Mother and son

Ii naa...

Cute Mum

Nice picture and background. Pictures like these are more than welcome, everyday cross section of Japanese.

Atatakai...Boku mo kawaigate hoshi...! winter warmth !

before somebody jumps on roman letter...read as 'hoshii'....

Yes, beautiful photo. Reminds me when my children were that age. I sometimes wish children didn't have to grow up and could always stay at that cute age.

Nice picture.

Very Nice Photo though!

Haafu kawaii ne!

<strong>Moderator: Readers, the child's ethnicity is not relevant to this discussion.</strong>

Love the picture.

Lovely!

I have often commented that I think mothers of young children in Tokyo, or the other major Japanese cities, are amazing. These cities are hardly "mother-friendly", particularly as it applies to mass transportation. Many older stations/train lines lack elevators, or even escalators. So, you often see these ladies trying to lug a child, or two, up the stairs along with the baby buggy. (Yes, I do often offer assistance.) And, the trains are crowded, leaving little room for them. And, the tiny/non-existent sidewalks make their negotiating through with the buggy a constant challenge. My hats are off to them. No wonder more women don't want to have kids. I just wish more of them would put helmets on the children when they have them on bicycles.

jerseyboy

Japan is as a whole country hardly mother friendly. Transportation not ready to handle "real" baby cars, unfriendly people who never give a sit in the train even though the place is for pregnant and older people, no help hand when there are no escalators and mother needs help, no sidewalks and so on and so on. My wife was very surprised when in my country mother with big baby car got into a bus (non-step bus with space for wheelchairs and baby cars)and all young school boys moved away without saying anything. They were aware that the place they occupy is not theirs in such situation. What you see in Japan even mothers dont take their own child on knee in the train when older person approach sit, they dont even tell her "cute baby" to stand up. All the best for them, carry babies on their back what is unhealthy and make their legs more "banana"

And I'm sitting in an office, dealing with cranky co-workers and paranoid business travelers. The mom got the better part of the deal.

As usual the responses go in wild tangents. I mean, what does this picture have to do with half race kids or how society treats its mothers or children? Why can't people just appreciate a picture for what it's worth and leave unnecessary discussion out of it. People, these are ordinary pictures of Japanese citizens in their everyday lives, nothing more and nothing less. Leave the unnecessary discussion to other topics, let the rest of us enjoy these in peace.

It really is a beautiful photo and makes a nice change from the usual celebrities endorsing products. I noticed one particular poster going ballistic earlier on about this photo, saying it made him sick. The Mods have apparently zapped it. Whoever you are, if this photo makes you sick, then the problem lies with you, not the photo which is a celebration of motherhood.

Oh my what a lovely picture. An unadulterated celebration of life.

My sentiments exactly. Wish my daughter was that young again.

Hi little fellow, look this way!

Sure is an attractive mother with her cute son.

cute kid and wife but not a match for romulus family

only sickly sweet comments allowed

<strong>Moderator: Why would you even want to post irrelevant comments? If you're not interested in the subject, then please post on some other thread that you are interested in and on which you can make a meaningful contribution. That's the whole point of the discussion board.</strong>

a lovely scene indeed! creates possitivity!

I for one would be interested to hear bobcatfish's point of view. I believe differences of opinion are what make something a discussion board. And as to why the child's ethnicity is irrelevant I cannot begin to fathom. It is a delightful picture, and the JT readership should be free to comment on it as they choose, so long as nothing offensive is posted. The moderators are sometimes a little heavy-handed with their blue pencil.

much better picture than those 2 nasty men in dresses a few days ago.

"Picture is worth a thousand words" is appropriate for this one.

how do we know she's his mom? Could be a baby sitter.

Really very beautiful photo. Just real and natural. I appreciate the photographer.

Hardly representative of the keitai obsessed Japanese mothers around my way who flob their children off with 'damme, abanai' here and a 'damme, abanai' there, and hope their children are distracted enough with the PS 3 not to bother them until lunch time in McDonald's

Ooooooh, there's a murmuring among the natives. I hear drums at night, Sarnt major. Moderator crackdown in 5...4...

'damme, abanai' here and a 'damme, abanai'

Close. Try again.

it actually looks like my girlfriend with my other friends son rather than my wife with my son or his wife with their son. It would be beautiful if it wasn't so confusing.

It's a photo so I would say that any non-offensive comment that is related to the visual information in the photo would be relevant.

same my opinion...

Cute picture - but is that kid's hair dyed?!

probably.......Japanese like to use bleach on their own or their kids' heads....makes 'em think they're unique

It is a nice picture, but I certainly hope Mr. Hays and JT got her permission before posting the photo on this site. How would you feel if one day you log on to JT and find a photo of you and your family, shot without your knowledge by a random stranger using a telephoto lens as "photo of the day"?

Cute picture - but is that kid's hair dyed?!

Doubtful, most likely his hair is that color because one of his parents is Caucasian.

Thanks all for the entertaining comments today! This is the photographer commenting -- to answer some questions:

1) Permission was obtained. 2) The Mom is Japanese. 3) The son is a "double" (one part Japanese plus one part American) 4) His hair is not dyed. 5) Neither the Mother nor photographer has been offended by any of the comments today (including those that were deleted - actually they were quite funny!).

Take care

carry babies on their back what is unhealthy and make their legs more "banana"

Have to say that that's not true...gradually increased weight-bearing exercise is bad? I carried our son on my back till he was about 2. Nothing to it. Seiza and underdeveloped leg muscles are a couple of causes of 'banana' legs, not regular exercise.

Heartwarming pic, very nice.

Thanks for the great photo TokyoHaze! I'm sure you had a nice day at the Tamagawa.

Unfortunately, I still cannot figure out what is "on topic" and what is "off topic" when making a comment about a photo.

Mr. TokyoHaze: It's a beautiful photo, as much for the models as for the timing and use of the light and focus. Congratulations!

TokyoHaze, great picture. Also I love the "double" description. Wonderful way to put it.