2025, a year in Japan

So how did the year go... Well, I have a friend in Tokyo who, earlier this year, managed to win the lottery for Oasis tickets at Wembley (London if you were wondering). That clearly meant a long flight and a few days back in the UK. And one of the greatest concerts ever performed which registered on the Richter Scale on the day. But before flying, he also won a ticket for the Tokyo leg of the tour. Unperturbed, he arranged to go to both however, this is where the universe has a sense of humour, he was accepted to a year long course, in said London, which commenced before the Tokyo event was held in October. So he went to the Wembley show from Tokyo and the Tokyo show from London. Potentially setting an accidental record.

I, on the other hand, did not win the Tokyo lottery and, despite desperate efforts, totally failed to gain a seat. That was, until the night before, when my son casually mentioned he had a spare (yes, he'd be holding it for about a month while I sweated). And so I got there. With a broken arm from two weeks prior, six pins in my shoulder and the firm belief I had a lot more time to break other bones but possibly only this chance to see the band. And so I went, my 27 year old son in the vanguard down the un-railed stair of Tokyo Dome,  with his friend bringing up the rear. And the crowd around me, when they saw I was slung up and unsteady, actually formed a bubble around me to help me through the crowd. What a show, and what a local crowd.

It was, to put it mildly, a stinking hot summer this year. It's not necessarily the heat that gets you but the combination of that along with the humidity. Going out is something of a crash course in survival under these conditions and you end up planning your route dancing between air-conditioned department stores and life restoring restaurants. Or you can head up to the mountains and stay in a "besso". The closest analogy we'd have would be the venerable mountain chalet, usually around 1,000m plus, above the heat and sweat of the Pacific coastal cities. I've had one for many years and it makes a pleasure of the summer months. The curious thing this year though is two other friends have respectively bought their own in the second half of 2025 and third is planning a purchase too. Shame we're all on different mountains, but considering the opportunities for something going horribly wrong if we were located within beer distance, probably for the best.    

Earlier in the year, a UK friend I've known for nearly forty years, decided to dip his toe in the water and relocate for the next couple of years before retirement. Great to see him. Life is so much easier now with Google Translate and Navi (Sat Nav) than it used to be when arrangements were conferred via answer machines and directions using a faxed map of where you were going and a strong sense of hope. 

Winter (the official one) arrived upon Tokyo at 12.03pm December 21 as a celestial event but it's too soon for the snow in the metropolis, though further north the blizzards are drifting and the Black Bears are hopefully hibernating (and a wolf escaped from a zoo last week by walking out of an open door). It's been a good year, I've continued to collect every spam from Yahoo! (still massive here by the way) with 823 currently awaiting to send to the distributor as a thank you gift in the new year.

And finally, I'm slowly getting used to writing about "my life in Japan" rather than "Japan itself", I decision I made after some 600 posts on the intricacies of the country. Taken a while but I'm eventually getting there. Hope you had a good one too. Happy New Year and may tomorrow bring you a smile.

Santa and his bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken

The year end fast approaches, and where has it all gone? The weather in Tokyo sucks and soon we'll be queuing for our tickets for the queue for KFC (yes, you queue for the queue). And if you're wondering, dating back to somewhere in the mid-1990's when KFC ran a campaign of "Christmas isn't Christmas without Kentucky Friend Chicken" and it became as much a tradition as the German drunk butler (and that one you'll need to look up elsewhere). Has to be said though, it is not one of those customs I've ever actually indulged in.

Christmas is a working day here but back in the days when I actually used to work, I'd take the day off, burn the turkey, realise I'd forgotten something and try to explain in my local supermarket exactly what it was I was looking for, non-too easy when I only know the English word and the hardworking staff wouldn't have a clue what I was in a panic about. But that's part of the fun of Christmas in your non-native language. At least clotted cream is more widely available these days.

And so the decorations are up in the house, walking along our road though it is sadly noticeable that ours is the only Santa inflated and on display. This isn't a reflection of religeon in any way though, but more a lack of children. Come May and the flying fish (koi-nobori) celebrating children's (well, ok, boys') day are also missing compared to years ago when I moved to this area of Tokyo. There just aren't the kids anymore. And, although something I miss, I'm not giving up. Now we are empty nesters it's chicken rather than turkey for the table but the Xmas pudding is prepared (although my wife isn't a huge fan it has to be said) and the crackers shall be pulled. And winter will arrive this weekend. At 12.03 noon time in Tokyo on Saturday. Happy Christmas.

