Friends in the city center tell me that, sometime around the 1970s, time stopped in this neighborhood. Economic growth stopped. Changing trends stopped. Transportation development stopped.
I’m new to your writing but, at 70 now I have come to understand that ‘poor’ in monetary terms is a false measurement. To be poor in spirit & awareness of life & nature & books is the true poverty. I look forward to more of your work. Thank you 🌼
Thank you for the note, Wendy! Yes! I look forward to more of us helping each other become rich in spirit and awareness and all of those things you note :-)
Thank you for posting this beautiful essay. I lived in rural Japan for a few years after college, and this reminded me of my time there (although my apartment was a bit more modern). Unfortunately, as a twenty-something year-old I couldn't fully appreciate the slower and simpler lifestyle back then and often wished I lived in the city, but now that I'm in my late thirties and live in the Bay Area, I really miss a lot about that time - the low cost of living, the rich social circle I shared with both other expats and the local Japanese, and the attention paid to small details and enhancing ordinary life that is so missing in the US and so valued in Japan. And most definitely the small cafes and pubs, and the sentos/onsens!
Thank you, Jennifer! It is so interesting, especially since I come from the Bay Area. I always found little bits of these qualities in places there, in a few little alleys in SF or San Jose, an old family-owned shop in Chinatown or Japantown, or a little Taqueria. But I always felt frustrated that those small pockets that I thought were the most beautiful examples were only small pockets, and that they always seemed to be fighting to exist rather than being celebrated and supported to exist.
Anyway, thanks for sharing these beautiful thoughts. I hope every place can find more ways to support the small, beautiful, economically sane ways of being and doing. Also, it feels like you are one of the people I was searching for in the Bay but never met, haha. If you find yourself in Korea, come say hi to us ;-)
Thank you for writing this! The world needs these reminders, now more than ever. Every time I am told it’s a tragedy to be ‘poor’ ( in economic terms) I remind myself how content and in the moment the ‘poor’ seem to be. I wonder if there will ever be a time when we stop measuring ‘poverty’ in just monetary terms.
Thank you for the note, Pooja. Yes, I hope there will be such a time when it is normal to measure wealth without speaking of money. I think that time has come for many of us already :-)
I'm new to your website and writing Lydon, but this photo essay in particular really hit me squarely. I live in an American city, one that has prioritized cycling as a legitimate mode of transportation. Yet, as you and the photos so eloquently remind me, a vital neighborhood comes from communal forces that transcend income, material acquisition, and urban planning. Kitakagaya reminds me old urban neighborhoods in American cities. I read in a subsequent post that this neighborhood--like so many in North America--has succumbed to development, modernization--a sad denouement.
Thanks, Kate! Yeah, it's sad when such things disappear. But in a way, that's just part of the cycle. I enjoy knowing that you can pick out the things which make a vital neighborhood, and that the essay resonates with you. And really, that is all we need to start bringing more places like this into reality, on person, and then a small group of people, who co-identify similar underpinnings, and then start to make it happen :-)
I really enjoyed this essay. It dovetailed with ideas my husband and I have been mulling over, about whether 'progress' really is progress. I sense that more and more people are thinking that fast and shiny and new are not always better (in fact, they're rarely an improvement at all). At 60 I just want to take care of the simple things I have and not worry about what we might not have acquired, or what global corporations might want to sell us. So thank you for your writing.
Thanks for this, Alison. It is really heartening to read your thoughts, and to know that you and your husband have a similar sense. Here's to more people 'stumbling' on that idea :-)
What an amazing post. Since Japan is northeast Asia, I wonder if there is any way this model might be transplanted to India or whether there is any village that operates on a similar dynamic. Or maybe it is a luck by chance of proximity to nonmaterialistic values. How the past, particularly in Japan has some nonmaterialtic ideas that promoted life rather than overstress it like silicon (almost wrote silicone valley) valley. Ideas the might bring out the best in human nature instead of the worst or unstable or devolutionary? Anyway great post with much to think about.
Thanks so much, Larry! For sure, it seems easier to realize out here. But someone else just mentioned they noticed the same phenomenon in Russia. I've heard of several 'ecovillages' in India, but I suppose that is not really the same thing. I would bet this kind of neighborhood can happen anywhere though, so long as enough people in a place can cultivate the kind of mindset or value system to bring it about.
Thanks for mentioning the eco villages in India. I will research that. My Substack is named India Street and anything on ecovillages in India I could find might make a really good article. Thanks again.
My husband and I are picking up our lives and moving them to Japan this summer One of my favorite things from our visit was all the small businesses. I loved the little cafes run by one person operating just the way they wanted. It made everything feel like art. It sounds crazy to say it but I cannot think of a little cafe that’s didn’t feel like a slice of intentional creation.
Thank you Amy, and you’re totally not crazy on the cafe vibe. Or, if you are, then I’m right there with you, haha. Wishing you and your husband a beautiful restart in Japan!
The distinction between time stopping and time moving on a different trajectory is the line that holds this essay together. Kitakagaya comes across less as a nostalgic relic than as a functioning system where walking, small businesses, low-cost living, and shared attention make other forms of wealth visible. I especially liked that the piece does not romanticize poverty, but asks what conventional economic language fails to see.
