019_Older than Sazae-san's father, but

At the end of last year, I finally bought a piece of modern technology called a "360-degree camera."

To those around me, I smugly explain with a perfectly plausible reason: "Well, you see, when taking pictures of scenery, it's convenient to capture everything in all directions so you don't miss anything..."

But let me confess honestly here.
The real purpose is "selfies."

Before I knew it, I turned 57. In terms of age, I have completely skipped past the father (eternally 54 years old) of that national anime "Sazae-san" and have become older than him.

Until a little while ago, I would see young people in town holding up their smartphones and taking selfies with posed faces, and I would think,
"Do they really want to take pictures of themselves that much?"
I looked at them with a bit of a cynical attitude. I was one step away from being a stubborn old man.

But you never know which way life will roll. Recently, I made a 180-degree change in policy, deciding that "selfies are actually totally fine."

The trigger was a trip to Shodoshima that I decided to take on a whim last September.
My goal was the setting of a very popular manga (that bittersweet one that was adapted into an anime, a drama, and a movie). I never had it in my life plans that I would make my "pilgrimage to sacred sites" debut after passing the age of that father.

When I stood on the mountain there, the scenery of the Seto Inland Sea was truly beautiful, and my heart swelled with the desire to "capture everything!"

……That was the official reason, but if I'm being honest, at those sacred sites—the shrines, the stairs, the hills—I just really wanted to capture that slightly elevated, adult excitement of, "I finally made it to the sacred site I've always admired! I must make sure to record myself being in this place."

I didn't have a 360-degree camera at the time, so I desperately stretched out my smartphone and took selfies sneakily so as not to get in the way of passersby. It was the limit of a solo selfie for a man in his 50s.

However, when I looked back at those photos after returning home, they had become incredibly precious memories.
What was captured was my face smiling a bit bashfully, my favorite mirrorless camera, the slightly large hat I wore to block the sun, and the pair of shoes I chose after agonizing over them at home before leaving, wondering, "Which shoes are best for walking long distances?"

Just by having one piece of myself in the photo, rather than just the scenery, the resolution of my travel memories increases dramatically.

"That's right, back then I was agonizing over this and that, and choosing these shoes was the right decision."

While checking the answers with myself on the screen, I found myself grinning alone in my room. Objectively speaking, I must have looked like a slightly dangerous man on the verge of being a senior citizen.

With all that said, after the god of abstinence and the goddess of materialism held intense brain meetings, I finally bought a 360-degree camera at the end of the year with a "Here goes!"

When I actually used it, it was even more fun than I thought!
Since everything around me is captured, I don't need to stretch my arms unnaturally, and if anything, I feel like I'm mastering a futuristic gadget, which satisfies my desire for ownership. I'll write a detailed review another time, but for now, I am honestly very satisfied and glad I bought it.

If that father saw an old man like me spinning around a cutting-edge camera and enjoying selfies, he might scold me with a "You fool!" but...

Well, it's fine if I get scolded, isn't it?
Because once you know this joy, you can't stop...