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I don't want to sound over-dramatic but I recently had a strange experience, a sort of Earth-bound 'Close Encounter of the Third Kind'. Imagine if you saw a unicorn -- surprising enough, right? Well suppose you saw that unicorn working, how about that! Well, I saw something equally rare. What I saw was one of Japan's mythical Traffic Police, resplendent in his chocolate soldier light blue uniform and bootees, as large as life on a Tokyo street. Amazing! However, this one was actually giving a driver a ticket -- unbelievable! I had heard fables about the Traffic Police but to see one who was actually working. OK, the driver he was ticketing was a motorcyclist, not a car driver, but it's a good start. All we need now is a few thousand more like him, working on a regular basis on things like ignoring traffic lights and illegal parking, and Tokyo might get to be a bit more liveable for we lowly pedestrians! But before I start wishing for the Moon, let's get on with this month's review of other weird and wonderful happenings over here . . .

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One foreign visitor who has been in the news on both sides of the Pacific a lot recently is, of course, former US Army Sergeant Charles Jenkins, the well-known deserter/abductee, depending on your point of view. Well, this old man is a potentially fascinating insight into life in North Korea, and he recently summed up his almost 40 years there in what must be a truly classic understatement: Life in North Korea is no fun. Talk about shocking -- I was so disillusioned! Mr Jenkins recently gave an interview to the Far Eastern Economic Review, in which he gave some details of his life in North Korea. He said that for his first 7 years there, the North Koreans worked hard to play him and 3 other alleged US Army defectors off against each other. If ever he stepped out of line, they would have him beaten by 'Private 1st Class' James Dresnok, a man standing 196 centimetres tall and weighing 128 kgs. "Dresnok really enjoyed it. He likes to beat someone. And because I was a sergeant he took it out on me." Later, he is alleged to have become very loyal to the Pyongyang regime, but he explains this behaviour by claiming that he had to fake fealty to the regime to avoid death and keep his family together. He also claimed that he planned to hand himself over to the US Army when he came to Japan on July 18, but his poor health required immediate treatment. One thing that might have upset some folk was that after handing himself over at Camp Zama, Jenkins was outfitted in an Army Class B uniform and given an advance payment of $3,200. At present, he is staying in temporary accommodation in the camp in Kanawaga Prefecture together with his wife and their two daughters. Once registration procedures are completed, he is due to start work in the camp's administrative support unit. He is not under arrest and can move freely within the Camp so long as he is accompanied by aides appointed by the US Army. However, not surprisingly, he cannot leave the camp without the commander's permission. Before coming to Tokyo, he had gone to Jakarta where he and his 2 North Korea-born daughters were reunited with his Japanese wife, who was allowed to return home with other Japanese abductees in 2002. Jenkins met his wife when she was a nurse and they married in North Korea in 1980, two years after she was abducted. Jenkins is thought to be seeking a deal whereby he will be punished with nothing more than a dishonourable discharge. Personally, I'm inclined to hope that the Army will be reasonable. After all, nearly 40 years in North Korea is surely more than enough punishment!

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Now I'm not saying that the Japanese are getting paranoid, although some might say such a feeling is justified, but take a look at a recent headline in the Nikkan Gendai newspaper: "Can it be, that someone actually likes Japan!?" Well what with Japanese politicians going out of their way to upset the neighbours, Japanese tourists closing down airports due to carelessness, and Japanese journalists trying to bring home unexploded bombs as souvenirs from Iraq, there probably are more popular nations, but the significant part of this story was that it dealt with China, and how despite government efforts to give Japan a horn and a tail, the locals seem to like this place. What brings this to the fore is China's first F1 Grand Prix, due to be held in Shanghai on September 24. Many Japanese are crazy about F1 and so that city can expect a flood of Japanese visitors. Local newspapers are trying to make these visitors feel welcome by filling their pages with stories of how the Japanese military once operated 120 'comfort stations' (i.e. brothels) in Shanghai alone. However, Shanghai has always been a bit of a rebel, being more to the left or right than the rest of the country, and Shanghai's young people are ignoring the propaganda. Local young people are remarkably keen on Japanese products and you can see lots of people wearing Uniqlo or Isetan brand goods. Similarly, Japanese restaurant and coffee chains can be found all over the city. Long queues can be seen outside restaurants serving Japanese-style ramen noodles. However, older folk seem more easily swayed by the government's rhetoric. Normally, Japan issues entry visas to individual Chinese tourists from 8 major regions, including Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. However, tours to Japan are not selling well, and according to one local source, the cost of a Japanese trip has fallen from 20,000 yuan (App. US$2,413) to between 5,000 to 7,000 (App. US$603-844). Seems to be a bit like the Japanese attitude to most foreigners -- love the products but the people should stay at home!

