Sleepers everywhere, everywhere I stare

When I squeezed onto the rush hour train this morning, bound for Tokyo station, carrying me to the glass towered HQ of a large American Bank, there were at least 10 people I could spot who were sleeping standing up. The sheer number of people packed into the carriage ensured they wouldn't fall to the ground, just as long as they woke up when we stopped at a station, letting off a tide, and welcoming on another to compensate. As for the people lucky enough to find a seat, ALL were fast asleep, with one in particular, a middle aged man with soft baby skin cheeks, his mouth gaping and seeming to purr like an overstuffed cat.
Mid-afternoon, I had a couple of hours to kill, and I went to a cafe called Excelsior, a popular chain which sports the same colour as Starbucks - an intentional play by the owners to attract the smokers who were barred from Starbucks but who wanted a similar ambience (plus a fug of smoke, of course). Salrymen lay sprawled around the seating area, some with their heads flung back in utter dead sleep abandon, and others gently nodding away, coming awake, and then nodding away again. I sat down, and promptly fell into a deep sleep, even after drinking a strong mug of black, tasty coffee.

Curled lips, little girl manga

He sat opposite me, reading one of those lolita porn mangas. Polyester trousers slightly too short and far too carefully creased. Receding hairline and a shiny forehead, with two beads of excited sweat. His thick glasses kept slipping down his wet nose, to be pushed back up by pudgy sausage fingers, his palms, I could easily imagine, were clammy damp. He was holding the manga up in front of him, his elbows at 90 degrees and he hadn't put the usual book cover on it to disguise what he was reading, probably far too excited to do so. A young, not unattractive couple next to him giggled quietly, and a middle aged woman on the other side grimaced to herself, involuntarily. You could tell she wanted to stand up, but didn't want to draw attention to herself.
The otaku didn't notice. He was happy in his fantasy world of little girls with too big eyes and impossible breasts that demanded squeezing by the old man "hero" every second page. Oh yes, he was in heaven.

Sprinting 

Into infinity 

Full metal building 

Consumer heaven 

Miyu intices ducks with a chip 

Skeleton flower 

Flower, tree, concrete 

sheer glass 

Gleaming surface glass 

An inner city picnic

Sunday saw us venturing over to Kamarikyu, which is a rather lovely little park situated across the water from Odaiba in Tokyo. The sun was shining and everything was gleaming, sparkling and good. You know, one of those days where you just feel whole and that any worries that usually niggle away at us recedes to the far edge of consiousness.
Joining us were Hiro, Kyoko and Linn (again), and we decided such perfect weather deserved picnic. Cor, I really didn't want the day to end. So slow and lazy, with good food, good company, a boat ride and ending the day on a beach, watching lifeguards sprinting endlessly up and down the imported soft white sand, and loud Americans play whooping volleyball.
In the park, we stumbled on some bunkers nestling in small hills, a former duck hunting site, where tamed ducks worked with the samurai hunter to coax wild ducks out into the open so that they could be shot down with elegant long bows and stylishly whooshing arrows. The ghosts of betrayed ducks quacked in the wind, as we peeped through shoot holes that used to carry death ray stares.
Over in Odaiba, consumer palaces of false plasticity gleamed in the dying embers of a beautiful day, with hording people-ants scuttling busily inside, oblivious to the splendour of day end. With no money to spend, I was acutely aware of the futility of materialistic pursuit, and yet, there was a glimmer within me, hard to repress, that wished I could join them in their abandon. Truly, there is nothing more chilling than realizing how shallow one can be.

Autumn sunshine

I think the typhoon season has finally departed and I'm hopeing we're now into low humid, plenty of sunshine, burnt red, yellow and green autumn! Got woken this morning by the banging of a rather large drum, being pulled along the street below us by a bunch of kids and cheered on by some old people (grandparents, I think). It was the smallest "festival" I'd ever witnessed, and there was nobody else watching them, although I did spot a couple of peekers from the windows in the hospital accross the road. The procession pulled up in front of my mansion building and everyone drank some "mugicha", which is a very pleasant, thirst quenching tea the Japanese drink in the summer, made from barley. A couple of the younger children began fighting over the drum sticks, with the little girl in the yukata winning the contest over the bigger boy, who then went crying to his grandpa.
All this before the day has even began!
Last night we entertained some friends for dinner - Kyo-chan, Hiro-kun and Linn-kun - old friends of Miyu, who'd been up since the crack of dawn mountain climbing, swimming and playing baseball. Kyo-chan and Hiro-kun were both exhausted, but their boy, Linn, was completely hyper, saying he wanted to go to Book-Off (a second hand book store which sells manga, cds, computer games and foreign books), and buy some manga.
After they'd cycled home, another friend, Akihito, came over for some drinks. He's just recovered from a collapsed lung, but is already back to his crazy schedule of holding down a full time job as an architect, two part-time jobs in restaurants and doing voluntary work at the UN Universtity! Isn't that crazy!
Well, we talked into the wee hours about hopes and aspirations for the future, and he left with a sore head, wobbling slightly as he peddled away on his golden bicycle, saying his head hurt.

Jason contemplates life 

People queuing for fish - it went on and on and on, for at least 1km, I kid you not 

Concrete flowers 

Joseph and Natsuko make out (cue cheesy 70s porno music) 

The tail end of a long queue 

Yes, it's BIG 

Joseph searches for Natsuko... 

Miyu rides the bus 

Ahh... 

Half smiling concrete  

Joseph looking cheeky after his night with Natsuko 

The new place - we're up on the top floor, in the middle. 

