nostalgie

 

good days.

ahead.

こんな懐かしいものが出てきた。

色んな意味の余裕が感じられる。

余裕がある時は

たのしい発想が浮かんで当然。

苦しい時はちょっと自転車で

ぶらっといかがでしょうか。

祝！３０周年記念

thank you to our friend l.c. for providing additional photos.

we have a fuller sense of the festive day that passed this spring.

thank you to all who made it out and for those of you

who were elsewhere, we missed you deeply.

thank you for all of you who made it possible to celebrate such a day.

三十周年を祝い、

お客さんから新しい写真をいただき、

編集作業でなんとこんなに遅れて、

新たに祝う気持ちで、

再度味わう。

heading over to the other side of the bay.

bart in the morning.

週末の朝のバートの様子。

lovely friend of the shop e.s. welcomed the ebisu friends

with coffee and scallion bacon scones.

now off for a ride.

es氏により、

朝のエビスライドが企画され、

集合場所は彼のロフト。

コーヒーと自家製ベーコン、ねぎ入りスコーンで

迎える彼。

さあ、これから走るべし。

heading to downtown oakland.

getting to know one another.

happy to see v.r. on her light blue ebisu

after hiatus.

her presence matches this sky.

さて、出発。

エビスを通じて初めて会う人。

久々に自転車に乗るvr氏。

彼女の性格はこの青空のよう。

gather at the shop.

お店で集合。

 

some of the old friend brought items

they had purchased early on.

a bit of history.

昔からのお客さんは

うちのお店であの時代に買った品をいくつか

持ってきて披露。

old friends who worked at js came to celebrate as well.

we met y.o. as a student at cal when he was still in his teens.

his older brother t.o. was on the cal cycling team and

they rode around in a vw bus.

these were the years when bomber jackets and ray bans

were in full rotation (no irony).

when we met y.o. he spoke mostly english,

which otosan would promptly reply in japanese.

(i could write endlessly about our employees over the years but

i will save it for another post.)

昔お店で働いた人もみえて、

感謝でいっぱい。

当時大学生であった彼。

今や、自分の家族と一緒に。

元従業員の話になると長いので、

それはまたの機会と言う事で。

old and new friends.

the island connect on right. (talk story?)

the next generation.

under the warm regard of the elders.

ハワイの話で盛り上がる。

言った事ないな。

次の世代。

どうにか犬かき状態。

with gratitude.

感謝。

this is where the real excitement is.

初心にもどって。

colori?

 

八十年代にイタリアのでデマルキに作っていただいた、

うちのジャージー。

ショップカラーのグレーとオレンジ。

これは大事にしまってあった自分のとっておきの一枚。

色々な意味で恐ろしくて着てみる事ができない。

そのうちに体を絞って着てみよう。

あらーふぉっ。

in case anyone was wondering about our shop colours,

its orange and grey.

this jersey was made for us by de marchi back in the day.

as you might notice,

i treasured this jersey and kept it with utmost care.

there is nothing quite like italian knits.

looking forward to sauntering along in this in my seventies.

a salute to italian design, italian wear and the most impressive flair.

三位一体。

もう四十年以上前になる。

新宿の伊勢丹で父が親にお金を借りて、

買った大事な道具。

これで所帯道具を作ったり、

のち私のベッドフレーム、本棚、机、

椅子、ぶらんこなども作られる。

お店の内装もこの道具にお世話になる。

私も何度か使っていて、

最近久しぶりに棚の調整で使ったところ、

なんだか、がんばっているモーターの匂いが。

大事に使っていたからこそ、

今でも貴重。

物を大事に使いましょう。

—

over forty years ago,

this set of power tools were purchased by my father

at shinjuku’s isetan.

at the time, it was not an inexpensive purchase and

he had his parents help to acquire them.

he made furniture for the then newly weds’ home.

it was also the beginning of what seemed to me a part of

some magical trinity.

as a young child,

there was nothing that my father could not make.

almost everything in my room was made by him.

