Valuing the small joys of life can add a few more years

While walking in a park in Tokyo last weekend, an old Japanese man, standing with a stick and carrying a Canon camera with a long lens, motioned me to step backwards. When I decided to turn away, he waved at me to come forward. Pointing to something in the woods, he whispered in my ear that there was a special bird in the trees. He showed me the photos of birds and flowers he had shot in the park. He said he visits the place, which, with its plants carrying name plates, is designed to teach children about nature, twice a week with his camera and a lunch-box. He said it takes him two hours by subway and bus to get to the park from his home.

Most of his photos were out of focus, but his passion touched my heart.

Whenever I go to parks in the Japanese capital, I often encounter energetic, gray-haired amateur photographers and painters.