１２月に入って２度目の東京行きでした。時間があったので友達と渋谷で会うことに。と言っても渋谷駅はここ何年も大工事で以前とは様相が変わって、互いに共通認識できる待ち合わせ場所が分からず、結局定番の「ハチ公前」にしました。
地下で電車を降りてから人の流れの中を数々の表示をたどって歩きに歩いてやっと地上に出ると、そこにあった東横デパートがすっかり消えてまさに工事中。いつごろどんな建物ができるのだろうと思うもその横に「ハチ公」の銅像は変わらずありました。ところが、以前は多くの人が周りに立って相手がくるのを待っていたのに、銅像の周りに人がいないのです。実は、手前に大勢の人が列を作って順番にハチ公の前で写真撮影をしている為、皆手前の観光案内所の前を待ち合わせの場所にしていました。つまり「ハチ公」は外国からの観光客の写真スポットになっていたのです。記念写真を撮った人が次の人と入れ替わる僅かのタイミングにこの写真を撮ったので、周りに誰もいないハチ公のように見えています。すぐそばのスクランブル交差点も外国の人には珍しいらしく大勢の人がカメラを向けていました。
渋谷の後で浦和まで行き、友人のミュージカル公演を観てから都会を離れて滋賀に帰り、近江鉄道に乗ると乗客は数えるほどしかいなく、あと一駅という頃にはついに私一人になっていました。人の密度の激的な格差は芝居を見ているようで面白いと思いました。
It was my second time going to Tokyo in this month. Since I had time in the morning in Tokyo, I called my old friend to meet her in Shibuya. Shibuya station has been under a lot of construction these past several years and changed very much, so at first we did not have any idea where we will meet. Finally we chose the place of a bronze monument of Dog Hachi.
After getting off the train in the basement at Shibuya Station, I followed several signs, and got out to the ground level. I was surprised to find the station department store didn't exist any more but the dog monument was still there in the same spot. People used to be waiting for their appointed person around the monument, but nobody was there. As a matter of fact, it became a place for the tourists from outside of Japan to take commemorative pictures with Hachi Dog, so they were making a line on the side to wait for their photos and Japanese people who were waiting for somebody were standing in front of the information center which was also this side. I took this picture at the moment when people finished the photo so it appears in the photo that no one is around Hachi Dog. There is a scramble intersection near the monument and tourists also were taking pictures because it is curious for them, too.
After meeting with my friend, I went to Urawa to watch a musical performance by my other friend. Then I left Tokyo and headed home. When I got on the local train, the passengers were very few and finally the only people on the train was me. Why is the density of people so different between a big city and a rural area like my place? I saw them both in a day. It was funny and I laughed at the difference.
