100 Views of a Town in Japan: A Place from the Past

Park of cherry blossoms in Aomori, Japan. April 2021.

I always visit this park in spring when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Most of the trees throughout the park are cherry blossoms, so they are a very impressive sight for a couple weeks each year. The flowers appear like clouds covering the tops of the dark trunks. Every time I have come to this park, I don't see many people. It is in a very quiet and old part of town. This time, in the early morning, it was just me with the trees.

While walking around the perimeter of the park, I discovered a new place. Or more like a very old place. It was new to me.

Park pond and bridge in Aomori, Japan. April 2021.

I found this spot down a hill and hidden from view of the main park area. At first glance, it is a lovely little pond and bridge surrounded by trees. Looking closer, however, it is clear this place has seen better days. The bridge is roped off on each end to warn of the danger of crossing on the old, rotting wood. The pond has shrunk in size, leaving behind cracked cement and patches of moss in an area children would have splashed through in the past.

Abandoned pond in a park in Aomori, Japan. April 2021.

The deer statue would have appeared to float upon the shining water. Now it sits on a pedestal in the dried up pond, solitary and still.

As I walked across the spongy moss and grasses covering the old pathway around the pond and up the hill, I looked back one last time.

Old park in Japan. April 2021.

The morning sun had not yet touched this forgotten valley, a place lost in the shadows of the past. Does it transform back to the freshness of that time once the daylight hits it? I left the mystery unsolved.

How many years have past since someone sat on the swings?

Old swings in Japan. April 2021.