This is an excerpt from a copyrighted article in TIME Magazine – a link to the complete story posted online by TIME is at the end of this post.

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Postcard: Tojinbo Cliffs
By Coco Masters

They come on sunny days, when the sky is bright and clear above the Tojinbo cliffs along the coast of the Sea of Japan. Yukio Shige says they don’t look at the view. “They don’t carry a camera or souvenir gifts,” he says. “They don’t have anything. They hang their heads and stare at the ground.”

Yukio Shige gazes at Tojinbo cliffs along the coast of the Sea of Japan. © TIME Magazine

For five years, Shige, 65, has approached such people at the cliffs’ edge with a simple “Hello” and a smile. He might ask how they came there and at what inn they were staying. Sometimes after a light touch to the shoulder, Shige says, they burst into tears, and he begins to console them. “You’ve had a hard time up until now,” he says, “haven’t you?”

To read the entire copyrighted story at TIME Magazine CLICK HERE

Thanks and a Tip o’the hat to Gayle for passing this my way.