"Naha Market: Fish, crab, shrimp, pork, vegetables, sweets, dried goods, kamaboko. The vividness of their colors and shapes, the human passion, is still burning brightly here."
The following passage appears in "The Joy of Travel" (Yobisha), a collection of works by dye artist Samiro Yunoki, published in 1986. Yunoki has traveled to many places both in Japan and abroad, and he says that the greatest attraction of traveling to Japan is being able to experience the lives of the local people.
"Of course, when you travel abroad, you get excited about the local way of life, but you view it as a completely different culture. In Japan, you can communicate in the language and there are many things you vaguely know. In other words, there are many things you think you know. So, when you come into contact with scenery you've never seen before and a culture you're not familiar with in Japan, I think you'll be surprised and delighted even more than when traveling abroad."
Yunoki has a huge number of sketchbooks filled with drawings he made during his travels. Works based on these sketches are featured in "The Joy of Travel." The sketches depict in detail the daily lives of the local areas, such as random street corners and markets, and people working in various occupations. A woodsaw in Togakushi, a watermelon seller in Matsumoto, a tool shop in Hida Takayama, a store in Kakunodate, the morning market in Oishida, a house in Izu, a slope in Yokohama...
"Lumberjacks" (1984), a painting of lumberjacks in Togakushi, Nagano. "Rather than just sightseeing, I think it's good for people like me who want to see how people live." 
"Yokohama Slope" (1974) depicts a parent and child. 
"Snowy Town Corner" (1980). It depicts the shopping district and morning market in Oishida, Yamagata on a snowy day. "I was interested in how people shop in the heavy snow." 
"Anmaa" (1984). A work depicting an old woman from Ishigaki Island wearing a bingata dyeing technique. "At this time, I also traveled from Ishigaki Island to Taketomi Island and Yonaguni Island." 
"House in Izu" (1974). "Places with lots of tourists may be famous, but it's good to take a step into places that aren't tourist destinations."
The biggest culture shock I experienced was in Okinawa, right after the war.
"Back then, it was the era of the dollar, and traditional Okinawan culture was mixed with American culture, so the climate, lifestyle, and food were no longer Japanese," says Yuzuki, who says he loved going to see Yachimun pottery. When the Yachimun kilns were still in the Tsuboya area before they moved to Yomitan Village, there were many kilns in the center of the city, and smoke was billowing out of the chimneys, making for an interesting sight.
"One of my students, a woman from Okinawa, showed me around her workplace, and a viper snake came slithering out. She then easily got rid of it by hitting it with a long ruler. That was very brave of her (laughs). I was strangely impressed, as it seems like an everyday scene in Okinawa."
Yuzuki says that the best part of traveling is getting a glimpse of the unique way of life in that place. What he feels sad about recently is that such scenery in Japan is gradually disappearing.
"Buildings and shopping malls are being built one after another in tourist destinations, and the scenery is starting to look the same everywhere. Travelers are losing their sense of geography and their sensibilities are dulled. In other words, I want to travel to places where the city's skeleton, or even a single building, still remains rooted in the local area. If there is a unique landscape or culture that can only be found there, the locals will be able to introduce it to you with confidence."
And no matter how much technology advances, seeing is believing, and it's meaningless unless you take the initiative and experience it for yourself.
"The important thing about traveling is the process. If you travel with someone else, you won't remember the routes, so it's best to go alone whenever possible. Breathe the local air, interact with local people you wouldn't meet in your everyday life, and eat local food. You have to come into contact with the local culture, feel it with your own skin, and really get a sense of it. It's completely different from the world we see on the internet or in videos. With the world in this situation, I think it's a good idea to prepare until you can go, and then travel again with a fresh mind, around Japan, a country that you think you know."
Yuzuki's "The Joy of Travel" concludes like this:
"There is a hope that one day I might encounter another version of myself, someone who has existed in this world since before I was born. I feel that traveling is the place where this hope almost comes true. Perhaps this thrill is what makes traveling so enjoyable."
A sense of exhilaration and a slight thrill. You can only experience it for yourself. Travel around Japan with a fresh mindset. Perhaps you'll suddenly meet another version of yourself, someone who looks just like you and reflects your inner self.
