A museum with twins

I forced myself a wake up early again today and got ready with plenty time left over. I went to the station and opted to play DS on the train rather than sit in silence. I arrived at Ueno station only forty minutes early and found Yuka and Sayuri already there. They seemed surprised to see me but it meant we could start earlier so it was hardly a problem. First they stood in front of me, testing whether I could tell them apart. As far I can see see they bare only a slight resemblance but I obliged and continued my winning streak.
We walked into the rain, each of us with an umbrella, and walked through the park towards the museum. In the open section of the park there was a Bonsai display with dozens of tiny flowering trees. THe flowers were normal sized compared to the miniscule trees which made for an interesting aesthetic, I ran back and forth taking photos while the girls looked at them considerately. Once we were done there we crossed the road to the museum entrance. There was a line, a line that took a hundred minutes to traverse. As there was three of us conversation passed the time. Once we finally made it umbrellas were stowed and we went inside. It was crowded in the entrance hall and even more so on the second floor. There we went into the main exhibits. They were a collection of national treasures largely from Nara. They had been absent during my visit due to this very exhibition. There were ancient paintings and tiny clay statues. One side had three buddha statues which you could circle round. The two larger ones were designed to depict the human bodies musculature according to one sign. Beautiful as they were I guess depict doesn't quite mean represent. These were hardly wiry buddhas, or built ones for that matter. They looked like they were holding a bit of puppy fat.
The twins seemed amused by my reaction to almost everything. After a while of seeing exhibits we walked out slowly and headed to the station. They wanted to get some lunch so we went to a deli like place in the station. They bought bagels while I opted for a bento box to subtly eat at the bagel counter. It cost nearly a thousand yen which is far more than I ever spend on meals but I figured I was being polite. We talked and walked through the station until it was time to split up. Yuka went on the Hibiya line while me and Sayuri took the Yamanote line with me until I reached my stop and said good-bye.
Back in my apartment I noticed some ants coming from the next room over. I placed some black paper on the floor and watched them disperse. Much as I like my my apartment a good part of getting home will be living somewhere without flatmates incapable of cleaning.
Tomorrow I might go to Akihabara, the forecast says it'll be sunny.

Ueno museum with the twins

A man-boys fantasy

This is about me being geeky. Very very geeky. I am of the opinion that adulthood is when you fulfil childhood fantasies. Getting older is something you do so you don't have to grow up.
As previously mentioned, on the way I observed a young girl playing the game that is at this very moment open besides me but she had a limited edition DS for the game.
I stepped off the train at Hamamatsucho station I began looking for the big sleeping Pikachu I had once seen. As I walked through the overpass I noticed a serene park with a large pond. Even in the poor weather it looked nice. I got half way through thinking about how nice it was and the statement it made about Japanese cities when these thoughts were blasted away like an extra wearing the colour red. I saw Pokemon on the other side of the park, emblazoned across the front of building. I began walking round and it was here that my iPod died. I was changing tracks from Cypress Hill to a random selection of blues. Somewhere in the silence between songs it ceased to be. The next track simply didn't play. The small iPod with crossed eyes popped up on the screen. A small part of me tried to panic but the rest of me looked up at the building in front of me and subsequently ate the small part. There were Pokemon dotted around the place, I recognised them all. I walked past the "Union room" where people could gather for wireless games. I'd made sure to come on a quiet day so it wouldn't be stressful. I walked round to the store. The doors has some kind of sonar like device which apparently only I could hear, while walking through them I could feel my head popping and hear high pitched clicks which faded proportionately to my distance from the door. Once I got past this it was everything I expected.
Children ran around between shelves full of merchandise. A grown man sat playing card games with a three year old girl, small children sat crossed legged in the isles playing Pokemon games while young shop assistants amused them with puppets or talked to their parents. There was merchandise, some of it I understood and some of it I didn't. I was tempted by a lot of things, a stupid amount of things. I could have bought almost anything I would ever need there. There were condiments, things to put the condiments on, things to put the previous two things in for eating out of or storing them in. I was amazed to find that these things seemed to be high quality and cheaply priced. "Merchandise" tends to be synonymous with "expensive and crap" but the bags were study and comfortable, the food was cheap and at least looked tasy and other things were cheaper than many other stores in Tokyo.
Not for the first time I regretted buying my pass case in Yodobashi camera. While I love it's quaint style I was tempted by Astroboy ones in Kyoto and here were a variety of ones I was considering upgrading to. I was unbelievably tempted to buy some chopsticks and regretted having no change to buy one of those "flattened coin" things that all tourist attractions have. I subtly took some photos while looking at the extensive rang of soft toys, many of them store exclusives. At one point a tiny girl seemed to mistake me for a Pokemon so I helped her find her mother who seemed confused but thankful. I walked out and round to the Union room. Here I watched children battle one of the two girls who stood at the desk. They played via wireless link to a Wii so it was visible on a large screen. Short children were provided with a box. The first one lost every battle and regaled the children by saying how good they were. The second one won every time, mercilessly unleashing move after move on the tiny children's Pokemon. Afterwards she shook their hands and told them they were strong for not crying like some other kids do when she beats the crap into them.
I would have tried to best her the deal hadn't been that you could only battle on your birthday. I was tempted to try and blag it but ID was required. It was warm and nice so I was content to sit and watch these proceedings for a long time, as well as businessmen from the upper parts of the building coming to play the popular arcade style game I've seen around. The time there was mostly spent looking at adorable children walk up and explain that it was their birthday and their parents had brought them specially to receive a gift. One particularly sweet boy walked nervously in and bowed to the two girls before simply saying "Tanjobi desu" and proffering his DS and ID with his head bowed. He watched almost shaking with excitement as they inserted the test cartridge and added the "gift" to his copy of the game. He thanked them and managed a wide eyed look at me before leaving. Soon after a Chinese tourist came in and began asking about games his children could play. This is where I made myself proud, he was speaking in English so I translated what I could and saved the situation. Later when his trouped in with no less than five children I helped explain the mechanics of the arcade game. I did this mostly through guess work and felt confident that such young children wouldn't really care if they were getting it right.
The girl I'd helped tried to talk but me but it wasn't easy. I managed to speak some passable Japanese and referred to them as something approaching "Poke-sis" as seemed appropriate to my reckoning. I took her picture with the other girl before explaining it was time I got going. She tugged at my sleeve and asked for my e-mail address. I wrote it on a miniscule scrap of paper I had and gave it to her but this wasn't enough. She wanted me to explain what it meant. My name was easy, the word nano was easy but "sheep" caused me to draw a blank. I settled for "White cloud dog" and she seemed to understand. Now it seemed I was free to go so I walked through the pain inducing doors. I paused to consider that I had hoped she wanted to trade Pokemon with me rather than simply take my e-mail address.
From here I walked to Tokyo tower via the most pleasant route I could find. I went through a park until I got to its base. Since the weather wasn't great I decided I wouldn't go up it today but settled for seeing it up close. I walked to Roppongi and got on the subway to Ginza. Here I went straight to the Apple store and into the genius bar. I sat down at the iPod counter and had a brief discussion. Seventeen thousand to refurbish my iPod and no chance of song recovery. I left swiftly and took the subways home. Attempts to recover songs from my iPod failed. I know I should be devastated, I'm partly curious that I'm not. My main source of music is gone and the music along with it. I had to make tough choices about what to bring along with me and the list of songs that made the cut were almost all considered essential. Despite this I am far from devastated, I've fulfilled a childhood fantasy today. Tomorrow is another day entirely. More to the point it's a day when Sayuri is taking me to a museum.

Visiting the pokemon center

Phone post - Curses

It appears my iPod has died. Later I'll try and recover my music but for now I'm enjoying the Pokemon center.

Phone post - Train games

I'm on the Yamanote line. Directly next to me is a school girl. She's playing the final section of a game I recently aquired, the one set in a stylized Shibuya.
The speed she goes through the dialogue tells me she's played this section before,I assume she's farming, and the fact the game came out months ago here coupled with her game specific limited edition DS tells me she's a fan.

More lessons

I took the usual route. On the train to the studio I managed to miss my station while concentrating on my DS. I got off at the next one which happened to be the one I had first visited the day I met Mie. Terrified I might be late I ran to the studio and arrived fifteen minutes early.
Eiji saw me outside and as I entered I noticed he was alone. I was early and everyone else was coming late. Mitsuhiro arrived first and produced some large dictionaries. I began teaching slowly but sped up once Mie arrived. It was a difficult lesson with a lot of work on tenses. Meg arrived with another assistant who I recognised from photos. She was introduced but her and Meg worked in the other room for most of the time. She did take some time to try my shoes on, take pictures of my shoes and take comparison pictures of my shoes and her feet.
I kept teaching and found some very difficult questions. Eiji had a lot of trouble pronouncing "specific" which lead to amusement. Near the end I made a roleplay based on useful phrases they might encounter if they go travelling. We worked through it and I corrected their answers and wrote down notes for them. We were occasionally interrupted by the new girl wondering in and taking photos. Around now it was decided we would go out for some food. We gradually got ready as the lesson aspect of the evening died out. Mitsuhiro went to work while Meg and the new girl went somewhere else. Me, Mie and Eiji went on a small Indian restaurant. We talked and watched Bollywood films while I ate a hot curry.
I decided I would walk back to Gotanda and we agreed the next lesson will be on Tuesday next week.
On my way back I noticed a shop advertising "Big Shoe for MEN! WE sell!". I took note of this place and went home.

