Michael Gakuran shared a great anti-hoarding poster on his live updates page earlier (he got it from tumblr user Neetnik here).
While it’s pretty clear what the poster’s trying to say, I thought I’d make an English version for anyone interested. (Click image for full size.)
I’ve been doing my best to relay information to people back home.
The overseas media has been, by and large, both delayed and inaccurate concerning things here. In the best cases, they’ve poorly worded things in such ways that it sounds like dangerous levels of radiation have reached Tokyo (they’ve not). In the worst cases, (do I need to even clarify that it’s Fox News?) they’ve listed a night club in Shibuya, Tokyo, among the nuclear power plants in Japan.
Most of the information I’ve been sharing has come thanks to the tireless efforts of a few bloggers and journalists in Japan who really deserve gifts of sports cars once this whole thing is over. Here’s my list of places to get info (mostly twitter – sorry about the weird twitter links, but I wanted to make it easy for people who don’t usually use twitter).
Sandra Barron
NHK News (in Japanese)
NHK Streaming Video in English
Time Out Tokyo
Michael Gakuran
and his blog with live updates here
Matt Alt
Ambassador John N. Roos
Nicholas Coldicott
Roy Berman
You can also follow me, though it will be mostly retweets of the above and failed attempts at humor
What a boring title. (A hint to those who write: if you show an awareness of your own weak passages, their weakness changes to humor. …..right?)
A few weeks ago I caught the first suggestion of autumn. It was like a little suggestion of truth tucked between the sentences of a lie. There was a hesitance to the wind, an inconsistency to the heat. The sun seemed to be glancing slightly way. But it was still hot enough feel my shirt sticking to my back. I still couldn’t quite catch my breath in the humidity. Summer really hadn’t given up yet.
But this weekend, I’ve finally been able to pull out and dust off that old adjective, “cold.” I also pulled out all my warm weather clothes. Right now they’re sitting in a few piles around my room. Some are waiting for the wash, others for dry cleaning, and all of them are waiting for me to have some spare time.
Maybe it’s because I grew up in the frozen north, but fall clothes are my favorites. Maybe its the warm hug of sweaters of the swish of vinyl jackets. Maybe its the way girls tug, sometimes nervously, sometimes with excitement, at the bottom of their sleeves. Or it could be because I’m colorblind and fall’s earthen tones are easy to coordinate. But my cold weather wardrobe is by far the largest, and even in summer I wear jeans and shirts with the sleeves rolled up. In a time I can’t remember, my parents tell me, I used to protest shorts and short sleeves alike. Maybe it’s some kind of complex?
This morning it was rainy. It was a cool, horizontal rain that fell sporadically enough to have just beem water blown off of buildings nearby. Today, for the first time this year, fallen leaves were more abundant than rain drops. But now the sun is setting behind the only cloud (albeit a large one) in the sky. The light shining on the houses and briges passing outside my train window is white and clear. It’s unhindered by the dense humidity and haze that have clogged the air since June. It’s definitely time to head out with my camera again.
The actual period of colorful, falling leaves barely lasts two weeks here. Compared to the summer in this part of Japan, autumn is like the swift, accidental touch of someone handing you your change. It might be over before you notice, but it’s something your whole body reacts to. And sometimes, it’s exactly what you’ve been wanting.
Notice: I am posting this with absolutely no attempts to reread or edit—which means that there are mistakes.
I knew as soon as I stepped off the bus that I might not be making the best decision. The driving, relentless winds 
of Lake Chuzenji below weren’t blowing over the Senjo-ga-hara marshlands, but the bite of a high-altitude winter stayed. Locals chatting with the bus driver when I got on about ten minutes earlier had commented on the unusual warmth of the day. But having just come up north from Yokohama, I was still adjusting to the difference. And really, Senjo-ga-hara was about as far as I could get from the crowds of Yokohama without abandoning civilization altogether. On that day, I was the only person stepping off the bus at the entrance to the SCENIC WALK ACROSS OPEN FIELDS (as it was named by a nearby sign).
To the west, dark clouds pushed heavily at the top of a row of low, green mountains. The forecast had called for rain, but the day had been sunny so far. Now I could see that the clouds were trying their hardest to satisfy that forecast. I decided that I would go until the rain started and then turn back to the bus stop. My camera bag had a rain cover, and with its hood up, my coat was better than any umbrella, so I wasn’t too worried.
Well, I’ve been here a year.
I’m sad to say that I’m not surprised this blog has not been more successful. But, unlike many other blog writers, my daily life is just that to me. I wake up, eat and take a shower, go to work, and then come home to sleep. On my days off I take walks or meet friends. Every now and then, like this last weekend, I travel off to somewhere like Kyoto.
