.

These, and various other iPhone photos, should you fancy a forage, can be found here, at tokyotimes’s posterous.

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