The Perfect Shot: Late Night Merry-Go-Round

Today is a good day. I've taken amateur photos of the scenery I want to capture for a while now, but today I took my favorite photo so far.

Here. I call it "The Outdoor Merry-Go-Round Cloaked in Late-Night Darkness". What do you think? I've taken a lot of photos of merry-go-rounds in my life, but I finally managed to take a photo that embodies the concept of a dream that you don't want to wake up from despite how lonely it makes you feel.

I left my place of stay in the middle of the night and walked on the rural paths of Kiyosato, the only lights being the stars above. Only my phone flashlight lit the path ahead, and since there's a graveyard in Moegi Village, I had to pass through the graveyard whether I liked it or not. I have pretty out-there tastes though, and I've even lived in an apartment because it was next to a graveyard before, so it didn't bother me at all, but it was cold and dark and the ground was uneven, making it pretty dangerous to walk around in the first place.

The merry-go-round isn't closed off or anything, so as long as you manage to climb the slope that leads to it, anyone can reach it. Not many people ride the merry-go-round in Kiyosato even in the daytime, and on top of that it's just sort of plopped on top of the mountain with nothing much nearby, so it has a certain quality to it on its own.

And even when there's no one around, its electric lights flash with a faint hum and jolly circus music plays from its speakers. Unfortunately, the merry-go-round stops turning at night, so the lights are all off.

The merry-go-round.

To me, arcades are the stuff of dreams that allow me to forget my everyday life, and so the　merry-go-round that takes up most of the floor space of an arcade became the very symbol of "dreams" for me. I've never particularly wanted to ride it, though. I just like to stare at the uncanniness of a giant Western-styled amusement ride with fancy decorations spinning round and round. It's a giant toy, so big, so bright, and it spins and plays music! The merry-go-round is the star attraction of the arcade! But this merry-go-round is so well-hidden in the darkness that you need to shine a light on it to even see it, and it's just a towering thing in the middle of the forest.

By turning on my phone's flashlight and taking a picture, I could catch a fleeting glimpse of the whole merry-go-round. It's supposed to be such a merry amusement ride, but no one is there to ride it and it's not even turned on in the first place. You'd need to really look for it to even know it's there. There was an eerie loneliness about it, as if anyone who snuck in to take a ride on one of the horses would be whisked away to the afterlife as happy circus music plays in the background.

I'm glad I came to Yamanashi. Just getting the best photo I've ever taken gives me high hopes for 2024. The merry-go-round I photographed in the MASA21 shopping center in Gifu was also incredible, but this one is my new personal best.

And yet, there are still many other merry-go-rounds in the country... no, around the world. I just don't know them yet, but I know there must be countless lovely arcades scattered around the globe.