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They do say that confession is good for the soul, but here in Japan, it can also be unusually safe, if you time it right! Take, for example, the case of  the 68-year-old man who must have rather surprised the boys at Tokyo's Ayase police station when he strolled in and told them he had murdered a 29-year-old female teacher  -- 26 years before! Acting on his information, police visited the man's former home in Tokyo's Adachi Ward and found the body of a woman, believed to be elementary school teacher Chikako Ishikawa, whom some had said had been kidnapped by North Korea! However, this is where the case goes off into the weird and wonderful world of 'only in Japan'. You see, although the former security guard at the dead lady's school has confessed, the authorities can't really do much, as Japan is one of the only countries on Earth where murder has a 15-year statute of limitations! I suppose he waited 26 years just to be sure! It seems that he and she got into a quarrel and he ended up smothering her by covering her mouth with his hand. The incredibly lucky killer claims that he was prompted to 'come clean' as he had moved from Tokyo to Chiba Prefecture and was afraid the body would be found when his house was torn down. So now you know. If you decide to erase your wife/husband/lover, just keep it quiet for 16 years and then you can tell the Cops and enjoy their frustration! If Japanese law really supposes that murder becomes OK after a few years, then (in the immortal words of Charles Dickens's Mr. Bumble) "the law is an ass."

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In a country where, despite having one of the longest and most complicated driving tests around, still has some remarkably bad drivers, where people regularly drive whilst watching portable TVs, the law has eventually woken up to the dangers of distracted drivers. In a major revision of Japan's driving laws, anyone who drives whilst using a mobile phone can expect to be fined, starting in November. The fines will range from ¥5,000 (App. US$45) for small motorcycles up to ¥7,000 (App. US$64) for large vehicles such as trucks and buses. Those who refuse to pay will be fined up to ¥50,000. Now I don't know about you but the thought that I might be riding in a crowded bus driven by some idiot chatting on his mobile phone isn't exactly comforting, and surely merits more than a 7,000 yen slap on the wrist! However, at least it's a step in the right direction. The new regulations will also increase fines for drivers who refuse Breathalyzer tests and also for those who make unnecessary noise, such as the motorcycle and car gangs who use Japan's major roads as a race track. I couldn't agree more, and I wish this news made me think the future would be safer and quieter, but it doesn't. You see, putting a law onto the statute books is one thing -- enforcing it is another!

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The good people of Iwate Prefecture, especially those with children, may have felt less than secure and content back in late August. You see, their local constabulary calmly informed them that a man who had served time in prison for kidnapping and killing a boy had suddenly gone missing from a nearby psychiatric hospital. The best bit is how the man came to have gone missing. Believe it or not, he disappeared while taking a walk with his family outside the hospital! Nice to know we're so well protected, isn't it? Now this time, we were lucky -- the missing man was found in Tokyo the next morning, but it still raises a lot of questions. First off, how come a man convicted of murder ever got out of jail, except in a coffin? Secondly, why was he given such carefree freedom of movement at the hospital? Answers came there none! Oh, and in case you think I'm panicking, I'm not alone. when this news came out, several elementary and junior high schools in and around the prefectural capital of Morioka cancelled classes and sent pupils home in groups. 

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Crime File

• Japan's police -- and crooks -- may not be the smartest kids on the block, but they can be persistent. Take the case of Masahiro Kawase, a 55-year-old school teacher in Shiga Prefecture. Back in July, he was arrested on suspicion of attempting to abduct 2 girls near Osaka, but managed to worm his way free. However, as the Bible says (Proverbs 26 if you don't believe me), "As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly." Sure enough, this same creep went into a video rental shop and approached a 7-year-old girl, saying he would buy a book for her. He then tried to get the girl to ride on a bike he had stolen, but she sought help from her 10-year-old sister, who was presumably too old for him. He ran away but was picked up later. Now I know this isn't as bad as not standing up for the national anthem, but isn't it time the Education authorities started to be more fussy about who they let become teachers? 

