Chiyoko SUPER ROKKOR 45mm f2.8

Let me introduce the Chiyoko SUPER ROKKOR 45mm f2.8 — a standard lens in Leica screw mount, made in the 1950s by Chiyoda Kogaku Seiko, the company that would later become Minolta. It was polished in the years when postwar Japan quietly dreamed of catching up with the great German lenses, and its "plum blossom" barrel, with aperture markings arranged like petals, is simply adorable. A little brass lens that sits snugly in your palm — you can feel the handiwork of craftsmen from seventy years ago in its cool touch.

With that history tucked in my pocket, I went traveling with this lens. And a curious thing happens: the ordinary express train, the shopping street by the station — peek at them through this lens and they all start to look a little like the past. It does not draw with modern crispness. Instead the light blooms softly, the colors turn pale and gentle — as if you were traveling through a memory.

In autumn, we went to Arima Onsen, one of the oldest hot-spring towns in Japan. An old hotel behind the rising steam, a golden carpet of ginkgo leaves right outside the station... The seventy-year-old glass got along wonderfully with the retro air of the onsen streets, keeping the soft light just as it was. Focusing is all manual, so you stop for every single frame and really look at the scenery. That slowness, it turns out, is exactly the right walking pace for a journey.

In cherry-blossom season, we headed to Matsuda in Kanagawa. On the day I greedily tried to fit Kawazu cherries and Mt. Fuji into one frame, the SUPER ROKKOR answered by melting the pink petals like watercolor. With a simple mount adapter it fits any modern mirrorless camera — no special preparation needed. Slip one small lens into your bag, and why not turn your ordinary weekend into a little time travel? I hope the sample photos below carry some of that air to you.