Another Shoko

Today was the usual affair. I woke up, got ready and went out. I had no plan so I simply headed to the station and go on the Yamanote line. I remembered seeing the pokemon center somewhere from the train so I stayed on to Meguro to see if it would go past. Since it didn't I headed to Harajuku to enjoy the sun and study.
I found a spot in the shade by the lake and began studying. Soon a man interrupted the process. He was Vietnamese and a painter. He'd come to sell painting. He was fairly interesting and we talked but I didn't feel any particular loss when he was called away by his phone. I continued to study. While looking at a difficult problem I realised I was studying ineffectually. I was in a park filled with natives and I was puzzling over how to pronounce a word. Why I hadn't already asked someone. I stood up and hoped onto the next bench which was occupied by a young woman. She spoke no English which was ideal. I showed her sentences and she approved, I asked her questions and practised sentences on her. It was went well. I learned a lot before it was time to go. We walked to the station and got on the same train. I kept practising al the way to Takadanobaba where we both got off and parted ways. This is when she told me her name. Shoko, the third I've met that I remember. She took my phone and extracted details before she went to work and I walked back.
It was a good day. Whether I've made a new long term friend or not I certainly learned a lot.

Sayuri and Scientologists.

Sayuri came round today. I realised that due to her new timetable and my weekend activities we haven't seen each other in person for almost a month. It was the usual system, I collected her from the station we walked back. I showed her my photographs and we talked. I practised Japanese as much as possible. One burning question I had revolved around the fact that the Japanese word for cloud is the same as the word for spider and whether this causes confusion when it comes to Spiderman. She handed me gifts from her and her sister. They had been back to their home town since I'd last seen her. There was a beautiful fan and a tiny glass cube with Fuji etched into it. These went into my bag for storing precious things.
After a lot of talking we went to Ikebukuro. In Bic camera I picked up some otaku swag for myself on the cheap. I was shocked to find I didn't know the code for my new card but luckily I could easily pay with my Suica card. We sat in the massage chairs and wondered around. After that we walked back, stopping by some kind of fancy shop. Inside there were fans, wind chimes and countless other things made to be beautiful. We wondered around and looked at things. At one point Sayuri picked up some small paper sheets and bought them. As we walked out she was twiddling one between her fingers.
This was when we saw a small gathering of people. Dressed in red T-shirts they held odd machines. Machines for measuring our thetan levels. I swiftly walked Sayuri past them smiling and waving them away. At a safe distance I stopped and looked back. I had to explain what Scientologists were. This gave me some trouble as I considered how much detail to go into. As we began to walk on Sayuri handed me the piece of paper, now a beautiful crane.
We went by the shop and I picked up another give kilograms of rice, some stuff to put on it, a half price meal and some "Ritz crackers". My thinking on the crackers was that they looked like Oreos, were made by the same people and were right next to the Oroes. I figured they must be some kind of Anti-Oreo, much as I assume anti-matter tastes just as great as regular matter I assumed these would taste like Oreos with the components reversed. I was wrong. They were Anit-Oreos in the bad sense. Rather than being made of of the two components that make joy, happiness and wonder, they were made of cheap crackers and some kind of cheese substitute. Right now the remainders of the pack are in my freezer, I'm hoping that they will follow the rule that cold biscuits are god biscuits.
We talked more until it was time for her to go. I walked her back to the station as usual. It was getting humid and will likely be more so tomorrow. On the way home I was confronted by red shirts. I tried to push stereotypes and rumours to the back of my mind but the glazed expression of the women in front of me didn't help. She spoke in a very strong American accent. I experimented and spoke Japanese to her. She didn't understand. A Japanese girl in red shirt did but when I asked she didn't speak English. I politely told the American woman, in English, that I was in a hurry. She blocked me.

"We have a test for you. We use this machine to-"
"You use to to determine my thetan level"
"Well ye-"
"I'll do it...IF you can tell me what quantity you're measuring."
"What quantity?"
"What physical quantity. Those pads are made of metal, is it something to do with conductivity?"
"No, it measures the levels of thet-"
"Yes but how does it do that. What is the process."
"You hold onto these and the readout on the machine shows you-"
"How does the machine determine what the readout will be?"
"You hold on to thes-"

I stared into her eyes and she became silent. I've heard a lot of things and I don't believe all of them. I once met a Scientologist and they served to confirm most of what I'd heard. This woman was doing the same. In her expression I saw nothing, no malice, no hate and no thought. I lack faith in every aspect, I cannot do anything but question things. I don't so much believe anything as much as abide by the fact some things seem more probable so I might as well act as if they are "true". This is why I can't understand fanatics, people who are incapable of question not just a god but the words of men. I asked her to please move. When she didn't I simply walked straight towards her forcing her to dodge to the side. She reached out and grabbed my arm but this didn't hinder my motion. I could see young girls being tested, they laughed and clearly had no idea what it meant. They seemed to think it was a game. A young man was offering them literature for sale.
Once I was clear of them I danced home, ready to cook my food and watch sci-fi while I ate.

Hakone

Yesterday I went to Yoyogi park again. The original plan was to meet Mana so she could take photos and give me copies of what she had already taken. Long story short she e-mailed me to say she was ill so I spent an hour studying and playing with a dog in the park.
Today was a different story. I did a lot today.
I woke up at five, got ready and went to Shinjuku. From here I took the Odakyu line for more than an hour to Odawara. Once there I quickly changed lines and went to Hakone-Yumoto. Here I simply walked onto the nearest train I could see. It was hot, the sun had risen and it was almost ten in the morning already. The train took a zigzag path up the hills. It was mostly occupied by old Japanese tourists but there were a pair of Americans. They were easy to spot. The scenery was beautiful and basically tropical. The train took the better part of an hour going up. Eventually it reached Gora. Here I used my Suica card. The trip was going to be expensive, it cost one and a half thousand just to get that far. I took a strange train that went directly up the mountain in a single straight line. At the top I followed a crowd of elderly tourists to the ropeway ticket machines. I decided to ask rather than simply buying one. In the end I got a "special discount ticket" because it was barely more than a normal return ticket and allowed me to use both the ropeway and some ships indicated on the ticket. I queued up and got on one of the cable cars. In the car across from me I could see some children screaming and waving. It would seem I was the intended recipient as a simple wave of my hand caused them to burst into an excited frenzy. It was eerily silent as it sloped up the mountain side. After the first ridge it went over a quarry like area. I remembered hearing about sulphur works in Hakone and this was clearly it. I could see yellow patches where the sulphur was concentrated and steam drifted from holes around the mountain side. Rather than stop here I decided to keep going via the ropeway. My plan was to head to Motohakone where Shoko had told me I might be able to view Fuji. After the sulphur works was behind me the car began to descend. I could see lake Ashinoko at the end of the ropeway. Next to the final station I could see strange looking boats. These are apparently "pirate ships" which are a well known tourists attraction. They were also the boats my ticket allowed me to ride as much as I liked.
Once again I walked just behind a horde of hunched Japanese tourists all over fifty. I got on the left side boat. It was piratical to say the least. Plastic pirates were situated on several locations around it. Much as I love pirates, I was tipped off about the nature of the ships by a Japanese couple bantering, these were not real pirates. I ignored the tourists and sat in the shade of a large figurine placed on the deck to photo opportunities and watched the lake. School children ran around and stopped to say hello or simply stare. First we stopped off at a peer I wasn't interested in, the same female voice that narrates every form of public transport told me to look at various features of the surrounding mountains. I obeyed but didn't find most of the features she mentioned. Finally we reached my destination. It had taken five hours or so to get there but I was now at Motohakone. I had one question, I was here but where in the world was Fuji. I asked a few people and they gave me variable answers. I managed to actually chat to a bus driver in Japanese, I'm not entirely sure how I managed to do so but somehow my vocabulary extended beyond it's reasonable bounds for a few minutes. Eventually I averaged up my answers and began walking towards a garden I had seen from the boat. At the very least it looked interesting and extended from the land. On the way I saw a sign with a picture of Fuji, the view was similar to one I'd seen earlier but from a few degrees round the lake. This indicated where I was going was the right place to be going. I found a deserted car park which lead to the gardens. As I got further up I realised this was where I should be able to see it. There were school children obviously on a trip running around with their yellow hats. It seemed to be a different group from the one on the boat but they were no less interested in me. A group of tiny girls discussed me before eventually waving and yelling hello at me. I praised their incredible mastery of the English Language and watched them run off to find their teacher. There was a building clearly based on English architecture which looked ideal for viewing from. I went up to its balcony and looked out to see the lake stretching away surrounded by mountains. I could not see Fuji. I asked the man next to me and he confirmed it should be there but the haze and clouds were hiding it. I was felt disappointment well up inside me. I turned to look at the lake view and this emotion was quashed. The bright sun and haze meant photos seemed sparse but my eyes could see for miles over the water.
I looped round and found the viewing platform. I lay there for a while and looked at the gardens and the lake before heading back towards the dock. I noticed that Odawara was only twenty kilometres down the road. I briefly considered walking to it rather than using the ropeway. Realising that the heat of the day would make to an unpleasant walk I decided I would utilise my return ticket. Since the boat wasn't at the dock yet I went to Hakone shrine. This was pleasant enough though nothing far outreaching other shrines I've seen. I got back just in time to catch the boat to the other side and took the cable cars to the sulphur valley. I explored for a while but aside from steaming rocks and signs telling me about injurious gas there wasn't that much to see. I decided against buying one of the famous black eggs as I already have enough longevity.
I took the same route back to Gora. Here I got on a train, it was mostly full so I went to the back and sat down. It wasn't until I was seated that I realised it was completely filled with school girls in traditional sailor outfits. A man next to me was engrossed in his phone. For the next hour I sat and tried to pretend I didn't notice being stared at. I studied a bit to try and distract myself but the silence was filling my head. Eventually they got off and trooped out, each one taking a last critical look at the large exotic animal that had seemingly refused to dance for them. I sat on the train and watched it fill up over the hour it took to get back to Shinjuku. From there I took the yamanote line and walked home. I picked up some half price sushi to eat while I planned Sundays lesson.
The day was long, tiring and expensive but ultimately worth it.

