Vanishing local beauty

I love living where I do - Noda City has a castle with a magnificent view, a lot of remaining forests, a satoyama landscape, and some architectural treasures. 

But some precious buildings have disappeared. A few years ago, at the local festival, I shot photos of the Taisho Period buildings on the Main Street during the Tanabata festival. The best photo captured the feeling of the celebration, with a little boy reaching up to grasp the streamers on the decorations. Behind him was an atmospheric shop house and a cottage with features that recall the Craftsman style that was so popular in North America in the 1910s. A few months later, those two buildings had disappeared and the properties covered in asphalt. 

The city had even indicated these two buildings on a walking map distributed by the city tourism association. 

At the city museum, which is located in one of the historic mansions, I picked up a guide. It has a lot of details about the famous people, historical events, and heritage industries in the city. 

On bike rides, I go visit some of these places, and discover others that aren’t listed in that book. How long will those other unrecognized beauties survive? 

Who knows. They’re in private hands. Although people do take a lot of pride in the antique farm buildings, as people age, the real estate developers pillage the agricultural land to build cheap housing.

So, I take photos. This is a farm building near my house.