Words and photo by Neo Sayavong
This photo (the photo on the train tracks with forests on both sides) was taken on the first day of the new year, 2025, at a remote train station about 50 minutes north of Hakodate, Hokkaido. The location and remoteness of this station, Akaigawa（赤井川駅, akaigawa-eki）, cannot fully be comprehended by merely looking at a map. On a map, the station appears to have paved roads and restaurants, but it is deceiving, for those roads are not of stone, but of tire tracks on the ground, and the distances of those stores are not nearby at all -made harder by the thick layer of fresh Hokkaido snow (though proceed with utmost caution.) I could stand on top of the railroad tracks and take a scenic photo; there were only so many trains arriving once within a few hours. But why here? Why in the middle of snowy and rural Hokkaido during a festive time? The answer lies not in the photo; it can be found only when you turn off this screen and see your own reflection staring back at you. It’s something many of us need, but rarely acquired — solitude.
But how does one get to solitude? This photo is only a part of a long journey that started a week prior, taking many local trains (and a ferry) all the way from Okayama to Hokodate. I did not take any Shinkansen (bullet trains) on my way there. Nay. It was all slow trains, taking more than 30 hours over a 5 day-span. Sitting in the Shinkansen is quick and easy; however, it did not posea challenge to the journey. On normal trains, you have to strategically plan many connections and consider risks, and take into account even a few minutes of delay — it gives an element of excitement — not to mention sharpening your patience, but it was there, among train seats, where even though my body was strapped/stuck to those seats, my mind could not have been more free. It was there where I could walk back from all the stress and mind-numbing content to take a moment and enjoy the surroundings while reflecting on 2024. It was like hopping on a hot air balloon to see things from a different angle — far from what you are so used to and far from vain distractions — then descending from the carriage after a breath of fresher air and seeing what truly is bigger than it seems.
Out there, there is nothing but you and your consciousness. There are certainly no giant advertisement boards, nor flashy vices to be found. But that is not the main detractor of today, is it? No, we have grown inseparable from our screens and the constant need for easy stimulation, not allowing ourselves to walk back from those screens and take a deep breath of fresh air, allowing ourselves to understand our essence. But no one here is to blame. I am in no better position to criticize, for it is in our nature to want to know the news and what’s going around us, to see if there is a danger to our surroundings. The difference is that information nowadays, whether true or false, is easy to obtain and due to the availability of technology today. The societal structure, ranging from our private life to work, requires a diligent duty to be connected at all times; we cannot leave our homes without our phones, and we cannot engage in the world without a device that connects to the internet. We can seek entertainment, anger, and pleasure from our fingertips, a way to stuff our yearning brains with easily digestible and processed food; but we cannot get one important thing: lasting joy, for that comes from ourselves and an understanding of one’s own self. We’ve known this for at least 2400 years, for Socrates and Plato of ancient Greece discussed it in their own times.
This is not a spiritual go-get-it motivation; I am not inclined toward that. Nor am I suggesting that you live far away from civilization right this moment. Nay. It is a suggestion of balance, to get away from our information addiction and mind-numbing scrolls on screens from time to time, at one’s own pace and one’s own steps. Set your mind free and let it wander, for that journey will show a mirror to you, and you will see your blemishes, but also your fair skin. Fear not solitude. It will provide you with a blank canvas for which you can build when you look from within.
However, I also advise you to explore beyond what many others tend to imagine as a solo journey. Trudge through snow that is untouched, especially alongside a brand new year symbolizing an exciting new page in this book we call life. When you trudge through snow that has not borne any footprints, you need bold and brave steps, and you do not know if the next step will collapse further down or not. But it is not too difficult, and once people see that there is a path through that snow, they will use and expand the path, pushing the snow down more and more. Do be cautious, though. Paths where so many people have pushed and compressed the snow on the ground tend to be slippery; and when you fall, there are no fresh snow to cushion you. Consider your own interpretation and how that can fit in your life. As for my interpretation, I see the compressed snow as a path many have successfully walked, so when I cannot walk the same path, what stops others from assuming I could never do it? So why not go create a new path where only you can judge your successful steps?
Now go out there and trudge through the snow, seek unknown stations, and find solitude. Of course, do so when you are financially capable and keep safety as your number one priority. Good luck on your journey, for you will see your own train station with snowy forests on both sides in due time.
The Polyphony 