Hakone

Phone post - Hakone

I've taken trains, ropeways and boats to come see Fuji-san.
It's obscured by thin clouds and haze but when everything I can see is as beautiful as this I'm incapable of disappointment.

Tests

Last night there was a typhoon. I slept on and off through the night occasionally waking up and enjoying the sound of rain.
I played my new game for a while. Running around a stylised version of a place you regularly go is interesting. The beginning section of the game revolves around the Hachiko statue, which is somewhere I've used as a meeting place several times.
I made my usual trip to the studio for my lesson. Since it was rescheduled to today it made for a more crowded train ride. I arrived early and decided to study. I was only half way through the first page when I heard my name. Meg had arrived. She motioned for me to come go in. Since I was early Eiji was still working. Mitsuhiro was there too. The lesson began gradually as more and more questions were aimed at me. Eventually I was made to sit in my usual chair by the computer and I began teaching properly. There was an interesting half hour where I tried to explain "More than" and "Less than" which eventually led to other things of the same breed such as "Taller than, Shorter than" for which I used Meg's comparative height to my own.
Mie arrived and helped speed up the process with her more advanced vocabulary. Some fairly complex work was done and during this someone else entered the room. Due to the intense nature of the study he wasn't technically introduced at first. I'd been told about him before, he was one of the workers who had lived in England for almost two years. His English was superb. While he wasn't fluent his understanding was seamless. His name was Keiichiro but I was assured I should call him Kei. He took the role of my assistant for most of the time. The lesson wasn't advanced enough to be anything more than practice for him. I moved on to ways to offer people coffee. While seemingly trivial this is fairly important in the business world, especially when you show people photos and books as a key part of your trade. I showed them natural ways to offer and accept coffee.
Then came the tests. I gave them some questions to answer. I focused on things like "Seven is three less than ten." and how to say different times. I even combined the two had got them to say things like "Half eight is two hours earlier than half ten.". I also tested them on last weeks "a", "an" and "the" differences. I used sentences with blank spaces to fill in. Tatsuya arrived from his other jobs. He was wearing a fairly fancy looking suit but still had his golden smile.
After a while the lesson faded into talking and it seemed Eiji was ready to rest. We slowly got ready to cook food. I went to the shops of Kei and Mitsuhiro. We bought a variety of items while me and Kei talked about England and it's differences from Japan. Half way back we realised we had forgotten the tea so Mitsuhiro went back. Slowly things were cooked and prepared and eventually we gravitated to the table. We ate and drank. I was given sake which was served to me by Meg. The talk was more active since Kei was present and could translate what I couldn't say. I managed to speak a good few minutes of solid Japanese.
Eiji left half way through and didn't return for about an hour. General opinion leant towards the possibility he was seeing his girlfriend. I showed Kei pictures of England and videos from my trip to Kyoto. This went on until we realised I needed to catch a train. Me and Kei walked to the station. He took the same train but departed two stops before I did. We talked and he said he'd come to the lesson on Sunday.
I took the trains home and sat down to play my game.

Lesson on tuesday.

A day out with Mana

Today I met Mana. Today she actually turned up too. I went to Shibuya but was informed I should meet her at Harajuku, a short distance away. I found her and the day began. I have no idea what actually happened or was supposed to happen. We walked around the Harajuku area for several hours. She was topped occasionally to photograph me. We went to shops with strange dresses and lots of things I would have called "kitsch". She asked me about fashion a lot which is a similar process to asking a dog about current trends in the Russian stock-market. I simply jabbed a thumb in an upwards direction at most of the dresses she showed me.
We went to HMV where she wanted to eat some food. She seemed to have some kind of plan but it never really became clear what it was. After that we went back to the park. She photographed me with some of the more interesting items she had bought and spent a lot of time making me stand by flower beds and other such photogenic things.
I walked with her back to her school before taking the subway home. I walked in and found a package. A game I'd ordered which is set in Shibuya.

A picnic

I picked up some beer and Oreos on the way to the station. I arrived only slightly early and found somewhere to stand in the crowds which made me clearly visible. after a few minutes Lensei caught my eye. Since I've only actually met him once before I didn't recognise him immediately. He was with his brother who bore more than a little resemblance. Soon some more people were located. Two more Australians, a middle aged man and his mother as far as I could tell, followed by a smallish Japanese girl and an American girl. We walked through crowds to the park and after some gathering of people found a space ad spread out two blue tarpaulins. I subtly placed my contributions where they would be seen. I was introduced to everyone. Since I'm me I can't recall a single name despite having been introduced to everyone more than once. Lensei said he needed to get some food for the picnic, he went off with most of the other and left me with his brother and the older Australian woman. They were gone for over an hour but conversation was interesting. Australians like sports and hate Americans. I hate Americans too but I also hate the English and every nation. My firm belief is that all peoples are equally capable of annoying me.
Eventually the others came back with food. We sat, ate and talked. At one point Lensei handed me a guitar which I played subtly in the background. Lensei played along on a violin to no great effect but was roundly mocked by all for trying. The other Australian man also had a guitar. I be honest he was far from good. Lensei clearly has certain types of talents. He works professionally as a musician but is angled very clearly towards pop. I don't know how to play pop songs and am essentially incapable of doing so. There were a lot of pop songs being played and sung. I mostly just smiled and pretended to understand while eating food. After a while another American turned up, he was of Filipino decent and very pleasant. At some point Rio appeared next to me with two other friends. She stayed for a few moments before going to see the reggae festival. She came back about half an hour later alone. She talked for a bit but soon left. She's no longer working and seemed a little down. She soon left.
It should be noted that this was a surreal situation. I like Lensei. I do not know Lensei. Aside from the brief appearance of Rio, Lensei was the only person present I had ever met before and I'd only met him once for a brief talk. I know him through Rio and I don't actually know Rio. Rio randomly began talking to me once. Then a few weeks later she seemed to find me randomly and told me to go meet some people she knew. Lensei was one of them. He didn't know her particularly well either.
The whole process went on for a very long time. I mostly enjoyed eating in the sun while gently playing a guitar. Around six the Australians who weren't Lensei and his brother said they had to go to the "Pink cow" a club I've heard of before. The man carrying a guitar was supposed to play there later.
The rest of us sat and ate some more before getting up and moving in the direction of the reggae festival. Once we crossed the bridge over the road we could see it in full swing. It wasn't good but it was amusing. A band on stage played something which was loosely based on reggae. The lyrics were approximately "Bobu Marly, Bobu Marly, One lobu, zion!" repeated in randomised order. We carried on to Shibuya and went into a Mcdonalds. I was now in an alien environment. Lensei bought the cheapest item on the menu allowing us to go upstairs and eat the food we already had with us while drinking beer. I noticed that it connected to a department store, specifically a wig store. I wasn't sure if this was some intentional joke. Selling actual human hair somewhere which literally shared a door with Mcdonalds. Once we were done with our drinks we walked to the Pink Cow. I still had no idea what was going on or where it would end.
Inside the pink cow was reasonably nice. It was essentially somewhere for foreigners, largely australians. We got a free drink and milled around. I mostly talked to the Filipino descended American. He was nice and we were both in a similar situation.
At one point a fairly interesting act got up on stage. Interesting is a better description than good. He played a Biwa, which I am familiar with, but added in beat boxing. This meant his act stood firmly in between great and pretentious.



