A young girl was relaxing on the porch of an old house that was once the residence of a wealthy farmer
The Hara Family Residence, which stands right after entering the Nihon Minka-en (Japan Open-air Folk House Museum), is a relocated residence of a wealthy farmer who used to live in Kosugi Jinya-machi, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City (near the current railroad station, Shinmaruko Station on the Tokyu Toyoko Line). It is a magnificent building made of hinoki cypress, which reminds us of the wealth of the Hara family, who started out as a fertilizer wholesaler and expanded their business to include a rice wholesaler, miso shop, soy sauce shop, and oil wholesaler. The lumber used is said to have been cut from the family's own mountains, suggesting that the Hara family also owned forests.
The house was built more than 100 years ago in 1911, and has the characteristics of a traditional Japanese house. The layout of the house is in the shape of a Chinese character "tanoji," or "rice paddy," and there is a porch, which is an ambiguous space that is neither inside nor outside the house.
When I came to the porch next to the tatami room, I saw that there was a small guest ahead of me. A young girl was sitting on the shiny polished porch, staring out. I didn't know what she was looking at, but I guess she saw something interesting because she was staring at it.
After the girl left, I looked in the same direction from the same spot and saw Kimon-sama standing there quietly. Kimon means "demon gate". It was a shrine erected to ward off the demon's gate. When I remembered that a young girl was staring at the shrine, I felt that she wasn't just looking at the shrine. The girl may have been seeing not only the shrine but also what was enclosed by the shrine. I felt that way.
| Oct 2021 KANAGAWA PEOPLE | |
| CORRIDOR DIMNESS GIRL KAWASAKI MUSEUM RELAX |
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PHOTO DATA
No
12068
Shooting Date
Apr 2021
Posted On
October 23, 2021
Modified On
August 17, 2023
Place
Kawasaki, Kanagawa
Genre
Street Photography
Camera
SONY ALPHA 7R II
Lens
ZEISS BATIS 2/40 CF
