Heroes Not Zombies

I came across a very short video the other day which both delighted and moved me. It is truly magical. There are no words in it but a little story is told. I think it’s the gestures of the station mistress which make this so incredibly powerful. We have no idea what she is saying to the train driver but her hands and movements are so expressive you can’t help but be entranced by her. Then when the train pulls away, what she does is just…..well, look for yourself……

It was posted onto Facebook by Kyoto Journal (which I like a lot!) Here’s what the film-maker, Erez Sitzer, says about it –

i was searching for a train station. the kind you rarely see. small. countryside. we found it. and by happenchance, found something else. someone else. miyako. the station master. i watched her smile at each exiting passenger. then, noticed her wave at the departing one-car train. then, surprisingly, she continued waving. she waved until there was no trace left of the distant train. no one witnessed her, except, well, me. in that short span, my love and wonder of life was renewed. when i spoke to her later, she said at first she felt so shy. and hardly waved at all. slowly, over time, she began doing something she neither needed to do, nor imagined she ever would. so, this is miyako, master of a tiny station in the middle of nowhere japan who attends to every train and passenger that passes by