I was still glad to have seen it.
The Australian I had met earlier played a set. I paid some vague attention but mostly joked with the others. Lensei was becoming increasingly drunk which was amusing. I eventually joined him at the bar with his brother and mediated as they essentially competed to charm a woman. She spent most her time simply ignoring them while telling me about something I failed remember. She seemed a be a fairly unimportant part of the competition. Eventually the guy I'd talked to most said he was planning to leave. I said I'd come with as nothing new was happening. Everyone shook my hand including people I had yet to speak too. I ambled out, picking up my bag and some of the food for the trip back. We separated at the station as I decided to walk home.
I got back to find an e-mail from Mana informing me to be at Shibuya station from twelve to five tomorrow. A lot of my time recently has been spent in the area around Harajuku and Shibuya.

Picnic with Lensei

Spices and vases

I woke up several times in the night with a confused feeling. Eventually I was awake at eight which was close enough so I got up. I got ready and left for Roppongi by the subway. I stood near the large spider and waited. Eventually I got a call from Chieko saying her friends were there but couldn't see me. I looked around but couldn't see anyone who looked like they might be the people in question. The area wasn't very crowded and I should be a fairly effective beacon.
Once Chieko arrived to women seemed to appear next to her. Apparently they had thought I must be some other tall,long haired, bearded gaijin. I was introduced quickly and they talked amongst each other. From what I could understand the now well trodden conclusion was reached. I was considered "cute". When this is said it is not an entirely accurate translation. I'm cute like a child. A massive hairy child with a loping gait.
Now the Italian chef I had been told we would meet arrived. His name was Udagawa. There was more introducing and we began walking. One of the two women was called Atsuko, she spoke excellent English with a pleasant accent. It was one of the breeds of Californian that makes men sound like they need to stop hugging paint but somehow sounds fine on women. She had a complicated life story which involved having lived in a lot of places. She mostly seemed to want to know about my musical tastes. The other woman was called Keiko but was generally referred to as Maria. This was due to a pun about her previous name which was pronounced Ab-ay, thus Ab-ay Maria. Her English wasn't as good but was certainly workable and she encouraged me to practice Japanese. They both asked a lot of questions. After a nice walk through the rich yet quiet suburbs of Roppongi we arrived at a very nice looking set of apartments. We went up the lift, since it could only take a limited number of people me and Udagawa waited down below. We talked in Japanese which mostly revealed just how nerdy I am.
Once we went up we were greeted by an Indian man who smoke smooth English. He invited us in and we were greeted by the teacher, an elderly Indian woman. Her name was Saroje and her Japanese was at about the same level as mine.
We were all seated and talked about what would be cooked while we were introduced. Her granddaughter Aisha wondered around in the adorable and mildly worrying way that children do when not being fully supervised.
I was fairly proud of my ability to name and identify spices. Since Bristol has a lot of Indian food around and I have some Indian friends I started with an advantage. Soon we moved into the kitchen and sampled spices. Then we moved onto cooking. The main procedure was that she cooked things while showing us the ingredients. The menu went like so:

Mixed Vegitarian Pualo
Stuffed pancakes with paneer - A westernised dish using spices and freshly made cottage cheese.
Baked Masala Potatoes

We all crowded round to watch, sample and help out. There was a lot of translating back and forth to make everything clear. After an hour so so the cooking was done, food was served and we ate while talking. As usual I was encouraged to eat constantly and was happy to undergo this labour. After eating we went and cleaned up. Udagawa and Atsuko had to go so I waved them good-bye. We cleaned up for a while more before talking about spices. Then we left. As we walked to some unknown destination I experienced some inexplicable dark Japanese humour. As we walked back in the direction of Roppongi Hills I could see a giant residential building. It was resembled a bee hive in some way. It was tall and got wider as it went up. Considering this was a was a rich area some thoughts flashed into my mind. Mostly regarding the similarities it had to the flawless communist domains of hive insects and the irony this had considering it was a massive symbol of the end results of a world wide capitalist system. I decided these thoughts were stupid and began to impersonate a bee to amuse Maria and Chieko.
We kept walking and ended up sitting in a Tullys cafe. I was handed an ice coffee and shown ways to write my name in Hirigana. The plan was that Atsuko would come back at some point. After a lot of talking about my name and nicknames she arrived. The next hour was spent with me being asked questions and practising Japanese. As is usual when three women who are friends are gathered their speech tended to accelerate exponentially if I didn't offer some slowly constructed Japanese to remind them how little I've learned. Despite this I spent a lot of time trying to track words I knew while they moved from woman to woman faster than things that are usually very fast.
There was a lot of talking about me, discussing my hair, my age, the amount testosterone that in my blood, my hair and other things. I was of course asked about my taste in women. My answer was the same as usual. They should be independently wealthy and be able to fly unaided by modern devices. After a lot of talking I was complimented on my Japanese. Considering the fact I had mostly sat there smiling and saying short sentences like "The coffee is nice" I wasn't sure if this was a joke.
Atsuko said her friend owned a Bonsai shop which she wanted us to see. A quick taxi ride took us past the previously mentioned hive building and too a quiet street with a stylish looking shop. Inside was a minimalist version of a flower shop. Delicate and careful arrangements were set in small metallic and ceramic holders. If this had been in England or America the metallic holders would have been stainless steel, here they were roughly hammered and possibly iron. This meant that they somehow managed to be beautiful ornaments despite being of a similar composition to the kind of things people buy while wearing massive sunglasses. To be concise, they circumnavigated all the rules of design that make things pretentious and irritating, landing them in some kind of higher calm island of "interesting and pleasing" ornament.
I was shown beautiful vases and there was a lot of talking. I was asked my opinion on which metal flower holder should be given to Saroje as a gift. I basically said the medium sized one would work best with the crossover from Indian and Japanese design. For some reason they listened to me. Maria exited swiftly with hasty farewells. Some more talking went on and I was asked my opinion of two vases. I replied I liked them both but one was by far my preferred one as it reminded me of the sea. While I stood around looking at small plants and sculptures the vase I had expressed a preference for was padded wrapped and placed in a bag. Atsuko said it was nice to meet me and handed me the bag it had been placed in. I waved dumbly as she walked away. I turned to Chieko and asked what had just happened. I had been given a gift. A ridiculously beautiful gift at that.



Right now it sits of my desk doing such things as being serene and being shiny.
Me and Chieko left too and began walking towards Ebisu. At some point we overlapped with the area I had explored the Mie and Tatsuya before but going in the opposite directions. We walked around Ebisu for a while with some kind of plan to maybe see Mie half forming. She took me to a famous noodle bar. Here she asked me if I wouldn't mind eating a gigantic bowl of noodles with all the side orders. After realising this was not some kind of trap I agreed I might be able to do so. It was a large and very spicy broth filled with noodles and spring onions. After eating the first set of noodles another load was loaded into my bowl. It seemed Mie wasn't coming but Chieko still wanted to get some coffee and talk. We sat and talked about English and some very complicated questions about tenses were raised. More than an hour passed before we went into the station and took different lines home.
On the way back I found I found an e-mail asking if tomorrow lesson could be moved to Tuesday. Since Lensei has asked me to attend a picnic tomorrow this worked out well.

Indian cooking lesson.

A cancellation and thai food

Today I was supposed to meet Mana. I got up and went to Shibuya. Obviously I was early so I waited. Ten minutes after she was supposed to arrive I got a message. It said she was incredibly sorry and we would need to meet at half two. Some e-mailing later and I was in the park waiting. I took photos out of boredom and sat on top of a statue watching some very active maggots lull about in a pool of water formed in a dip in the statues head. When half two came by and there was no contact I began e-mailing. After half an hour I got an e-mail which took some translating. As far as I could tell she had forgotten some kind of medical appointment and was now terribly upset she couldn't see me. She asked to see me in the evening but obviously I was meeting Chieko. I went back to the park and relaxed while studying. Eventually I took a slow route to the station and went to Tokyo station. Here I amused myself with the fountains until Chieko arrived and we got in a taxi. We talked about things before arriving in Roppongi where we headed to her favourite thai restaurant. The food was great and the view was nice. The food was spicy and I managed to practice a lot of Japanese, both good things. We talked for a long time about language, culture and the plans she had made for Saturday. She presented me with a fan from Takashi. It's made at his shrine and not something that can be bought. It's a beautiful object that I plan to treasure. When we left we happened to leave at the same time as a group of Americans. They crammed in the elevator with us along with their female companions. I often wonder if men like them understand why such women wish to spend time with them.
We went our respective ways. I took the Hibiya line and found I had e-mails to reply to. Lensei wants me to come to a picnic on Sunday and I plan to go for a while before going to the studio to teach. Mana apologised more and asked to see me on Sunday. Since I was now double booked I said Monday would be better.
While today began with disappointment I got good food and company for a decent part of it. The weekend also promises to be packed with entertainment.

