Last Tokyo Sunset

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/1.4, 1/15000 sec, ISO200)

A shot out of my hotel room in Tokyo. I took it in February when we just learned about that virus in China but life was still normal for most of us.

Now everything is different. Very different. We have been locked in our homes for months and now we can finally can go out again but we can’t go anywhere.

I love to travel. No matter if for business or for my pleasure. I have traveled extensively. In 2016 I managed to spent more than a 100 days outside of my country and most of it far far away. Don’t get me wrong. I love where I live and sometimes when I was away I got homesick but I can’t remember when. Now I’m sick of being stuck at home.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/2.8, 1/1600 sec, ISO200)

I have no idea when it will be possible to travel again. No idea when I can go to Japan again or to the USA. Or anywhere. This year we will not go on vacation. Our favourite vacation country, the USA, has become a no-go area thanks to a government incapable to deal with a health crisis. But that happens when weirdos are in charge. When the VP is a person who maybe could run a bible circle is put in charge to handle a pandemic. Sometimes to just sit and pray is not enough. It doesn’t work for your gun violence problem or your drug epidemic and it doesn’t work for Covid19 either.

The worst hit countries are the USA, Brazil and the UK. I wonder what those three countries might have in common.

In most parts of Europe the situation finally has improved but we are not out of the woods yet. Far East Asia looks best in comparison but my friends and business partners in Japan and South Korea tell me that they are afraid of a second wave.

I really hope that there will be no second wave and another lock down. I really hope that this nightmare will end soon and that we can go on with our lives. And I hope that people will learn and realise that it does matter who runs a country. I really matters and thanks to Covid19 it is rather simple to benchmark your country against others.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/5.6, 1/150 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO2000)

Oh yeah I sound rather bitter but that’s because I’m. Like millions around the world I’m stuck in this nightmare and because of the irresponsible behaviour of some it will be much longer than necessary. I like what one US comedian has said. “The old generation needed to fight a war against the Nazi regime to save the world. This generation only needs to plant their ass in front of the TV to do the same. Something most of us do most of the time anyway.” And it still seems that this is too much to ask.

We are all in this together. And if you think you are young and that the virus can’t hurt you,  you just want fun and you want it now. Well, in that case good look to find a job when you finally finished college.

If we don’t care what we do now we will all face the consequences.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO1600)