Partially Obstructed View

                                  Partially Obstructed View
                                  David Atwood. March 2012
                                  Watercolour on paper 19 X 15cm



By far the best feature of my dirty little studio is the view. From my fifth floor windows I can see an amazing view of Nagasaki harbor and and the 330 meter high Mount Inasa across the water. Down below are/ were a series of long, narrow, one story warehouses left over from when port was for unloading cargo rather than cruise ship passengers. Recently two of the buildings were torn down leaving a considerably large empty lot. Now my concern is what will be built in their place. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a parking lot, which is more often than not, what becomes of empty spaces around here. Nagasaki can always use more parking and from a landowner's point of view, it's a minimal investment for a guaranteed return.

However, there has been a mini-boom of large condo buildings going up recently. If that's the case, it will certainly be well over 5 stories thus stealing my view from me. When I first came here almost ten years ago, the water front was a wasteland. You would barely guess that you were living on the ocean as you couldn't even walk along the seaside with out a great deal of effort. But since then a museum, huge park, several upscale condos, and a boardwalk have been built and people are more interested in enjoying the harbor rather than just treating as a place of industry (ship building) and commerce (fishing). A large condo building would make sense in that spot, unfortunately for me.

The one good thing is that they seem to be preparing whatever they are going to do (buildings generally have no basements here so you don't get the telltale giant hole that precedes all buildings back home) slightly off to the right so that only half my view will be spoiled. I've never wished so hard for a new parking lot.