Not meeting Mana and dinner with Chieko

Very little

The weather has been notably bad. I enjoy bad weather but this is not the weather to go out in. Yesterday was spent making music. It ended with a satisfactory result. I went out for a walk to listen to my latest track as I always do. On my way back I went via the overpass I'd explored before. I began to dance as most people do when going anywhere swiftly at night. Since there's an obstacle course under the pass it made the dancing all the more interesting. I swung from monkey bars and hoped single legged from stepping stone to stepping stone. As I reached the last obstacle I spun on one leg in preparation to dismount. This was when I noticed I had an audience. The local homeless were all sitting around the edges of the course and they were all looking at me. As I continued to spin slowly on one leg a smiling man stuck his hand out. It quivered in the air for a few seconds before his thumb burst forth. He was giving me a rigourous thumbs up. I smiled and gave him one back before promptly skipping back home.
This morning I woke up early. I looked at my phone to find e-mails. One from Mana said we were meeting tomorrow from one until five. I got up slowly and decided to pursue a plan I had devised. I went to the library.
Ikebukuro has a library, I'd confirmed this by asking Sayuri who said it did but she'd never been. I walked out into the cold rain. It was alarmingly cold considering how hot it had been less than a week ago. The kind of cold that seems to chills you all the way through regardless of the actual temperature. I took a deep breath, looked up into the rain and ran to Ikebukuro. Once I made it to the west exit of the station I realised I had no idea where the library was. I found the art space. A large and impressive building. The police officer in the entrance hall showed me a map which was useless for specifics. I looked at the comparative distance and direction and just walked in a comparatively straight line towards where the library ought to be. I was in some pleasant back streets when I decided to ask. The first man didn't know there was the library, the second one did. He told me it was seventy meters to my left. It was a small building much like an English library. I went upstairs and sat down in front of a sleeping homeless man. For the next five hours I studied. I used my phone to e-mail but mostly I studied.
At half four I decided I should leave. I took a long route home and went to the shop. I bought some on sail items for a few hundred yen which I later cooked.
An e-mail from Chieko told me that we might not be able to eat dinner together tomorrow but she would let me know in the morning. I hadn't known we were planning to do so but I hope we do. Another e-mail told me to meet Mana at Shibuya station.
Hopefully I'll spend tomorrow being lead around by Mana and Chieko. I'm perfectly willing to let people show me nice things and give me food.

Trip to the library

Finally a lesson

Today I had a lesson. After weeks of no lessons I finally had one.
I relaxed through the day before heading off to my the studio. I followed the route I knew by instinct as opposed to station names. I played videogames on the way there, I arrived early and sat on the step studying until Mie came out. I went inside and said hello. The lesson began slowly, first I simple sat there talking about how I'd been and how long it had been since me and Eiji has seen each other. I was given a coffee and encouraged to eat small snacks. Then I showed them photos of my trip to Kyoto and Nara. Eventually I had to explain how and when I use "a" and "the", a difficult lesson I had given Mie when I had been out with Tatsuya and her. it took a while but I managed to get it tied down and typed out to perfection. Then I helped their tenses and showed them the different times to use "a" and "an". I was fairly proud of these lessons and made sure to type them up neatly. Then we discussed Poky and I was given the remainder of the box we had been snacking on. There was some more talk and we set off to drink and eat. The original plan was to go to the same eatery near Shin Maruko we had gone to before. On the way we picked up one of the other assistants I had met while visiting the dark room. There was some discussion as to whether I had met Kureha, a local basketball player said to be exceptionally tall. When we arrived Eiji drove off to park his car and the rest of us carried on. The place was full but Kureha was there. i was ushered in to speak to him and compare heights. We were pretty much exactly the same height. The other assistant stayed to eat with Kureha.
We carried on to a bar more reminiscent of the one I'd visited in Yokohama. We went upstairs and sat down to order drinks and wait for Eiji. the waitress put our shoes in some shoe containers. Mine didn't fit. She asked how big they were and gasped at my answer. Lots of meat was ordered and we gossiped about Eiji's girlfriend. When he arrived we ate more and I was asked questions about English. I used as much Japanese as I could when explaining. A complicated question was one regarding the difference between "hope and wish".
One we had eaten we went to another place. This place was only for drinking. It was on the other side of Shin Maruko station and it was tiny. We got inside and sat down. Drinks were ordered, the other assistant was there with Kureha and some Japanese horror film was playing on a TV that distorted everything to red. We talked and beer was ordered. It was ice cold in an ice cold glass. They talked about how my Japanese had improved and some food was ordered. We ate something equating to squid strips while talking, another of friend of the group entered. She smiled at me but looked confused. She continued to do this was down the bar for another hour. Me and Eiji moved on to Sake. We drank and talked. The agreement is that I will turn up every Sunday at five unless they cancel so our lessons can be regular. Eventually we left, I departed at Shin Maruko station and got on a train. A lady confirmed it was Shibuya bound. Once I'd taken advantage of the free hugs outside Shibuya station and one my my way to Ikebukuro and I checked my phone. Mana had sent me an e-mail clearly straight from her phrase book. It thanked me for a lovely time and asked if we could have a lovely time again soon.

Sunday night lesson

Phone post - Month three

It's now the third month. I've done a lot and the fact that my trip is almost half over is a little intimidating.
Tomorrow I'm teaching but tonight I have no idea what I'll do.

Photography I guess

I spent almost the entire day in bed. Around noon I canibalised my trousers to make a mobile phone holster for my bag strap. This means I can see the light blink when I have a message. Since I lamost never notice it rign or vibrate I've had to check it every minute for weeks now when walking anyway. Thus far it's functioned well. Alarmingly well for something made of torn fabric and hair bands.
At about six I got up to have a shower and generally wake myself up. I was aware I should probably make myself look "nice" since Mana wanted to photograph me. To this end I blow dried my hair and wore my cleanest clothes.
Once it was around nine I began walking to Ikebukuro. I stopped by the shop but found nothing I was in the mood to eat. I carried on and arrived half an hour early. I spent the time listening to music and e-mailing until I got an e-mail from Mana. It was in complex Japanese. Eventually she called, which was just as confusing. She was at the station so I simply repeated "Seibu exit" eventually I saw someone looking confused with a mobile phone near the seibu exit. One we had said hello we began walking back to Gokokuji. This isn't a long walk but I often forget the length of my legs. Just like Sayuri it was clear I was occasionally going too fast. I tried to keep slow. Eventually we stopped at the shop. I was hungry so I gracefully bought a large meal and two packs of cookies. She bought some beer and some cake.
Since she was clearly tired of walking I repeated that the apartment was close. Once we were back at the apartment I welcomed her in as is customary and we went to my room.
After she had rested and drank her beer the photography began. I've been photographed for projects before. It's always weird. This was a new level of weird. She sat and took photos with a variety of cameras for hours. I just went about my usual business. She took maybe a thousand photos of me simple sitting on my bed typing on my laptop. Then I was handed the cake she had bought. She took pictures of me eating it. I yawned and she desperately took photos. It was about one when she had to go meet a friend. I couldn't understand why she hadn't gone back on the subway an hour earlier because she now needed to get a taxi. I walked to the street with her and waved as she got in a taxi. When I came back in Robin was playing GTA.
"What was with her then?" he asked. "Oh she was just... just... I have no idea" I replied. I sat and watched him play while eating my two boxes of cookies. It was a strange strange night.

