Essay My digital diary By Maria Bromley	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
私のデジタルダイアリー 筆者は、日本の日常生活の中で気になったささいなことをiPhoneで撮影し続けている。「旅行者」だから余計に気づくことが多いのだろうか、物を見るときのそうした姿勢を母国に帰ってからも持ち続けたいと思っている。

Living in a foreign country has changed me — well, either that or my iPhone addiction. Since I moved to Japan seven years ago I have become much more aware of the little things and since I am always carrying my iPhone, I am able to document these little things instantly. I notice details I would never remark on in my home country. For example, as I was jogging by Jingu Stadium with a Japanese friend, I saw chalk marks across the sidewalk. My friend told me it was people marking their spot in line for baseball tickets. I tried to imagine this system working anywhere else in the world. I couldn't. I pulled out my iPhone and took a shot of this cultural phenomenon; people assuming they could come back hours later and take their reserved spot in line.

I take pictures of food. I think this means I have truly integrated into Japanese culture. I actually have an album on Facebook entitled Five Years of Fabulous Food. I started this because the food is so beautifully presented here. I have developed an appreciation of food that I never had before because it looks so fabulous and tastes so incredible.

I stroll through stores and discover unique products like fake snow in a can. As a Canadian I am not sure why anyone would want to buy a can of snow — perhaps to have with a beer, while watching hockey on TV and pretending to be Canadian? I prefer cans of self-heating sake — very handy on the ski hill.

The ubiquitous presence of vending machines has me on alert for the most interesting one, which I think I've found in Toyosu's LaLaport shopping complex. It's a vending machine for the Proactive skin care line. Somehow I don't think the last-minute nature of vending machines lends itself to acne prevention.

I enjoy finding humorous signs and sharing them with my friends. My favorite reads, "Please do not brush your dog's hair on a bench."

I get a kick out of shocking my friends at home with photos of strawberries that cost nearly $10 (yen790) or Christmas trees that cost what an acre of land may go for in Alberta, Canada.

But I am not sure if Japan is completely to blame (or credit) for my epiphany about taking time to smell the roses — or should I say snap the poses? It is also because of accessible technology that I have the ability to create an immediate digital diary of everything I find interesting. When I return home I hope I will take my new-found keen observation skills with me. They have been partly inspired by Japanese attention to detail, partly acquired through technology. Being a tourist has helped open my eyes and my mind to a whole new world. Let's hope we all can bring that mindset back to our homes and look at life through new lenses.

Shukan ST: JUNE 29, 2012

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