Imagery
Tokyo, 2006
On our way out of the shrine I saw this man playing what I believe is a shamisen. I wasn’t paying too much attention to his shirt at the time, but the appearance of the civil Japanese flag alongside the military Japanese flag (specifically, the naval ensign) makes me wonder what sort of statement he is making. Even on the full-sized original of this photo it is difficult to make out what the shirt says. The first part of the top line says “The Japanese (people) and” and the first part of the second line says (I think) “(of) a peaceful nation/people,” but the rest is too blurry, crumpled, or obscured to read. Kind of makes me wish I zoomed in for a close-up of the shirt now.