May 20, 2026. Early afternoon — Kin Town, Kunigami County, Okinawa
Downtown Kin. Many of the businesses cater to U.S. servicemembers. Near Camp Hansen.
A little pup sat neatly in the shade.
A few moments later, a large African-descended man stepped out of the shop beside it. There had been a faint smell of sesame oil drifting from inside, so I guessed it might have been a tofu shop or perhaps a tempura place. He gently picked up Lil’ Baby, who had been waiting quietly in the shade.
He was built like a black Percheron horse—broad, solid, powerful. Noticing me, he neither frowned nor smiled. Instead, he looked my way with slightly sleepy, somewhat melancholy eyes framed by long horse-like eyelashes and softly said, “Konnichiwa.”
On this weekday afternoon, the Street had fallen completely silent.
Nothing moved except the occasional roar of a jet engine crossing overhead like distant thunder.
I saw him and Lil’ Baby again a little later. He seemed to have set Lil’ Baby down in another patch of shade.
When Lil’ Baby stopped, he stopped too. When Lil’ Baby started trotting along, he followed at an easy pace.
I had no idea whether he was an off-duty serviceman or not. If I had asked to photograph him and Lil’ Baby and he had refused, that would have been fine.
But if he had looked at me with those horse-like sleepy eyes and asked,
“Sure. But what for?”
I suspect I would have struggled for an answer.
So I let them go.
I had considered walking to the beach that appears in some of the early work of Mao Ishikawa, but there was no reason it couldn’t wait until another trip. Considering the bus schedule and the situation with lunch, I boarded a bus about ten minutes later instead.
I rode back listening to “Misaki Meguri” and “Across 110th Street” on repeat, one after the other.
日陰にちょこんと座っていたかわいらしいｲﾇﾁｬﾝ。このあと横の店（ごま油の香りが微かにしたのでたぶん豆腐屋かてんぷら屋だったように思う）からでっかいアフリカ系男性が出てきて、日陰でいい子にしていたリルベイビーをそっと抱き上げた。
黒毛のペルシュロン種を思わせる立派な体躯の彼は私に気づき、眉を顰めるでも微笑むでもなく、馬のような長いまつ毛に縁取られた、少し眠たげで、どこか物憂げな目でこちらを見つめ、小さな声で「こんにちわ」といった。
平日の昼下がりのこの「ストリート」はしんと黙り込み、ただただしずかだった。ときどき空をジェットエンジン音が雷音のように駆け抜ける以外は。
このあとまた彼とリルベイビーを見かけた。彼は日陰の多いところでリルベイビーをおろしてやったようだった。
リルベイビーが立ち止まれば彼も立ち止まり、リルベイビーがちょこちょこ歩き出すと彼もゆったりとあとをついて歩き始めた。
彼が非番中の軍人かそうでないかわからなかった。彼とリルベイビーを撮らせてくれないかと頼んだとして、断られたならそれでいい。だが、
「いいけど、何のために？」
と、馬に似た眠たげな目で聞かれたなら、たぶん私は言い淀むだろう。だからそのまま見送った。
石川真生氏の初期の作品のビーチまで歩こうかと思っていたが、次回の目的にとっておけばいいし、バスの時間と食事する場所の状況を鑑み、その10分後くらいの便に乗った。
『岬めぐり』と『Across 110th Street』を交互に繰り返し聴きながら帰った。
pixelskylines
origamiaround
kianamaiart
yousharknotpass
blakekathryn