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4:00 am, Tokyo
At 4:00 am, Tokyo is very quiet. The hum of my computers drowns out the distant sounds of sparse traffic. Birds are asleep; school children are asleep. The construction sites all around me are still. The sun is waiting in the wings for his cue to come onstage. The sky is inky; streetlights dot the…
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Ah, home
Ah, home. The familiar sounds and smells of Tokyo welcomed me back home this evening. The musical train announcements, the sound of bicycles swerving to avoid pedestrians, the scents of oden and ramen wafting over the smell of car exhaust. It’s good to be home.
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Bank tranfer
On the Narita Express, 60 seconds from the airport station, Tod’s cell phone rings. It’s Susan Tani calling to give us the billing information for Sunday’s move. “Can you pay promptly?” she asks. We want to pay, but we’re on our way out of Japan for two weeks. What can we do? On the way…
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Trash collection
Finding the trash collection point in our new neighborhood was an adventure. Shimizu-san, a neighbor, paid a call on me yesterday afternoon to welcome me to the neighborhood. Or maybe she was a spy for her friend, Matsuino-san, who used to live here. But I put her to the test when I asked if she…
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Registration
In Tokyo, everyone is registered with the city office. Now that we’ve moved, we have to visit the Bunkyo-ku office and let them know our new address. It’s fun to watch the clerks pull out the very thick, detailed city maps and note the change for our house. Our “green cards” will also be amended…
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Workday Sounds
Our new neighborhood is a symphony of workday sounds. Along the street there are two construction sites, one at the front of the house and one across from my office window. I think the workmen may be trying for a gold medal in Syncopated Hammering. Opposite the front door is a small printing company. The…
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Today is census day.
Today is census day. For Japan’s first census (1920), bells and sirens sounded at midnight on the appointed day. Where ever you where then, that’s what you were to put on your census form. Apparently a lot of nighclubs and brothels closed early that day! Today, we only have to mark our home address as…
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Nutrition guidelines
Nutrition guidelines vary from country to country. Japan recommends that you eat 30 different foods a day. It doesn’t matter what–they figure if you get 30 different things into you, you’re probably eating well. What a challenge! Yesterday I managed 20 different things. I would have fared worse if I had not selected the mix…
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Crisp fall day
Yesterday’s crisp fall day inspired us to have lunch in the Imperial Palace north garden. It is an oasis of nature in the middle of the business district. As we sat on a bench eating our lunch, we could see Tod’s office building, but the wind through the trees scrubbed the air clean of city…
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Dragonfly
A glint of light caught my eye. A red-bodied dragonfly angled its wings to soak in the warmth of the morning. The gossamer wings reflected the light of the sun. I moved closer to look at him. As I approached, he raised his long, crimson body and turned his head toward me to assess the…
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