• Moving from bad teachers to bad boys, we have the case of the unnamed 15-year-old high school pupil who was recently arrested by police in Wakayama for attempted murder, after he had slashed the throats of his father and younger sister with a knife. Despite his crime, the boy is still being tried as a minor (hence the anonymity), but don't blame this one on child abuse or youthful rebellion. You see, when police, very reasonably, tried to find out why he did such a thing, all he said was "I have done a wrong thing." I've heard of the generation gap but this is too much! 

• The pastime known as pachinko attracts millions of Japanese males to sit in front of bagatelle games and lose lots of money every day of the week. So when I read that an employee of an Osaka pachinko parlour had been kidnapped for ransom, my first thought was that some loser had finally decided to try and get his money back. However, whilst that might have been true had they kidnapped the boss, it is less valid when it was only an employee they took. However, the fact that a ransom of ¥20 million (app. US$181,752) was paid reveals just how profitable milking suckers can be! It all began at the ungodly hour of 4:10 am when the manager of the parlour in Izumiotsu called police to say that their 43-year-old marketing division chief, had been kidnapped. Police naturally recommended that they do not pay any ransom, but the manager ignored this and delivered the money to a drop-off point on the Hanwa Expressway, whereupon the man was released. I doubt if the parlour will take long to recover the money, and now those dumb enough to play pachinko can fool themselves they have helped to save a man's life! Self-delusion has no limits, after all!

• There is an old saying that 'Vengeance is a dish best enjoyed cold.' Well maybe this chap agrees with that. I refer to 35-year-old Kiyokazu Takeuchi who last year planted a bomb, made from a fire extinguisher and packed with 2kgs of gunpowder, at the home of a former classmate who had bullied him when they were at high school! The former bully (who maybe deserved some form of reprisal) was unhurt but our luckless victim sustained serious burns when the bomb unexpectedly went off while he was planting it. What's more, the Fukui District Court sentenced him to 12 years in prison, which maybe suggests that we should hit back at bullies sooner rather than later! 

• There was once an old London music hall song that included the line 'Your baby has gone down the plughole'. Well, the Japanese version might be 'Your baby is out with the garbage'! Sadly, I am not joking. You see, police in the port city of Yokohama have said they plan to build a case against the director of a now closed clinic for allegedly disposing of aborted foetuses in normal garbage. It seems that the Environment Ministry officially considers foetuses under 12 weeks old to be infectious waste and thereby requires special disposal treatment. However, the police are facing a tricky problem, for with typical bureaucratic short-sightedness, there is no law stipulating what should be done with foetuses aborted at less than 12 weeks!

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I for one have always been puzzled by the fact that the UK, which has North Sea oil, has higher petrol (gasoline) prices than Japan, which has to import every drop. The reason is simple. Japanese politicians buying votes. To tax petrol as it should be taxed, and thereby force more people onto the totally reliable public transport system, would be a vote-loser, and so they haven't done it. However, things may be changing. You see, a government panel recently suggested the introduction of an environmental tax on oil and other fossil fuels, to help cut greenhouse gas emissions. Such a new tax, they claimed with the usual Japanese lack of commitment,  is "a leading additional measure that should be considered."  If Japan is to cut its annual greenhouse gas emissions as required under the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, then something sure as hell needs to be done. Tokyo bus drivers are now required to switch off the engine whilst waiting at traffic lights, but other drivers are much less 'green'. Unattended cars with their engines running is a regular sight here, often for remarkably long periods. Now it is true that it is nicer to get the car's air conditioner running before you drive, but this ignores the fact that if every driver filled the air with dirt as Japanese drivers do, then the whole world's climate will get unpleasantly warm -- and the presently cheap oil will soon run out!

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One of the Tokyo office blocks I regularly visit each week  is in Toranomon, very near the large and increasingly well guarded US Embassy. This building is on the corner of the main road leading to the embassy's main gate, and so it is always thronged with police and ready-to-use roadblocks. Occasionally, there are a few protestors demonstrating against American policies, especially since the Iraq War began, and this is just one example of the strange love-hate relationship between Japan and the US. The Government here supports and boasts of it special relationship with Washington, many less powerful Japanese resent the Americans, and many youths regularly claim that they want the US to remove its military bases. However, with North Korea being as near and as bizarre as it is, most sensible Japanese accept the Americans as a necessary evil, like a noisy guard-dog. Such people will probably be heartened by the news that the US 'Defense Department' plans to deploy 15 Aegis destroyers to the Sea of Japan and the north Pacific Ocean by 2006,  as part of a planned  defence move against North Korean missiles. The Pentagon claims that the vessels will be equipped with advanced systems that can intercept North Korea's Rodong and Taepodong missiles. Now I'm sure that a few hotheads and idiots will protest about this, claiming that if we don't upset Pyongyang, they won't hurt us. I seem to recall some British folk saying similar things about Hitler, and it was as absurd then as it is now. With Japan's 'Self Defense Forces' being the glorified boy scouts they currently are forced to be, and understaffed boy scouts at that, Japan is a potential sitting duck, and when one has neighbours as looney as North Korea or as powerful and unreasonable as China, every little extra bit of security should be welcomed with open arms -- as I'm sure some local ladies will do whenever those 15 destroyers arrive for shore leave!