Sure, there are interesting moments. Coincidentally meeting two different mutual friends of an only friend in as many weeks. Unusual students. My daily exposure to mind-bending fashion styles.
And there are lonely moments, too. Seeing my reflection in the train window and the moment of surprise when it doesn’t look like everyone around me. Visiting tourist spots populated by young couples and laughing families. Cold rainy nights.
But overall, I just don’t feel inspired to write about any of it. The pure joy of arranging words alone doesn’t move me enough, it seems. Thanks to a friend, however, I’ve come up with a new twist to the old Japan Walker formula!
As you may remember from all those months ago, the system required readers to send specific ideas for possible destinations. Now that I think about it, that was perhaps a little too much work to still consider you “readers.”
The other day, that friend challenged me with a photography scavenger hunt. So I thought, why not use the same system to bring J-Walker back to life?
You send a scavenger hunt objective, such as:
and then I’ll go and take a picture. The resulting adventure will become an entry here on J-Walker.
For now, leave them on the suggestions page!
Well, everyone, I can’t believe it’s been so long without an update.
I thought I’d fill the gap with a look at grocery shopping here in Japan. Here’s what my last grocery bill looked like (prices in Yen):
Total: 3530
I’ve probably mentioned this before, but Shinjuku is one of the busiest places on Earth. That’s not some exaggerative idiom—I believe Shinjuku station is literally the most-used train station in the world. A few weeks ago, while waiting to meet some friends on a Friday night there, I decided to see how long it would take me to count 100 of the people passing by. I did my best, but I could probably only pick out about half (or less) of the people in front of me at any given moment. Even still, it took just forty-four seconds to get to 100. That means that during the thirty minutes I was waiting there, probably something like 7000 people passed that one spot just outside a single exit of Shinjuku station.
The other night, I was standing at a much less-used entrance while waiting to meet my friend, Ayu. At that entrance, on a Monday night, it might take ten to fifteen minutes for 100 people to walk through the sliding glass door (though another few hundred might pass on the sidewalk). While waiting, I busied myself with watching those people as they went about their business.
One person who walked into the station was a long-legged little girl probably about ten years old. She was wearing blue jeans and a salmon-colored shirt. Her hands were gripped tight to the straps of a light-blue backpack. And just below her home-cut bangs, her eyes were red and streaming tears. (click below to read more after the cut)
Lately I’ve been Japan Walker more than I’ve been Japan Writer. For whatever reason, I’ve developed an aversion to being in my home. Maybe it’s the stains on the walls or the dust that collects in every corner. I could blame my roommate’s moping or the nest he’s built in front of our television, but my feeling came before he started that. Usually I blame the fluorescent lights, but that’s probably a lie, too. Anyway, whether it’s for writing or cleaning, eating or even sleeping, I’ve become totally dissatisfied with being in my apartment.
Today is the last day of my Golden Week—a week of national holidays wrapped around a weekend during which most Japanese people don’t go to work or school. Every store, restaurant, and tourist area is crowded during Golden Week. During mine, I climbed a mountain crawling with elementary school students, burrowed my way through almost unwalkable streets in Harajuku and Omotesando, met a former model at a CD release party, and shared sidewalks with hundreds of Yokohama dogs. But for someone who frequently walks 14-plus kilometers across Tokyo, collecting (if not joining) the varied shapes and colors of people and their things, these experiences have generally fit within the range of my experience. They are the sort of events that wash over me and pass by. In all of them, I feel more like a camera than an actor.
Last night and today, though, I’ve had a glimpse of another world, one that’s given me pause.
I met a squirrel yesterday.
I was in Kamakura with a friend, wandering around and absorbing the Japaneseness of the cherry blossoms and old the old capital city.
This squirrel was eating something crunchy off the ground and didn’t seem to mind me standing nearby. I moved closer a few times, but it didn’t run off. Eventually, it let me crouch down and get some shots with my camera in macro mode.
In other news, I’ve been debating lately what to post, but I finally hit on the idea today. I believe I made an update promise which I didn’t keep, and for that I’m sorry. Anyway, I’ll soon be telling you about my sakura/hanami wanderings. For some of you, those words are a mystery at the moment—clarity will come!
Until my next post, enjoy this little rodent’s powerful stare!
Hi everyone,
Sorry for the delay in my update. Because of the change in my schedule which accompanied my employer changing school years, I had to work every day this week without any time off.
My goal is to type up my Sankeien experience by Wednesday here.
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