Art and photos

For the third day in a row I went ti Harajuku. I was supposed to meet Mana at one. When the time came I got an e-mail saying she had overslept. I was surprised it was in reasonable English. Now we were to meet at three. I did some exercises from my book before lying on the grass. While I lay there with eyes half closed I could see a man walking up. He didn't disturb me but sat a short way off rummaging through his bag. My phone began making noises indicating mail had arrived. I sat up and realised I had lots of mail I'd not replied to. As I sat dealing with this the man walked over. He spoke no English but wanted to talk to me. I did pretty well with my Japanese and used my dictionary a lot. He asked who I was and what my hobbies were. When I told him about them he got excited. At one point he was looking at my iPod so I showed him my music. This got him very excited. He listened to a few tracks while dancing with his poi balls. When I showed him one of the full albums he listened to the entire thing, just shy of an hour long. After he was done dancing he continued to listen and pulled out some paper. He asked how to spell my name. I handed him my phone with my details on screen. He wrote in big pink letters "jamie". He then proceeded to turn this into artwork, stopping every few moments to concentrate on the music for inspiration. While he was doing this some photography students wondering round the park wanted to take our picture. Eventually he was done and we exchanged details. His name is Hide. He wanted to know what I was going to do for the rest of the day and if I could go drinking with him and a friend. I told him I had to meet Mana in what was now just a few minutes. He seemed adamant I should sell my music or at least play it in large venues. We asked once more if I could come with him but I told him I was already booked for the day.
I went to wait for Mana and found an e-mail waiting for me on my phone. Attached to it was a photo clearly taken on the subway. It was of a small sketch which represented the fountains remarkably well and a stick figure labelled "You". I went to the exact place indicated and waited. Soon she arrived carrying two very large bags and a variety of cameras. At least six cameras overall. She took photos before she even reached me and as we walked around looking for somewhere to sit she took more photos. Once we settled by the fountains she began to study a book she had apparently bought after meeting me the day before. It was a phrase book, how it was indexed I have no idea. She had book marked some useful phrases and constantly looked up more. First she wanted to know if I was angry because she was late which I told her I wasn't. For about an hour she simply pointed at phrases and I would answer as best I could in Japanese. Common phrases were "I'm so excited", "Do you come here often?" and "Do you want to eat something?". I declined food since she wasn't hungry. This lasted until near five. Then she showed me some pictures of an art gallery in Harajuku and asked if I wanted to go. Obviously I did so we set off in the direction of Shibuya.
It was through some back streets but it was certainly worth the trip. The outside was adorned with scaffolding and completely covered in graffiti art. While I stood at looked this with a stupid look on my face Mana disappeared and returned with two cans of cold coke. Entrance was free and it was basically a set of apartments made into a gallery. Each room was a different artist and each one was interesting. They were all modern graffiti style. We went upstairs, the stairs were impressive in themselves, and found a room with childlike drawings. Two Americans were buying a painting. In the next room was a collection of skateboards and hats along with wall painting a vibrant graffiti slash style done over newspapers. The artist sat in the corner of the room was talked to us for a while. In almost every room Mana took photographs of me and several on the stairs. When I saw these photographs I had to admit they were very well done but still couldn't see why I was a vital part. I looked just as unphotogenic as ever.
Now it was nearly six and thus time for her to go to school, sort of. We walked in the vague direction of her school but stopped off to buy some fabric. She then began looking at cafes. The book was produced and she found the phrase "It's my treat!". I protested but each time the sentence was pointed at more and more vigourously. We went up and into a stylish cafe. Chieko takes me to classy places, this was classy but in a different sense. Rather than being traditional it was modern. Modern in the sense that I was in the right age group to go there and it played tasteful modern jazz and hip-hop. It was very nice. We were seated and menus were distributed. Aware that she was a student I carefully ordered water and the cheapest item on the menu. Luckily the cheapest item was teriyaki chicken. She ordered spaghetti with some kind of prosciutto and something else. Mine arrived first but I waited, to her amusement, for hers to arrive before eating. She tried to hand me a fork but I snatched up some chop sticks. I wasn't entirely sure how I would go about eating the meal using the fork. There was more talking using the book and my dictionary. She showed me sketches in her design book which were all very artistic. Some sushi she had subtly ordered arrived and I was practically ordered to eat it. It was delicious as was my chicken. She complemented my use of chopsticks as everyone seems to. By the end of the meal and more talking it was around half seven. I questioned if she needed to be at school but she simply replied it was fine.
We left and walked a hundred or so meters to her school. Over the day we had talked about another "photo shoot". The timing is a little odd but odd speaks to me. I'll be meeting her at Ikebukuro station at ten at night. We said good-bye and for the third time in as many days I decided to walk home. On the way Chieko e-mailed me. She wants me to go for Thai food with her next week and next Saturday it seems I'll probably be attending an Indian cooking class with her. Recently I've been getting a lot of good food.

Meeting Hide and Mana

More of the same

Today was very similar to yesterday which makes it a good.
Golden week is over so I went back to Harajuku for some proper study. This time I got to sit on my hill and relax while doing exercises from my book. It was nice and after about two hours I took a break and walked through the park. I stood under a tree and thought about all the things I had done. Not far off a lollita model was having her photo taken by her friend but aside from that it was quiet. Eventually a raven landed on my shoe. The instant I moved it flew up into the tree. I decided I chase it. I followed it quickly from branch to branch. Eventually I noticed someone walking over. It was a young woman holding a camera. A different one from yesterday of course. She indicated she wanted to take some pictures of me. I said she could and continued to watch the bird. After at least a dozen photos I swung down to find out more. She spoke almost no English which meant my dictionary came in handy. Her name is Mana and she's a photography student. I handed her my phone as I've learned to do and she transferred details using the IR function. She then e-mailed me her number and a picture so I would "never forget her". She began walking away and motioned for me to follow. I did and was taken to meet her friend who went to the same school. He was in his forties and thus more than three decades older than her since she was only twenty one. There was something talking with the use of my dictionary. They took more photos of me. Almost anything I did was photographed. When I saw an interesting tree and climbed it they must have taken more than a hundred put together. Her friend then took pictures of me and her together in poses more akin to a nineties album cover. Leaning against the tree, looking in opposite direction an so on. Mana asked me if she could photograph me again tomorrow. I agreed and currently the plan is that I'll go back to the same place at one tomorrow. Once it was time for them to go back to school I walked with them. Once we'd separated I walked back home the same as yesterday.

We should have never left the trees.

Today I decided to go Harajuku to practice my Japanese. The book I bought with Mie and Tatsuya has been working out well so I figured I'd sit in the sun and work on it. I forgot it's Golden week. I went to the park to find crowds. My usual quiet hill was not quiet. I walked around avoiding tourists and trying to find something interesting. After a while of this I climbed a tree. People who know will me will know of my love for monkeys and other apes. Climbing trees is fun and the only thing I seem to be naturally good at. I didn't climb this tree just for fun however. I watched some young men trying to climb it to get their ball back. I smiled as I walked up to them. They spoke in Japanese but I got the gist, they were laughing and seemed nice so I decided to help. I launched myself into the tree. It wasn't a challenge as I could easily grip the lower branch with my gangly arms. I hoisted myself up and swung through the tree to the sound of their cheers and hoots. I found the ball and threw it down. They cheered and commented while each one lined up for a high five. I said good-bye and walked away. Soon I found another tree that looked good. I swung up to the highest part and sat down. I was half asleep when I saw a flash. Someone was taking photos. A young woman held a Sony camera and was grinning as she took pictures. She smiled and sat down at the bottom of the tree. I sat in the branches. She spoke very little English so I practised Japanese. She was from Osaka and in Tokyo to see her boyfriend. She listened to my music and asked me questions. At one point she showed me that she could use Poi. I sat in the tree and relaxed. I asked her when I should visit Osaka and what I should see. She told me I should see her and she could be my guide. I gave her my phone and she copied down details before e-mailing them to me. I took a nap in the tree for a little longer before she had to go.
I noticed some people yelling at a tree. Up the tree was a cat. They were trying to climb it. I walked up and they all pointed at the cat. To the standard yells of amazement I quickly got to the cat and tried to coax it down. Cats are harder to get out trees than balls. It moved further up each time I got near. I took a different approach and pried its claws from the tree. Then I placed it on my shoulders allowing it to promptly crawl off onto anther branch. This time after pulling it loose I placed it in the crook of my neck like a large fur-bound phone. I climbed down and passed it to its owner. I was rewarded with more high fives and one of the boys yelled constantly that I was a hero. I walked away to cheers and clapping.
I found a man playing a Koto. I watched for a while before moving on to the two men with guitars and a drum. They handed me a CD which is still sitting in my bag. They spoke no English at all but in a few minutes I was holding a guitar. I hadn't brought my own but they seemed to think I should hold onto one of theirs. We played famous songs. I took the lead for a fifteen minute improvised funk song. A man began photographing us. There was some discussion and I heard them reach the consensus that I look like Kurt Cobain, the same conclusion Jackie had reached.
The police came round and informed us it was six and thus time to stop. After some interesting good-byes I walked to the exit. On the way Hideo Asano confronted me. He was drunk and didn't remember me. I gave him a hundred yen and walked back to Ikebukuro. It took a couple of hours but it was a nice evening.

Free comic book day

Last night was spent organising photos and arranging things until it was no longer night time. When I woke up it was approaching noon. A quick talk with my brother in America reminded me that it was free comic book day. I assumed it wasn't really happening over here. I was almost correct, there was a shop in Harajuku taking part named Blister. It only had three thousand comics in stock. Since it was so late in the day I frantically searched for its location. I got a rough fix and stumbled out of the door unwashed and half asleep. A few stops later I was wondering round the streets. It took a while to find but in the end I did. I shouldn't have worried about them running out. A few people milled around the shop but they had plenty of the free editions left. I picked up my goody bag with the four special comics in. I wanted to take a picture so I simply told the guy at the stall I was a journalist. I looked around the shop. It was a familiar kind of place. Not for the hardcore. It had some popular labels and some nice collectables but nothing deep. There were no cardboard boxes filled with dust and classics. I read some new editions in the corner and watched the new Indiana Jones trailer before leaving. I went back via the subway lines. It was a humid day so I sat in my cool room and read my comics.
Later in the evening Robin came back followed by Fredrico. Since Robin had recently bought GTA IV we sat and played. It was a nice experience. Joahanne came home fairly drunk and intent of avoiding a hangover. I talked to him for a bit while I cooked some rice.
Any day with comics is a good one. Free ones sweeten the deal.

Last day in Kyoto.

