I've always enjoyed looking at phone directories and maps.
In the past (though how far back are we talking?), public telephone boxes stood near the train stations.
Inside them were telephone directories as thick as encyclopedias.
In an era without mobile phones, as soon as one got off the train, they would head straight for the public telephone box.
On rainy days, I'd use it to call home and ask someone to pick me up. Every station had a message board back then — a serene scene from a mobile phone-less era.
These phone directories, since the proliferation of landlines, were distributed to households for free. When you opened the big directory,
it listed individual names and addresses.
I loved looking through it. Finding people with the same name, or those with unique surnames, I'd let my imagination wander,
enjoying the process. Lately, with fewer households having landlines, the distribution of these directories has dwindled. Well,
a directory loaded with personal information was bound to fade away.
Instead, I've found joy in looking at maps. I have copies of the "Prefectural Maps" by Shobunsha and the "Road Maps" by Light Mapple,
though only for areas I travel to. I spread them out and use them to plan my car journeys.
While I do use GPS navigation, I prefer to trace my route with a red pencil beforehand — another pleasure.
Just yesterday, I went out to Daikanyama. But I discovered that instead of using Daikanyama station,
I could reach the same destination on foot from Ebisu station.
It feels like a mini-trip every time I look at a map.
Since I've pretty much decided to move to Kanagawa prefecture, I've been looking at maps of Kanagawa, wondering about different areas — "What's this place like? How about that one?" I've been enjoying tracing potential routes with my red pencil.
There's something undeniably delightful about letting one's imagination roam while looking at a map.