I’m new to your writing but, at 70 now I have come to understand that ‘poor’ in monetary terms is a false measurement. To be poor in spirit & awareness of life & nature & books is the true poverty. I look forward to more of your work. Thank you 🌼
Thank you for the note, Wendy! Yes! I look forward to more of us helping each other become rich in spirit and awareness and all of those things you note :-)
Thank you for posting this beautiful essay. I lived in rural Japan for a few years after college, and this reminded me of my time there (although my apartment was a bit more modern). Unfortunately, as a twenty-something year-old I couldn't fully appreciate the slower and simpler lifestyle back then and often wished I lived in the city, but now that I'm in my late thirties and live in the Bay Area, I really miss a lot about that time - the low cost of living, the rich social circle I shared with both other expats and the local Japanese, and the attention paid to small details and enhancing ordinary life that is so missing in the US and so valued in Japan. And most definitely the small cafes and pubs, and the sentos/onsens!
Thank you, Jennifer! It is so interesting, especially since I come from the Bay Area. I always found little bits of these qualities in places there, in a few little alleys in SF or San Jose, an old family-owned shop in Chinatown or Japantown, or a little Taqueria. But I always felt frustrated that those small pockets that I thought were the most beautiful examples were only small pockets, and that they always seemed to be fighting to exist rather than being celebrated and supported to exist.
Anyway, thanks for sharing these beautiful thoughts. I hope every place can find more ways to support the small, beautiful, economically sane ways of being and doing. Also, it feels like you are one of the people I was searching for in the Bay but never met, haha. If you find yourself in Korea, come say hi to us ;-)
Thank you for writing this! The world needs these reminders, now more than ever. Every time I am told it’s a tragedy to be ‘poor’ ( in economic terms) I remind myself how content and in the moment the ‘poor’ seem to be. I wonder if there will ever be a time when we stop measuring ‘poverty’ in just monetary terms.
Thank you for the note, Pooja. Yes, I hope there will be such a time when it is normal to measure wealth without speaking of money. I think that time has come for many of us already :-)
I'm new to your website and writing Lydon, but this photo essay in particular really hit me squarely. I live in an American city, one that has prioritized cycling as a legitimate mode of transportation. Yet, as you and the photos so eloquently remind me, a vital neighborhood comes from communal forces that transcend income, material acquisition, and urban planning. Kitakagaya reminds me old urban neighborhoods in American cities. I read in a subsequent post that this neighborhood--like so many in North America--has succumbed to development, modernization--a sad denouement.
Thanks, Kate! Yeah, it's sad when such things disappear. But in a way, that's just part of the cycle. I enjoy knowing that you can pick out the things which make a vital neighborhood, and that the essay resonates with you. And really, that is all we need to start bringing more places like this into reality, on person, and then a small group of people, who co-identify similar underpinnings, and then start to make it happen :-)
I really enjoyed this essay. It dovetailed with ideas my husband and I have been mulling over, about whether 'progress' really is progress. I sense that more and more people are thinking that fast and shiny and new are not always better (in fact, they're rarely an improvement at all). At 60 I just want to take care of the simple things I have and not worry about what we might not have acquired, or what global corporations might want to sell us. So thank you for your writing.
Thanks for this, Alison. It is really heartening to read your thoughts, and to know that you and your husband have a similar sense. Here's to more people 'stumbling' on that idea :-)
What an amazing post. Since Japan is northeast Asia, I wonder if there is any way this model might be transplanted to India or whether there is any village that operates on a similar dynamic. Or maybe it is a luck by chance of proximity to nonmaterialistic values. How the past, particularly in Japan has some nonmaterialtic ideas that promoted life rather than overstress it like silicon (almost wrote silicone valley) valley. Ideas the might bring out the best in human nature instead of the worst or unstable or devolutionary? Anyway great post with much to think about.
Thanks so much, Larry! For sure, it seems easier to realize out here. But someone else just mentioned they noticed the same phenomenon in Russia. I've heard of several 'ecovillages' in India, but I suppose that is not really the same thing. I would bet this kind of neighborhood can happen anywhere though, so long as enough people in a place can cultivate the kind of mindset or value system to bring it about.
Thanks for mentioning the eco villages in India. I will research that. My Substack is named India Street and anything on ecovillages in India I could find might make a really good article. Thanks again.
As someone who is wholeheartedly tired of the capitalist culture we are living in, this was really soothing to read <3
Likewise, it feels soothing to read this comment. Thank you 😊
What an inspiring article 🤍 I soaked every single word, finding myself dreaming of a world like this around me.
Thank you Marta! Let's keep dreaming, and doing 😊
An evocative sense of place and an interesting perspective.
Thanks for taking the time to share this with me, Caroline :-)
You have a beautiful little house. 🙏
Lovely writing and loving Patrick.
My husband and I are picking up our lives and moving them to Japan this summer One of my favorite things from our visit was all the small businesses. I loved the little cafes run by one person operating just the way they wanted. It made everything feel like art. It sounds crazy to say it but I cannot think of a little cafe that’s didn’t feel like a slice of intentional creation.
Excited to read more of your writing!
Thank you Amy, and you’re totally not crazy on the cafe vibe. Or, if you are, then I’m right there with you, haha. Wishing you and your husband a beautiful restart in Japan!
That's so wholesome 💗
This was very interesting!! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Paul! It was a good time 😄
The distinction between time stopping and time moving on a different trajectory is the line that holds this essay together. Kitakagaya comes across less as a nostalgic relic than as a functioning system where walking, small businesses, low-cost living, and shared attention make other forms of wealth visible. I especially liked that the piece does not romanticize poverty, but asks what conventional economic language fails to see.
De nada, gracias por tomarte el tiempo de escribir una nota.