I woke up, packed my laptop, got dressed and had a shower. The shower was ice cold. The family hadn’t turned the heater on yet. Since I was still almost asleep I decided this was a good thing. One I was done I double checked my bags and sat down in the middle of “my” room. Shoko came in and asked if I wanted breakfast. I did. We ate together, Danish pastries, Bananas, yoghurt, some bread and her company. It was a damn fine meal. It was now half eight. She talked to her aunt; she had one more place to take me. I got my bags and said goodbye. Her grandmother began talking to fast Japanese to me. I struggled to understand any of it through her heavy Kyoto accent. The ladies said goodbye, her brother and father had already gone. I waved goodbye and thanked them for everything they had done.
We walked to the tram station behind the Kurumazaki shrine. We got on and went two stations to a temple. We walked around it before going in to the exhibition hall. It contained wooden statues. No photography was allowed but the figures were memorable. One of them was the first registered national treasure, a wooden statue of the Bodhisattva Maitreya. There were also two large statues of Buddha, one with six arms and another with at least forty.
We left and began walking to the nearest JR station. On the way we found a dog. Since she loves dogs we stopped to pet it. It instantly tried to lick her face and continued to try no matter what she did. I was far too tall for it to get close enough.
We got on a train after a short wait and went straight to Kyoto station. On the way we played our favourite game of comparing hand and foot size. The results are always the same but always amusing. We arrived with well over an hour before my bus was to arrive. Since she wanted coffee we went to Starbucks. My second visit so far this lifetime, both in Japan. I selected the largest picture on the menu because it was the only thing I knew came in a cup. I got a large Coffee Jelly. We paid and sat down. My drink was a large amount of cream on top of coffee sludge and coffee jelly. It was nice.
While we ate she constantly seemed to somehow get the chocolate sauce from her drink on her hands.
Since we still had time I decided we should go to Bic Camera. I searched for a cheap copy of Mariokart DS but couldn’t find one so we went for the massage chairs. Most of our last hour together was spent sitting quietly watching our feat being palpitated by machines. Then, finally, we went to the front of the station. My bus pulled up as we arrived and I loaded my things on. I took a few pictures of her before getting on and turned to see her walking a few steps before turning back. Then she was gone. I sat down and prepared for a long journey.
The trip wasn’t particularly eventful. I spent a lot of time answering e-mails until my phone ran out of battery, I played Sound Voyager and listened to music. At one point I saw Mount Fuji way off in the gloom. It was dark and the weather was bad but it was Fuji.
E-mail from Shoko revealed she had begun crying soon after I left. I was shocked; I’d had no idea for had such strong feelings. I’d assumed she would be glad to have her life back to normal. Finally to got to Tokyo station, took the subway home and sat on my bed. It was a brilliant trip. The fact that the Ota family took me in and treated me with such kindness helped me remember how great life is.
If I get the chance I’ll go back. It will likely be years before I see Shoko again but we both agreed it will happen. I don’t know when but I hope it’s soon.

Last day in Kyoto

Nara and a thousand shrine gates

I woke up just before seven to allow myself a ten-minute period to breath. Then I got dressed, cleaned my teeth and prepared for the day. At about quarter past Shoko came in. We went to the old house and ate breakfast while talking about the trip. At around eight we walked over to the other side of the house and got in her fathers car. It was big and roomy. He drove us a short distance to the train station and we parted ways with him. We took the rapid to Kyoto station where we switched lines. I topped up my Suica card and we got tickets to Nara. The train journey was around an hour and we had to switch trains but I played Shoko music from my iPod to gage her preferences. Once we arrived the weather was nice. There was a layer of cloud to prevent me getting burned but it was still bright and warm. We walked out of the station and about a hundred meters before we saw some deer. Plenty of deer just milling around the park, by the road, in the road and everywhere else. We took photos and petted them before I bought some food for them. Feeding deer is not as cool as feeding monkeys but that’s only when viewed relatively.



After we’d fed them we crossed the road ad began walking along. We were going to see Daibutsu, the big Buddha. Along the way we saw a lot more deer and hundreds of school children. All the way to the temple there were deer and children. Many of the children were feeding the deer or trying to pet them. The deer weren’t afraid or even bothered. They simply wonder around lazily looking for food. Soon we were at the temple. We paid and walked up to the grand structure. The Buddha was big. I’ve seen bigger things but they were not Buddha shaped. It was huge. Taking photos in the gloom proved difficult and even using Shoko’s head as a tripod made little difference. There were gigantic gold statues, gigantic wood statues and other things that were at the very least half gigantic. There were also miniscule children. They looked at me with awe and fear in varying proportions. While I stood looking at the Buddha one boy tried to hold my hand for some reason. I gave him a small handshake and smiled. His eyes widened, he smiled manically before turning and running off to tell his teacher. Once we were out we went to the park next to the temple to pet the deer. They seemed convinced Shoko had food in her pockets so rather than helping her avert their attentions I simply watched and laughed. One we’d had some fun here we went to find a place to sit down. This eventually led to us petting more deer and heading towards the JR station. After a lot of deer petting and some giant Buddha we had exhausted Nara. While we walked to the JR I noticed Sega World. We went in and Shoko insisted we play Mariokart the arcade version. It was damn good. While I still prefer the console iterations it was strange to play it with a full size wheel and set of pedals.
After that we walked to the JR station. We were going back to Kyoto to see fairly famous temple. The train was nice and we only made one change to get there. She told me she goes there every year for new years. It had fox statues. We said a prayer and kept going to the back. I knew about this place. It has thousands of shrine gates forming paths. First there are full size ones and then two paths of tightly packed mini gates. Shoko and I got separated wondering about in them. Since we could easily e-mail each other I didn’t worry and kept exploring. I found a bamboo path that led to nowhere and a host of other sites all around the hundreds of shrine gates that lead through the woods like tentacles. We tried to locate each other but it wasn’t easy. After full half hour or more we ended up at the start, both tired. We got another train back to Kyoto station. Here we looked in a bookstore so Shoko could buy her aunt a birthday present. We also looked at Manga, I knew a large proportion of their stock. Then we got on the rapid back to Sag Arashiyama. Shoko briefly talked to someone she hadn’t seen in five years and we collected her bike from the station lock up while comparing vending machine drinks. I had Mango milk and she had Banana milk. We took a long and confusing route to her house. Half way back she decided I should ride her bike. Since I hadn’t so much as tried to ride a bike in about a decade I was not optimistic. I’ve never trusted the phrase “Just like riding a bicycle”. I was aware that Chieko expects me to ride her bike upon my return to Tokyo and perhaps I would be better to fail now rather than then. The bike was slightly too small for me. My knees constantly hit the handlebars making it hard to get going. Within a few moments I was riding a bike. The phrase is true to within satisfactory limits. We ended up back at her house with her a lot more tired than me. Later I played guitar for her. The new strings didn’t stay in tune to well and gave it a far too metallic sound but she seemed happy with it. Then it was time to prepare for food. Her mother had bought Sushi. She had bought a lot of Sushi. Since her aunt and brother were going to come back later the four of us sat at the table. They had made sure to get plenty of octopus after hearing how much I like it. It was another meal I won’t forget. Her father spent some time with the dictionary and talking to Shoko. She turned to me and informed me he wished to drink me under the table. We talked about a lot of things. Her mother wanted to know about geography so we talked about major British cities. Then came the alcohol talk. I drank a large glass of Sake. It was less powerful than the previous nights brand but made up for it with a greater depth of flavour. Then there was some Orange flavoured fizzy alcoholic drink of which Shoko and I had a glass each, followed by some “London” shot glasses of cold Sake with her father and a few glasses of Kirin beer. All the time he asked me which I thought was best and why. Shoko said she had had enough after a glass of the orange mixture, the shot glasses were ones Shoko had bought on her recent trip to London and were marked with subway style signs. I discussed the beer, talking about how Kirin is much sharper than Asahi. I suggested it would go well with a curry. We kept eating for a long time and her father and me kept drinking. He asked me about British beers of which I know very little. I explained that most of the stuff we drink comes from abroad and talked about European beers.
After dinner her brother arrived home. I was asked to play guitar. They watched and clapped with Shoko explaining which songs were my own and which were simply recitals. I played for about half an hour before having a discussion about the Beatles. We discussed Yoko Ono and I was amused by their opinion that she was a “bad girl”. Finally we took photographs. The photograph I have shows them all looking highly photogenic with me somehow managing to look like I’m subject to whole different spectrum of horrific light.
Then I was handed a banana ice cream in the shape of a banana, which I ate while talking. Finally Shoko and I went to watch a film. I had Shaun of the Dead with Japanese subtitles. She seemed to enjoy it but she was obviously tired after such a long day. Afterwards she went to shower and I packed my things. She came back and we planned. Tomorrow we’ll get up at seven giving me plenty of time to get to the station to catch my bus at around midday. Since I’ve had no Internet connection here it’s going to be a busy night when I get back followed by a long restful sleep.

