Random Notes

Greetings! Photographer Daniel Sofer with a few random notes from the past few weeks. Hope you are safe and not too hot.

I last wrote in May, as I was finishing up my photography exhibition at Kyotographie. Here's more info about the exhibition and the book I made for it.

Looking back on it, I feel satisfied at the result and grateful for all visitors who came. Appreciation of my photos. Seeing heartfelt enthusiasm for my work always inspires me to do more.

It’s a bit sad, as with anything that comes to an end, but it’s also a feeling of completeness, I’m closing the circle. I’m happy I did it, and I am committed for one more next year.

I don’t know about after that, the future is somewhat uncertain these days.

Hayama and Kamakura

At the end of May, Lana and I spent a few days in Kamakura and the Shonan coast, south of Tokyo. We rode the Enoden street car, the sister of the Randen street car in our Kyoto neighborhood. We walked along the beach, Lana took lots of photos of the sand for her photography project.

We met Mitsuyuki Shibata and Chika his wife, our surfer and photographer friends, at a Konditorei bakery near our hotel. We talked for a long time, then he introduced us to a bookstore/gallery where he has exhibited his photography in the past. Shonan would be a good location for Lana’s sand images. Kamakura is a beach town, and is closer to Hermosa's beach vibe than to Kyoto's old capital charm.

We went to a French restaurant for dinner, in nearby Hayama, right on the water. We watched an overcast dusk evening from our table, but we could see Mt. Fuji, so that was a treat.

I took this photo with an iPhone 17 Pro, which has a long telephoto lens built-in, equivalent to 200mm on a full frame camera. Full frame camera lenses with this kind of focal length are large and heavy, which is why I usually leave mine at home unless I have a special project in mind. But using the iPhone 17 Pro in RAW mode, then sharpening the image in post works great.

Mr. Kawakubo (Mr. Fountain Pen)

I went to visit Mr. Kawakubo at his home office in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo. I found a recommendation for him in the Reddit/fountainpens discussion group, so I went to visit to see if he could help me with my old leaky fountain pen. 

His shop was in the genkan of his apartment (the entryway in a Japanese apartment where you take off your shoes, about 3’ x 6’ ) There was photo of an old shop on the wall, was it his old store? 

I sat in a chair at the door. He sat in a chair on the other side of the small space. A table sat between us, crammed with little drills and sanders, other tiny parts, and an ultrasonic cleaner, into which he promptly dumped the pen nib I had brought.

He was a nice, soft spoken, older man. I think he retired and closed his retail store, yet retains a small amount of business in his home. Actually, I think it’s a nice way to retire - continue with the things in life you like to do, but at a slower pace and without financial necessity. 

Kawakubo-san was a little curious about me. “Would English or Japanese be more appropriate?” he asked, and I responded that Japanese would be fine. But lots of English was spoken in between.

I explained how the Waterman fountain pen I had brought him had been my father-in-law’s. It’s a wonderful 70’s-80’s vintage pen, slimmer than most pens sold now. A simpler, less ostentatious style that I prefer.

Mr. Kawakubo wore magnifying glasses over his glasses, like the ones jewelers wear. He quickly found the problem why my 40 year-old pen was leaking lots of ink: a small rubber washer gasket was missing, probably broken after all these years.

After a little cutting, gluing, and a bit of cursing, he fashioned a replacement, then handed me the pen to try. It worked!

Some more conversation about my photography show in Kyoto, and his reminiscing about a trip to Los Angeles. And then I was off, with another working pen in my collection. I love the look and feel of writing with these fountain pens.

As an aside, I do recommend acquiring a pen/pencil that you love to write with and a nice notebook with fine paper. Pen-to-paper is really a transformative experience, one that I have returned to during my analog renaissance. Try it. It’s a simple exploration that requires almost no commitment.

I usually write blog posts - such as this one - in my notebook with a fountain pen. Simple, peaceful, no fighting with technology, no distractions. I don't try to make my writing perfect, just go brain-to-paper as directly as possible. Afterwards, I dictate my writing into a word processor and edit from there.