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Dedicated Japan watchers might remember two years ago when Japan had an outspoken lady named Mrs Makiko Tanaka as Foreign Minister, and they might also recall the way she was sacked. Well, one of the civil servants involved in her sacking has just been appointed  Japan's ambassador to the Court of St James -- meaning London! What's more, according to a story I read in Britain's Telegraph newspaper, some folk are not happy about it. First off, however, let me give you some background.  Yoshiji Nogami was deputy foreign minister, the number 1 bureaucrat, when Mrs Tanaka revealed that the Foreign Ministry was riddled with financial corruption, which led to several prosecutions. Now I must point out that Mr Nogami was not personally accused of any wrongdoing, but when it was shown that his bureaucrats had established a secret fund from public money that they drew on for private purposes, such as staying in top hotels or even buying racehorses and a luxury Tokyo apartment, the boss was naturally blamed. Then came a scandal about the money allocated for the Okinawa Summit in 2000, where Mr Nogami was in charge of the funding. This led to a very public clash with Mrs Tanaka, after which he was sacked, shortly followed by her also being sacked by prime minister Junichiro Koizumi. She fought back by quitting from the ruling party and being elected as an independent. Mr Nogami's path back to power seems to have been a lot easier. Some reports here have speculated that Mr Nogami has been given one of the ministry's most comfortable and prestigious posts as a reward for getting rid of Mrs Tanaka. Such a posting, coming less than 3 years after his supposed demotion, seems to suggest that the allegedly elitist and corrupt ministry is getting "up to its old tricks" again. One opposition party official was quoted as saying that "The public will look in scorn on this appointment." The Ministry has retaliated by showing that Mr Nogami speaks excellent English, has been working as a minister in the Japanese embassy in London since his dismissal (and as a visiting fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs), and even has a British wife. Nonetheless, whether or not he is suitable for the job, the fact remains that his method of getting it does suggest that someone should go through the Foreign Ministry with a damn'd big brush, and strive to bring the corrupt little gnomes within into the 21st century. 

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Japanese folk might not eat so many unusual animals as some of their Asian neighbours, but don't get the wrong idea. This country is no animal lover's paradise -- far from it! The idea of pets is a relatively new one here and so generally, animals are looked upon as being useful or abandoned. This harsh rule includes monkeys and so Japanese TV often features clips of performing monkeys, all clothed in a suitably cute manner and showing justified fear of their 'trainer'. However, some monkeys suffer even worse fates. This was highlighted by a report from Shirahama township in Wakayama Prefecture that some local officials reacted to reports that wild monkeys were frightening children and eating produce by drowning about 20 of the poor creatures. Sporting as this may seem to some, it inconveniently violates the Wildlife Protection and Hunting Law, as they had acted without licensed hunters. Under this law, unlicensed hunting carries a fine of up to ¥1 million (app. US$9,000) or one year imprisonment. It seems that members of the local tourism association and other town officials have admitted to killing the monkeys by first trapping them in cages and then drowning them. Obviously true sportsmen! The reason the area has such monkeys is that a nearby nature park, opened in 1954, began artificially breeding wild monkeys in 1964. However, the park was closed in November 2001 after the monkeys began attacking humans. Knowing the way such 'parks' treat their animals, I can't say that I blame them! Anyway, they may have closed the park but about 80 monkeys remain living in the park's vicinity. One day, I should like to open a new kind of nature park, filled with those who mistreat animals, all chained and treated by their own standards. I for one would gladly pay to see such a thing!

