Nagoya, Japan: Magic Hour Memories

In addition to the awe from dramatic sunset and the nostalgia that comes with the mellow one, I have always had a strangely contemplative feeling when looking at the sunset. It feels as if I were in an in-between state, but a positive one. This is random of me to say, but my love for sunset is intensified by all the dramatic and nostalgic scenes that happen at sunset in anime and Japanese video games, especially Kingdom Hearts. There is a place called Twilight Town in the game, where the sunset is endless because the town is situated between the realms of light and dark. My 15-year-old self found that pretty poetic and resonate with my feelings about sunset, up until now. The surroundings in the sunset become neither too bright or too dark; the air at sunset is neither too hot or cold (unless we are out in winter); and on good days, we can enjoy the sun, the moon, and the clouds at once during the magic hour (though unfortunately, I have yet to capture them all in one frame).

I wish I could enjoy sunset more often. Here in Bangkok, I must admit that I don’t get to watch sunset that often because office hours rarely allow me to (most Thai office hours are 9 to 6, but we often have to stay until later). But when I was studying in Nagoya, I had more opportunities to savor these ordinary yet magical moments thanks to classes being finished earlier and a good friend who is also a fan of sunset. My friend and I lived in the same neighborhood and she occasionally texted me when she believed the sunset of the day would be great. I am very thankful for her because sometimes, I would have missed out on some of these vibrant sunsets without her text.

Our former neighborhood in Nagoya may look simple, but I have seen one of the three most brilliant evening skies in my life there. This post is where I gather my treasured memories of the sun, the clouds, and the moon, from sunset and twilight to dusk.

By the way, I adjusted saturation and had to tweak highlight and shadow in some photos because the streetscape came out too dark. However, I didn’t make drastic changes to the colors. If you see purple in a photo, I saw purple when I took it and same goes for orange, pink, etc.

When I moved out of the university dorm into this neighborhood, it didn’t take me long to notice this slope. With the view of Nagoya’s city center in the distance, I thought it was beautiful and later, I discovered that it was a nice place to watch the sun dip below the horizon. Unfortunately, this is the only photo I have in which the sun is mostly visible.

However, I have plenty of evening twilight photos of the slope that I am quite proud of.

When I looked in the opposite direction of the slope, this was what I saw. Nagoya University wall (my university) on one side and more houses and apartments on the other.

I lived in an apartment on this small street next to the slope.

Silhouettes of my apartment.

Silhouettes of houses and trees next to my apartment.

There is a school nearby and the two streets closest the the school are wider. Still, there aren’t that many cars. My former neighborhood is a very residential area and it was quiet most of the times while I lived there. Perfect for a peaceful evening stroll. Here are photos of the first street.

And here are photos of the second street. I absolutely love the clouds and the colors.

I am bad at photographing the moon, but twilight and dusk colors can save some of my moon photos.

Problems can’t magically disappear when we take a break and sadly, there are many conflicts and disasters around the world that are so severe that even a short break becomes impossible. Still, when things aren’t too grim, looking at the evening sky can make me feel more at peace. As cheesy as this sounds, I want this post to remind myself that I managed to find happiness that isn’t too far away while I was battling with classes and thesis, so my present and future selves shouldn’t forget to reward themselves or take a break when they can. If you see this, when you have a bad day, I hope you can still find some happy moments, whether big or small.

This post is also part of the Lens-Artists (week #219: Treasure Hunt (The Moon or the Sun and Clouds)), Fan of… (recent challenge), Weekend Sky (recent challenge), and Which Way (recent challenge) Photo Challenges.

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