So, like I said in my first post on this, life in Japan is all about rhythms. I love this photo, which I came across while looking for an image that suited the salaryman returning home in my tune.
This one didn't quite fit the track -- since our character is on the train to begin with, demonstrating that peculiar Japanese skill of sleeping standing up holding on to the rings in the train and waking just at the right time for your stop -- but this image depicts the sameness, the regularity of the daily commute. For the character in Setsu I did want him to be like this on the surface but to have that private side that comes through by the time the first chorus kicks in: he's done his daily grind and he looks forward to the warm familiarity of his home. Stereo-typically salarymen are portrayed as being at work 90% of the time, drinking every night and sleeping it off in the gutter or in the train station; but I can't say I ever knew anyone like that. In Setsu, there is the sense that our our guy is sleep-walking through his day until he hears the train announcement that his stop is coming up, then he hits the streets on his bike and he's almost home, with the moon making her own nightly journey in the sky above him. (September is commonly the month for Tsukimi or 月見 -- or moon viewing.)
September was one of the months I really enjoyed in Japan: cooling down from the oppressive heat of summer, quite beautiful on a calm, moonlight evening. My own neighbourhood was only 15 minutes' ride from the centre of town but still had a few rice paddies (though I see from Google maps that the number has reduced since I left); but mostly the streets were typically close-ranked houses. At this time of year the windows would be open so you'd hear people splashing water over themselves to was off the soap before getting in the bath or you'd catch snatches of baseball commentaries -- and occasionally even see the middle-aged Giants fan himself sitting in his white singlet with a sweating can of Asahi Super Dry in his hand.
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