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One of the many symptoms of Japan's inability to accept that they lost the Pacific War is the way the government continually complains about a group of inconsequential little islands of the north-east coast of Hokkaido. These islands, known here as Kunashiri, Etorofu and Shikotan, and the Habomai islet group and as the Southern Kurils in Russia, were once Japanese, but just as Japan gained Okinawa by conquest, so the USSR gained these islands after their remarkably short and opportunist war against Japan in the summer of 1945. Just as Japan refuses to give up Okinawa, so Moscow is unwilling to give up those islands, and this irritates the hell out of certain right-wing Japanese, such as the Tokyo Governor and our beloved Prime Minister. However, not content with annoying our Asian neighbours by visiting the Yasukuni shrine, Mr Koizumi decided to upset the Russians by 'window shopping' around the Russian-held islands, sailing from the eastern Hokkaido city of Nemuro to take a look at what he can't visit! This naturally upset Russia and has not exactly helped the on again, off again territorial talks with Moscow. One immediate reaction to this foolishness was an announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that he was considering postponing his official visit to Japan scheduled for next February. The Izvestia newspaper quoted a Russian diplomat in Tokyo as saying that as the Japanese government had not taken seriously Moscow's warning regarding Koizumi's trip, Putin's trip would be meaningless if there were any kind of demonstrations calling for the return of the islands. So why did he do it? Maybe he wasn't so foolish, for it was reported shortly after this inane trip that the approval rating for his Cabinet had risen from a record low of 40% in July to 42%. Revealing, huh? But about what the Russian inhabitants of those wind-swept islands? After all, it is these isolated folk who form an interesting aspect of the dispute. These people have lived on the islands for many years and so if Japan ever succeeds in prying the rocks from Russia's grasp, Tokyo will have two choices. They can either retain their much vaunted 'homogeneity' by expelling all these people (not very PC but appealing to many here), or they can instantly acquire 17,000 new Caucasian citizens, which must seem an unbearable price to pay for such territory! Life is filled with tough decisions, isn't it?

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Imagine the situation. You live in a place where the authorities treat your ethnic group with much less than rigid fairness, and so you flee overseas to seek asylum. The government of the place where you seek sanctuary decides to check on your story by asking your inequitable government to help verify your complaint,  thereby giving them ready access to what they might consider disloyal or even criminal elements. Does that sound far-fetched? Sadly, it isn't -- it's just Japan! This completely insane sort of bureaucracy came to light by way of a report from Amnesty International, criticizing Tokyo's handling of Kurdish refugees naive enough to seek sanctuary in Japan. This report revealed the policy of sending Justice Ministry officials (immigration matters come under the Justice Ministry here) to investigate the families of the refugees with the help of the Turkish authorities. As Amnesty rightly points out, this idiotic idea not only endangers the families of the refugees, but also makes it extra dangerous for the refugees themselves to return home if their application for asylum is rejected, as it so often is. The Justice Ministry defended its actions by saying that it had to inspect the asylum seekers' living conditions to make sure they were not in Japan merely to earn money. Some might say that the bureaucrats are merely trying to deter any refugee from seeking help in Japan. Myself, I think it is just natures way of punishing anyone gullible enough to expect the milk of human kindness to flow with the Japanese bureaucracy! 

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Have you ever experienced Japan's famous sinking airport near Osaka? I refer, of course, to the Kansai International Airport, which has just marked its 10th anniversary. However, not only is the airport (built on a man-made island off Osaka Bay) literally sinking, it is also tumbling deeper into debt, with liabilities exceeding 1 trillion yen! What's more, its chances of getting out of this situation seem unlikely, with the number of international flight passengers falling to a record-low level. To celebrate the recent anniversary, the president of the airport company spoke of making Kansai more "convenient and customer-oriented." However, this also seems unlikely. One disgruntled customer recently referred to it as being "arguably the worst airport in Asia," with no facilities open at nighttime, one less than attractive book and souvenir shop, and restaurants that close at 21:30. What's more, should you be dazzled by such delights and miss the last train back to the mainland, you then have a choice of a US$200 taxi ride or a night at one of the on-site hotels. At one time, the Tokyo authorities tried to force airlines to use this outpost (whose landing fees are higher than New York's JFK) by denying them access to Tokyo's Narita. However, several airlines decided that it was better to abandon Japan rather than risk losing their planes beneath the waves of Osaka Bay. For devout bargain hunters, it is possible to save money by flying from Kansai rather than Narita, but as I am not too keen on swimming, I think I might stay with Narita for the time being!

