Nagoya Diary 3
Weeds like meerkats watching us as we pass by…
A touch of whimsy in a residential suburb catches us by surprise.
©Wendy Gan 2026
When I first saw this, I thought to myself: how strange to have a BBQ pit face the street. Do the people of the Nagoya suburbs enjoy BBQ block parties with their neighbours? This, dear reader, is no BBQ, but a metal compartment for household trash and recycling. In a land where crows have learnt to attack garbage for food, you need this to prevent your trash from being strewn about by a hungry and determined bird.
The electrical poles of Japan with their untidy tangles of wires fascinate me for reasons I cannot quite fathom. Do I like the angular patterns the wires make against the sky? Am I fond of them because in an environment lacking trees they have become perching spots for small birds? Are they a reminder that the Japanese do tolerate some degree of messiness in their lives? Or is it that I see in them a symbol of our connectedness? They are eyesores to some, but they have the wondrous ability to make me ponder their strange beauty and significance.
©Wendy Gan 2026
