Shirakawa-go, Japan
2018
This is Shirakawago up close, lights off. It was hard enough trying to find this place, getting lost for a bit in the dead of the night. I remember how you leaned in to kiss me as soon as we found a place to turn around, and eventually we found the small cluster of huts. There were barely any lights, and I took pictures blindly, turning the focus ring on my camera until I felt like I caught my subjects within clarity. The moonlight was just bright enough for us to find our way ambling around in the dim night.
I remember how you tried to climb inside the low wooden gate but I stopped you. I wanted to tell you how much I wanted to go in there with you – I would have romanced you right there in the darkness, under the sky that glowed from nothing but the moonlight. But you did it to me anyway, as you took me in your arms, heads coming to a close, twirling around in that empty parking lot. That was Shirakawago for me, nothing like the posters but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. If we were to talk about magic, I’d circle back to this night.
Written in 2018. This story no longer lives in me.