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With the anniversary of the dreadful attack on the World Trade Centre having filled the newspapers worldwide so recently, many people have been thinking about terrorism and their preparedness for such an attack. Surprisingly, this has included some Japanese, normally a race imbued with the 'it can't happen here' mentality. However, thinking about it doesn't mean Japan is in any way prepared for it. A recent survey by Veritas Software Corp, an American computer data protection firm, revealed that 61% of Japanese business executives feel their companies are behind in protecting their computer systems from such potential disasters as terror attacks and earthquakes. What's more, 6% felt that Japan was "extremely behind." The survey didn't reveal how many were planning to rectify this situation, but I wouldn't expect that figure to be very high. Tokyo may well be the earthquake capital of the world, and another 'Great Kanto Earthquake' may well be overdue, but that doesn't mean that Japanese companies have contingency plans or anything like that. Many of the firms whose offices were hit back on September 11 were up and running again remarkably quickly, due to sensible precautions. However, were such an attack or another giant quake to strike Tokyo's business district, it might well be years before any real recovery. Many Japanese executives have only just mastered the computer keyboard, so it's a bit early to expect them to have mastered computer backups!

Just before this page went online, it was announced that Japan had executed 40-year-old Mamoru Takuma, who had been convicted of killing 8 school children and injuring 13 more plus two teachers at an elementary school near Osaka in 2001. As Japan is sensible enough to retain the death penalty for certain murders, the only remarkable thing about this news was the speed with which the sentence was carried out. Instead of languishing on death row for years, he was executed less than a year after his death sentence was finalised. It is rare for an execution to be carried out within 4 years after the death sentence is passed. One reason for the swift conclusion was that Takuma-san, who had said he wanted to pay for the crime with his life, had ordered his lawyers to withdraw their appeal. He didn't die alone, as Sueo Shimazaki, a 59-year-old former gang leader sentenced to death for killing 3 other gangsters in 1988, was hanged on the same day. Japan carries out several executions a year, usually when parliament is not in session or in December, when the nation is winding down for the New Year holidays. The last such hanging took place on September 12, 2003. Now this event was carried with the usual critical footnotes by the Western media, who think that just because they let killers walk the streets, everyone should. However, opinion polls here show that Japanese people strongly support the death penalty -- not that public opinion deters the anti-hanging softies overseas! There is one aspect of Japanese executions with which I disagree, and that is the way in which 'executees' and their relatives are not told of the impending execution until the day it takes place. However, that rather cruel factor aside, I can't help comparing Japan's ultra-safe streets with those of cities where executions are a thing of the past. Now I won't get biblical with the usual 'eye for an eye' argument, but I will say two things: firstly, if an unthinking dog kills someone, we kill it, but prefer not to kill someone who is supposed to be higher up the evolutionary ladder; secondly, I would like to quote the French novelist Alphonse Karr, who said "Si l'on veut abolir la peine de mort en ce cas, que MM. les assassins commencent." (If we are to abolish the death penalty, I should like to see the first step taken by my friends the murderers.")

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Gaijin's Tip:

'It isn't that difficult to stay healthy over here. You can easily find a bi-lingual doctor (in Tokyo) by visiting the 'Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Medical Information Center' at  http://www.himawari.metro.tokyo.jp/qq/qq13enmnlt.asp. For free medical Info, call 03-5285-8181 on weekdays between 9am and 5pm (in English, Chinese, Korean and Spanish). Oh, and don't forget that if you're over 45, you're entitled to a free annual medical check-up, provided by your local Ward office.'
(For more like this, please visit the 'Gaijin's Guide to Living in Japan')

&

Gaijin's Where-to-Go

'At time of writing, there is one of the regular Sumo 'basho or tournaments taking place in Tokyo. If you'd like to know more about this ancient sport, why not visit a Sumo 'Stable' and watch 'Sumotori' practising, free. Choose from more than a dozen stables in the Sumida area. Call 3625-5111 for dates and times.'

(For more suggestions, check out the 'Gaijin's Guide to Enjoying Tokyo')

 

And so, with the late summer sun bathing the city outside my window, and with me enduring the misery of a damn'd summer Cold, we put another 'Empty Seat' to bed. Talking of illness, a friend of mine's wife recently had the misfortune to suffer a case of Post-Natal Depression', a very unpleasant but far from rare disorder. However, although Japan often seems like it needs psychiatrists more than most, there are remarkably few here. Now we don't want them coming out of the woodwork as they do in some places across the Pacific (no names, no pack-drill), but it shouldn't be so difficult nor so 'shameful' to seek psychiatric help. And that was in Tokyo -- I hate to think about how things are in the provinces! Anyway, I feel another sneeze coming on, so I shall love you and leave till the same time next month -- pop back, why don't you?

The Gaijin

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