Vladivostok, Russia (2003)

The first thing that caught my eye during my first visit to Vladivostok was a bus that the passengers were riding into in silence, which still had a board directed towards "Shibuya". The number of old vehicles from Japan piled on the boat were used without any appearance differences and it gave somewhat a tense atmosphere. Yet watching the teenagers playing karaoke at the plaza in the center of the city and the middle aged women diving into the cold sea for their health somehow made me feel alright. After taking a shot of mushroom pickles with vodka and became full with Pelmeni, I went to the Japanese cemetery and encountered a bereaved family visiting to dig out the bones of their ancestors which were burried during the war. For a moment, the sky above seemed to be leading to another time.