Nara and Torii

Monkey magic

I’ve done a lot today. It’s been one of the best so far.
My phone alarm woke me up from dreams of coloured light. It woke me up instantly and abruptly. I got dressed and packed my bag for exploring. I knocked gently on the office door just down the hall and waited about a second and a half before Shoko’s mother opened it with a massive smile. She spoke in fast Japanese with a heavy Kyoto accent but I understood the gist. I replied that I didn’t need to shower. In Japan most people shower at night rather than in the morning, this is not something I’m used to. In England I need a shower before I can do anything. Maybe once every few weeks I’ll spend a Saturday in bed revelling in my unclean state before showering to go out. She took me to the other house and asked more questions. Breakfast was lad out for me. I don’t generally eat Breakfast but I was happy to make an exception. There were some Bananas, a yoghurt, Croissant, a Danish pastry and a coffee cup. First we made the coffee. It was instant but since I only drink coffee for the caffeine content this was more than adequate. I ate two Bananas and the yoghurt, which was pineapple, flavoured. Since I mentioned off hand last night that I love pineapples I’ve noticed them as a recurring theme. The Danish was the subject of some discussion as Shoko’s mother and brother discussed what type it was and what the English was. I guessed it was a pear and a single bite confirmed this. After eating and watching some TV with her brother I got ready to go out. I had a small map provided by Shoko’s father and annotated by Shoko. I stopped by the office to mention I was off and, after a confusing conversation, stepped out.
I headed to the riverside and began walking away from the town so I could see how the countryside varied. A few hundred meters down the road I heard a yell behind me and turned round to see Shoko’s brother on a bicycle. He was on his way to college and tried to tell me I was going to the wrong way to see the temples. I thanked him and turned back. Before looking for the temples I crossed the Togetsu Kyu Bridge. The other side was nice and a little quieter. I walked around before walking a fair way down a path that paralleled my previous route on the other side. Around then I decided I should find the Kurumazaki shrine. I went back to the other side of the river and walked roughly n its directions. Soon I got an e-mail from Shoko clarifying what her mother had said. She seemed to think I had got up too early and should have slept longer. I asked Shoko to tell her I was fine and wanted to spend as long as I could seeing the area. As I walked a smiling old man flagged me down. His English was good but I tried to speak Japanese. He asked where I was going and gave concise directions. Some walking through back streets rewarded me with the familiar shape of shrine gates. I went down the path and into the cool shade. The day was already getting hot and the sun was glaring even brighter than yesterday. It was calm and cool all through the shrine. I found a particularly interesting section, which had hundreds of pictures. They were almost all clipped from Magazines and stuck to the building. It was later explained that this was a famous shrine for actors, actresses and performers. They came here and prayed for more fame. I’m not sure it’s the most altruistic of things to base a shrine on but at least it shows enthusiasm for your career. I walked to the back part and saw a tram go by before moving back to the street.
Now I wanted to see more of the mountains. I walked along the river past the bridge and found a path. A short way up a sign said “viewing platform” with an arrow. This sounded ideal. The viewing platform was actually a reasonable distance up a slope verging on steep and the day was hot. It was worth the sweat expended for the view. I could see the valley on the other side surrounded by trees going down to the clear water. I was alone in a beautiful place. Naturally I took a photo with my phone and e-mailed it to several people including Eiji. He later e-mailed me asking where in Kyoto I was. I was proud to answer “Saruyama”. I walked further and found other breaks in the trees which offered blissful views of the valley. Eventually I found a “path” leading down into the trees. It started with stone steps that rapidly became stones followed by stones under leaves and so on until it became the river. It was steep and hlf way down I decided to chase a small snake along a near vertical dirt slope. This was probably not the best idea considering how hot and humid it was. When I finally got down to the riverbank I took some photos before hopping from rock to rock, taking of my shoes and socks and dipping my feet in the ice cold water. On the other side some old men watched me cautiously. After a few minutes of soaking my feet I hopped back to the mainland. I saw what looked like another path but actually just led up to the tram tracks. I climbed on top of the tram tunnel and admired the view before going back up and ascending via the same path I had used to come down. By now it was getting close to midday and Shoko would be back from Osaka at about two. I looked for the Tenryu-ji temple. Once I’d found something that looked like it I decided not to go in. It required a ticket and didn’t look all that interesting. Instead I went to the bamboo path. This was more than a little beautiful. It was up the same path I had used to find the viewing platform. I went along taking pictures before finally exiting neat the Tenryu-ji entrance. Since Shoko would be back soon I walked through backstreets to the station and sat down to wait. Soon she arrived and handed me some orange juice. We sat and discussed the weather and the plans for the day. She “arranged” my hair for some reason unknown to me. Something to do with the heat I surmised. A girl wishing to do things with my hair is not so abnormal so I let her and we walked back the way I’d come. Now she revealed where we were going to Saruyama, the monkey park. My ability to act like an adult is limited at best, once the magic word “monkey” comes into play it vanishes completely. Across the bridge we went up a small path into the forest, paid a small fee and began walking up the mountain. The walk seemed a lot harder on Shoko than me. My long legs carried me easily up several stairs at a time with enough energy left ask childish questions about the monkeys. Once we got the first set of benches we sat down and I saw the first monkey. It was lying lazily by the path. I soon saw others walking around further into the trees. I took photos and even filmed a small altercation between the monkeys. We began walking again before stopping to look at a children’s multiple choice quiz. While she read the questions and possible answers to me a man stopped and watched. He asked in an odd accent if I could share the conversation. I explained. He walked with us most of the rest of the way. His accent was odd; it was clearly part French but sounded like he might have lived in Germany. He hadn’t but he’d lived in most other places. He was here on a business trip and was considering moving to Tokyo permanently. Soon we were at the top and there were monkeys. If I were to say there was a fuck-ton of monkeys I wouldn’t be exaggerating. Most of them say lazily around on the floor with little care for the small crowd. A man stood in the middle with a microphone talking in Japanese. He was explaining which monkey was the leader, why particular monkeys were at and all the other great mysteries of life. The monkey I chose to refer to as “Boss Monkey” was twenty-five and looked his age. I took photos while he said things to the monkeys who responded with high-pitched yells. At one point he demonstrated why you should stare at the monkeys. He did this by getting someone to stare at a monkey, which promptly attacked them. There was also an incredible view of Kyoto in the background. Then he said he could get the monkeys to run through people’s legs. Me, Shoko and several others lined up with legs open. He talked for a bit before throwing food on the floor in front of us. The word “surge” probably best describes the motion that followed. Several monkeys began a fight in front of me and one ran head first into Shoko’s leg. They continued to fight over food for several minutes.



This was just one of the many things that would never happen in England. The chance of getting to walk around in the same area as one of these monkeys would be low let alone the keeper actively encouraging the monkeys to attack a tourist. After the feeding was done many of the watchers started down the mountain leaving a more monkey centric mountaintop. I was glad that the ratio of monkeys to people had been improved. Shoko turned to me and said, “we can feed the monkeys”. Childhood fantasies do come true; you just have to have faith and a friend in Kyoto. We went inside and bought a small bag of apple pieces. The windows were covered with a chain link fence that monkeys hung off. I fed the monkeys, Shoko fed the monkeys, we all fed the monkeys. I tried several methods such as handing it to the monkey, letting the money take it from my open hand and presenting the monkey with a piece in either hand to test its dexterity. It passed and managed to take a piece in each hand without falling off the chain link fence.
We went outside and looked at the view…with monkeys.



The keeper came out and said he could take out picture with a monkey. He goaded one over with some banana before deciding it wasn’t a good enough monkey for us. Then he elected another one. This seemed to meet his standards and it was place in front of us. I now have a picture of me with a minute girl and a monkey by my side. We went down the slope on the other side to find a monkey/child playground. It had a slide for the monkeys. The young monkeys ran around fighting and playing with the swings. We sat on the swings and talked before I found some small monkeys to look at. I held the rope swing and one grabbed the bottom of the rope. It then ran back and forth with it before trying to bite my leg. It couldn’t do much to my jeans so I ignored it. We spent a lot more time looking at monkeys. I found that they can tell when you’re staring at them through a camera. This meant I got some good pictures of angry looking monkeys. Eventually we went back down the mountain. It was incredibly hot so I went directly back to the house for some water. The plan for Nara was detailed. We’re going tomorrow morning via train. I showed Shoko an episode of Black Books. She liked it but not as much as Sayuri had. We moved to the old house and talked until it was time for food. This was much the same situation as the previous night but this time with some kind of Chicken. It was fried with sesame and it was delicious. I was given a large glass of Sake. The way light passed through it made it clear this was not water or even close. I was asked to pass judgement and set it behind the “Emo” of yesterday and on a par with the other brand. We all ate and more plans were discussed. The highlight of the evening was when Shoko and me set up the SNES and played original Mariokart. First she played the DS version on my DS. Then we played Grand prix on the SNES. She beat me consistently coming first to my second. I decided to put this down to the fact I haven’t played in more than a decade but to be honest she was pretty good. Then we played the balloon battle mode. I lost more than I won but found my stride and was catching up near the end. After more planning and talking I went to my room while Shoko had a shower. Then I had one before we talked for a while and organised photos. She went to bed and I began writing. Tomorrow it’s an early start. Tomorrow it’s Nara.

Monkeys and exploring.