Autumn in Tokyo may well mean comfortable temperatures and colourful foliage, but it is also the time when Mount Fuji once again makes a welcome reappearance. A sight that simply never ceases to amaze — no matter how far away it might be.
Coincidentally, however, this photograph was taken on the day that Prime Minister Noda dissolved parliament — setting in motion another political merry-go-round involving privileged men and equally tired and old policies. A thoroughly dismal state of affairs that is even worse on this occasion as it involves the current and rather incompetent incumbent, along with the favourite and ultra-conservative second stint seeker, Shinzo Abe. Plus, if that wasn’t dispiriting enough, Tokyo’s former governor and unrepentant racist, Shintaro Ishihara, is also waiting in the wings with his new political party. This complete dearth of talented or even slightly forward thinking candidates making a mockery of sorts out of democracy.
So set against this depressing backdrop, the sight appeared all the more poignant; a sign of both the season, and, short of huge political upheaval, Japan’s seemingly irreversible drift into its own sunset.