Middle Path

After spending time photographing the busy streets of Kawagoe, I wandered into a small garden at Choki-in Temple. I immediately noticed something through the trees: the Fasting Buddha, sitting quietly among the greenery. It was a striking contrast to the activity I had just left behind. Only a short distance from the city's historic streets, the garden felt like a small pocket of stillness.

What caught me first was the statue's patina—the layers of age and weather that had softened its surface and given it a quiet character. The Gandhara-style figure is often called the Fasting Buddha or Deep Meditation Buddha, depicting the Buddha in profound meditation. I liked the way the weathered bronze seemed to belong to the garden rather than simply sit within it.

I called the photograph Middle Path because the moment felt like a reminder of balance. After the movement and noise of the street, I had found stillness just a few steps away.