Posted October 31, 2011 by Jonelle Patrick Just another day in Japan

Philosopher X Tagger

This is one of the most beautiful stylings of kanji I’ve ever seen. I discovered this little plastic-bagged note taped to a girder in a back alley in Shibuya, amid scores of more mundane spraypaint romaji tags.

Apparently, “Secoraba” is the author of a series of such postings. I found a translation of another such note on the blog, inside the contraption. The one on that site was translated by the blogger to read:

Things that will greatly change your life

lie all over the city

However

You must be vigilant

Or you will never

find them

– Secoraba

This one says (please correct me if I’m wrong!):

My true self

I can see clearly,

As nobody else can

But if I knew everything in the world

(the good and the bad)

I could not live

– Secoraba

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Jonelle Patrick is the author of four novels set in Tokyo…

A young woman dressed as a Gothic Lolita is found dead in a car with two strangers. But the more Yumi Hata learns about her friend’s death, the more she’s convinced it was murder…*read more*

Jonelle Patrick View All

Writing mystery books set in Tokyo is mostly what I do, but I also blog about the odd stuff I see every day in Japan. I'm a graduate of Stanford University and the Sendagaya Japanese Institute in Tokyo, and a member of the International Thriller Writers, the Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters In Crime. When I'm not in Tokyo, I live in San Francisco. I also host a travel site called The Tokyo Guide I Wish I'd Had, so if you're headed to Japan and want to check out the places I take my friends when they're in town, take a look!