When walking the streets of Kyoto I encounter tableaus where the traces of demolished old houses are left on the outer walls of the neighbouring property.

They have the appearance of fossils representing past human's lives. They are exposed to rain and wind, and will over time abrade away or disappear completely when a new building appears.

At some point, in the end, all these outer walls and such tableaus will be demolished, and disappear from our memories without a trace.

 

'The flow of the river is ceaseless and its water is never the same.

The bubbles that float in the pools, now vanishing, now forming, are not of long duration: so in the world are man and his dwellings.'- Hojoki by Kamo no Chomei Donald Keene, translated, 1955, Anthology of Japanese Literature, New York Press