It’s interesting how I (and perhaps many other people) have completely different reactions toward cigarette smokers and pipe smokers. The reality is that they are both inhaling tobacco, the only difference is the delivery system.

Japanese Gentleman

I saw this smartly dressed, Japanese man at Matsuyama castle. If he’d been smoking a cigarette I probably wouldn’t have approached him, but he was carefully packing tobacco into the bowl of his pipe. I went over and we talked as he smoked his pipe. The scene was very similar to the one with Gandalf and Frodo at the start of the Fellowship of the Rings.

After our conversation, I asked if I could take a couple of photographs. He was more than happy to pose for a couple of shots, and then with his pipe extinguished he continued on his way. A lovely encounter with a charming man.

Japanese Gentleman