A busy week, and then to IKEA!

Well, I must say this past week has been absolutely exhausting! On top of the house move, which went remarkably smoothly, I had a very busy work week, often having to work 12 hour days due to my new job getting busy. It involves a fair bit of travelling around on the Tokyo subway, which isn't too bad as I feel like I'm filling in my inner map of Tokyo further.
I had a lovely day last Wednesday being a tour guide to Ms. Judith Rue, friend of the Professor I work with at the badger college (Dr. Kaneko). I thought she'd want to do the tourist thing and go to the fish market (Tsukiji), visit a temple (Asakusa) and check out electronic town (Akihabara). However, instead she really wanted a tour of Kabuki cho, which is the "shady" part of Tokyo where all the host boys work and where there's a very large percentage of yakuza. It was daylight, so we ventured into the thick fog of alcohol, which fuels the too skinny, anorexic hosts - kings the night before but now a poor shadow of their boisterous egos, staggering home with ashen faces and crumpled designer suits.
Judith loved it. Having worked in the RAF in her youth, and now an expert nurse for mothers who are about to burst, she was on her way to New Zealand (at 62), in order to broaden her experience and have an adventure. That is to say, she was no wimp!
As we wandered the streets, from Shinjuku to Harajuku, and eventually to Omotesando for a long lunch, we shared experiences and hopes for the future. All in all, a perfect day.
Later on in the week, after clocking off, as it were, and rubbing my hands together at the prospect of a long weekend, courtesy of "Respect the Aged Day", we welcomed over Joseph for some afternoon tea and biscuits. Poor boy was missing his little "twinkle", so we arranged it for him to come and stay at our place on Sunday night, and we also arranged for Natsuko to give herself to him, and do whatever he wanted her to do, until he was fully sated. Well, Miyu and I were quite amazed at how much Joseph had missed "twinkle", as he ravaged poor Natsuko and kept us, and the neighbours, up all night with his howling. I have photographic evidence of this coital panting, which is posted either above or below this text. Enjoy...
Although we were droopy eyed from lack of sleep, the following morning we all three (not Natsuko, she stayed behind, unable to walk), headed to a newly opened IKEA in Yokohama. Miyu and I needed a few things for the flat, and Joseph had arranged to meet Russ and Emmie, friends from Shimoda, there at about 11am.
Little did we know the hunger of the Japanese for Swedish design and rather tasty meatballs. The queue to get in was horrendous, and I reckon there must have been at least 30,000 people there, all buying, buying, buying in a post recession exhalation of undisguised glee. We joined in, over stimulated by the blues and yellows and the oh so nice designs at very reasonable prices. My little finger got so excited that it actually burst like a too fat sausage, and I had to be rushed to the 1st Aid office, where a girl of about 16 wrapped half a box of plasters around my throbbing finger, giggled and apologised before sending me back into the fray.
God, the rush of spending money one doesn't have really gets you going.

Final Day

The countdown is on - T minus 1 day to our big house move over to Nakameguro. Although our heads are a bit sore from last night's dinner with Joseph (welcome "home" Mr J!), we're going to meet the housing agent today to get the keys and do a final inspection of the property after the refurbishment. All very exciting, I can tell you.
I'll miss our little box of a home in Chitosekarasuyama though. It's been home for the past 3.5 years, and although it shook alarmingly at times of earthquakes, we've been very happy here. It's quiet but only 4 minutes to the station and the local supermarket. We've got to know a few locals, including the stray cats in the nearby park, and I think I've jogged and cycled every inch of the place within a 5 mile radius.
So, it's a new beginning and I must admit, I love new beginnings. It just so coincides with the arrival of Joseph to these shores again. So good to see him again, although I'm sure he has less hair but this has been more than compensated by how far he's come in his Japanese language ability. We were both mightily impressed.

Dreaming in waves of cascading colour

I've taken to quick naps in the afternoon of late (gramps that I am), and today I was dozing whilst listening to the Proms on BBC Radio 3. A young Chinese pianist, called Lang Lang, was performing Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, and suddenly my inner eye was seeing all these cascading sheets of colour, following the music, falling vertically and waving horizontally, and seeming to send a surge of energy coursing through my whole body. I was in a half sleep, not quite awake but not quite asleep, and I tell you, I rode that incredible experience all the way to the end of the piece. As soon as it finished, my eyes snapped open and I was wide awake, glowing and fully rested.

See the patterns of this death slurping suicide bridge in Fukushima? 

Destroy TV

Did a very satisfying thing yesterday. We got rid of our TV. This man was driving around the neighbourhood, blaring a pre-recorded message asking for "any old junk", and Miyu dashed out and hailed him down. He was a sweaty gent with a gentle smile. In Japan, YOU have to pay people to take your junk. Well, not junk exactly. Everything we gave away, including a gas heater, TV, kotatsu and stereo stand, were all in working order. However, we paid 5,500 Yen (which is about 25 squid), for the privilidge to have it taken away by the bespectacled junk junky, who kept on eyeing our two laptops and asking "are you SURE you don't want me to take those?" "YES!"
So, no TV day 1 and Miyu couldn't stand it so she ended up watching some international travel dating program called "Ai-nori" on my mobile phone TV, on it's tiny 2 inch screen. Surprisingly good reception on the little bugger.

Falling

When I wake in the morning and roll out of bed,
I'm falling to the ground like some doughy mouldy bread.

The Niki Museum in Nasu 

Meow 

Hello, grrrr