the shelf, the desk, a chair, the bed frame,

and my red swing.

the interior of the shop too

was in large part constructed with these tools.

my father gave me my own power drill several years back.

its reliable and even has the now norm option of going cordless.

though i care for it,

its not quite like this old friend.

i recently had the opportunity of checking in with this drill.

i met it with the same gusto that it had responded with in the past

but i smelled a faint indication of hard focused work over the years from its motor.

i am happy to report that its still going-

just at a different speed.

nyc

久しぶりにニューヨークへいってきた。

やっぱり、ここはアメリカでは自分の故郷のよう。

空気がとにかく違う。

夏の暑さは東京なみだけど、

皆活きているパワーが違う。

今回は友達の自転車を借りて、

ブルックリンへも行った。

フラフラしながらも自転車から見たニューヨークも◯。

今回のおみやげ。

omiage from nyc.

new york city will always be my birthplace in the US.

my heart beat quickens

even when i am feeling like a sloth in the unforgiving heat.

walking between pain, anguish and immense beauty.

the pace is good and the expression is abundant.

this time thanks to good friends,

i had the opportunity to see the city from a bicycle and

meet brooklyn and queens.

i even got to say a heartfelt farewell to my favourite bar

that is closing in its current location.

feeling the times change.

until next time.

読書。

looking for words.

週末。

カルフォルニアのレースのシーズンは長い。

その昔、よく週末となるとレースを観に行った。

シャーシャー、ジリジリ、パッチン。

いろんな音。

古い自転車の映画やテレビのツールにあるように、

水、バナナをあげたり、

走って後ろから押したり、

そう言う父と応援しにいくのが

楽しみだった。

ちょっと離れてたり、農地だったり、

週末となると遠足気分で色んな所についていった。

アメリカもそうだけど、

カルフォルニアは色んな土地がある。

こんな環境で

自転車を必死にこいでいる選手達。

きっと回りを見る余裕はないのでしょうね。

way back when,

when we sponsored a team,

i used to spend my sundays going to races

with my father.

i loved everything about it.

driving to new places,

all the familiar comforting sounds of the passing bicycles,

cheering the riders on like i had seen in the

old cycling films or on tv in the major european races.

the anticipation of seeing one of our riders in

grey and orange.

waiting with banana, water in hand.

the excitement of seeing my father run while

pushing the rider.

the gaze of the rider, the rhythm, the posture,

the occasional snot rockets- wow.

it all impressed me as a child.

all i was missing was a crazy european klaxon to make it official.

縁の下の力持ち。

there is an idiom in japanese that literally means

the powerful one that supports the foundation of the house.

poor translation but i mention this because its better than-

 unsung hero or one who labours in the background.

we are fortunate to have several key people

that keep jitensha studio going.

a new toei built up by such a friend.

このようにお世話になっている、

写真家、ウェブデザイナーの友人。

彼が最近組み立てたトーエイ。

シートアングルが71°。

今迄で一番高級な一台。

しかしこの絶妙な色、

やっぱり大人のテースト。

 

shula。

この人は昔から自転車スタジオのサポーター。

写真家もそう。

これはshulaのmtb。

この人みたいにカッコ良く自転車を乗りたい。

この間、街なかで前をすらーりと

通って行った。

やっぱり、いつでもカッコいい。

二十歳ぐらいの歳の差があるのに、

完全に負けている。

後ろ姿に見とれる。

がんばれとはこういうことか。

old shula photo.

i’ve always wanted to ride like her.

from an age when i idolized jeannie longo.

she was the other one i looked up to.

she is a fierce and graceful rider.

with an inviting chuckle

and so much style.

one of the pillars of jitensha studio.

i saw her the other day riding through a busy downtown intersection.

she looked as cool as the image

i have etched in my mind.

dont let the petite size and ease fool you.

photos by robert schenker

たぬきもいたとさ。

むかしむかし。

こんなカードも作られていた。

a holiday card from the shop.

way back when.