いーぐる (Jazz Kissa Eagle)

Central Tokyo. A threatening typhoon in the sky. Gray. Wet but not actually raining. A short walk to a burger shop that had peaked my interest. Not bad, but I’ve had much better burgers in Japan.

Afterwards, I walk out onto the street. I’d like something for dessert. But what? Every place I saw nearby in Suidobashi was a bar, a ramen, or gyoza place. How about Eagle, my favorite jazz kissa? They have a nice “Gâteau au Chocolat”, and I could sit out of the rain and listen to music. A one block walk to the yellow Sobu line train, three local stops, and I’m there! So off we go.

I’ve been to Eagle over a dozen times in the past 10 years. I try to stop in whenever I’m in Tokyo.

So I’m in, sitting down in my favorite spot: facing, but about 20 feet from the giant JBL 4344 studio monitors they have on the wall. I think I’ve written about these before. 

I sit down and they have on some slamin’ funky r&b music from Seattle organist Delvan Lamarr. Loud. My Apple Watch says 80db peaks, so not earsplitting, but loud enough to get my adrenaline going.

I suddenly I realized I had a big smile on my face.

And that is the point I’ve been coming to: Music makes me happy! And I bet it makes you happy too! So go listen to some music and feel better!

Better yet, do what we used to do in the old days: put that music on and just sit and listen! That's what Japan's Jazz Kissas are all about. Don’t do the dishes, or your homework, or your doomscrolling - just sit. And listen.

We are all so ADD nowadays that it takes a concerted effort to stop multitasking. It’s almost like meditation. I recommend it. Your favorite intoxicant might help.

These days, folks are opening up listening bars in America. I hope to be able to visit some time.

Leaving Japan

Something that has been weighing heavily on me the past year or so, is the state of my mother and what happens when she passes on. She’s 94 years old and sharp as a whistle, although her degenerating eyesight has made things more difficult for her. Due to my father’s foresight and planning, my sisters and I have a small trust fund waiting to sustain us during the last years of our lives.

Unfortunately, living in Japan triggers substantial tax liabilities on American inheritances - especially trusts - due to differences in the tax laws. So much so, that after discussing the situation with various financial advisors, I decided to give up my residence in Japan, rather than pay substantial taxes (50%) to the Japanese government.

So this past June I left my life as a resident of Japan, going back to being just another inbound tourist overwhelming the country. I canceled my health insurance and closed my bank accounts. At the airport, Japan Immigration punched a hole in my residency card. Now it's only a souvenir of my time in Japan.

All things being equal, I would have rather continued as I was. But at least I'll be able to afford nicer hotels this way.

Lana, however, is keeping her apartment in Kyoto. And although my name is not on the front door anymore, how different will it really be than before? We'll find out in the fall when I return.

Summer in California

For most of the summer, I'll be near Hermosa Beach in Southern California. It's cool and foggy in the morning; eventually the fog burns off and it becomes sunny and warm. As you go inland the air gets dryer and the sun gets hotter. Eventually you reach the desert. 😁

Living in an average upper middle class neighborhood in a Southern California suburb, I don't feel many changes compared to the before times. Certainly not anything like what's in the news. It's the same, except that the price of everything has gone up dramatically in the past few years.

My experience is like an analogy I've used before: when you leave home, it's like passing PAUSE on your music player – then when you come back, you press PLAY and everything continues without missing a beat, as if you had never left.

So, I'm going to spend the next couple months enjoying what Southern California has to offer, with my camera in my hand. You never know when a photogenic moment will appear!

2027 marks 25 years of my Picture of the Day photo blog. I'm also going to be thinking about how to commemorate that event next year. A gallery show in Kyoto, maybe one in Hermosa Beach as well? A book?

Alas, all I've figured out is that it will be impossible to display all ~5000 of the photos that exist on my website...

More to come.