Winter is Coming

That means something to some and nothing to others, but, put simply, it's getting cold (mid-November now, time to dig the woolies out). It's been a curious, coincident-laden, few months bringing us to this point. In six months it's gone from insufferably hot to finding the warm corner in the izakaya. Shooting stars may have been overhead last night but are somewhat difficult to see under the lights of the worlds brightest city (and I mean that by street lights before anyone asks).

One curious phenomena over the last few months has been the toll age is taking on us all (and our gratitude to the incredible Japanese medical services). In a matter of not so long, I've experienced the enjoyment outlined in the pervious article, one friend broke his arm falling off his bike (pedal variety); another ripping tendons falling off his and having to be re-sewn together (hint bicycles are getting more opinionated as we grow old; yet another standing up in restaurant and turning to leave only for his lower leg to remain targeted in the seated direction from the knee down, refusing to to join the rest of him in his strive for the checkout.

But one friend wins it all hands down. Three hospital visits in six months (but only three pins so I still have that over him though, to be fair, he wins hands down on stitches). We all picked ourselves up and pretended we were twenty five again. Which brings me back to Winter is Coming. Tokyo enjoys a modest flush of snow every now and then. Which leaves a blessing, and a curse, in its wake. Blessing, we don't have much; curse, no one has a clue how to respond when we do. Salarymen still wear slick, leather soled shoes and slide every which way you can imagine and taxis drive as if it's a beautiful sunny day, until they encounter said out of control salarymen. 

But the trains, the trains run on time, no "wrong type of snow" here (you need to be British to get that one). And over the next few months, as temperatures decline further, I'm sure we'll have opportunity aplenty to thank the medical staff again who've dodged those taxis and flailing salarymen to help us out. After all, just look at what we achieved in a short few months when it was nothing more challenging than dry and sunny. And now we're going to slide. Winter Is Coming.

Summer in Tokyo

It's been a funny summer / autumn in Tokyo. Weather was hotter than the surface of the sun and when it went down, I had a week before switching the underfloor heating on as temperatures plummeted. Too hot for a summer jacuzzi, the highlight was the announcement of the Oasis tour and that they'd be alighting in Japan. So time for a lottery and I won (!) nothing... Was worth a try though but hang with me, there more to this story.

Having missed out on tickets for late October I decided to break my clavicle instead. Tripped and slipped, no one else's fault but my own. Take my word for it, a CT of broken bones looks awesome but the lying down part on the scanning bed with a two part shoulder is not a huge amount of fun. And so it goes (yes, I read "Slauhterhouse 5" over the following week). Checked in the next day and I am now six titanium pins heavier.

Six nights in hospital, the nursing staff were outstanding though I slept most of the time, at least when no one was snoring. Which wasn't often. And then back home with a detour via my favorite sandwich store, hospital food was honestly good but when you get a craving... And then something of a surprise. Of Biblical proportions. Remember the Oasis reference above...

I'd completely missed out on the concert tickets (not from want of trying) until the night before the show and my son came over to our house and unleashed a storm of a dilemna. He had a spare ticket. Which I gladly accepted with the risk of more damage to the shoulder or the risk of capitulating on the only chance of seeing the Madchester band I was probably ever going to have. So I figured I have other bones to break at a later date and we had an incredible night. Two body guards shadowed me so I came into contact with very few, in fact, when the crowds saw I was all slung up, they joined in and formed a bubble around me. As I say, it was a funny summer / Autumn but my thanks to everyone who walked me through it. I won't forget the kindness and support. Or Oasis... 

Let it go in Japan

And so it goes. Sayonara to a friend soon. One of the repercussions of living in a foreign land is, that although you meet many wonderful people, you lose them as they pass through. Two or three years passes very quickly and you become friends and then have to say goodbye. But it's worth getting to know them and last week I was invited to a farewell event where I met new people, and had the chance to see a friend before he was on his way. You have to smile at that.

The last few weeks have seen my cousin (and family) come into town for the first time, the son of an old friend come by, a great couple of dinners and a night in a live bar (music, before you think anything else) and an old friend who we began work in the same day in London quite a while ago. He's transferring to Tokyo for a couple of years, he'll have a wonderful time but I'm pretty sure it's going to take a little cultural adjustment as it were. But it will be a wonderful time.

Didn't see the smiley face in the stars, rain was a little heavy for that. Boys' day in the mountains is on hold and I had to shut a friend up by putting my hand over his mouth. Funny one was being asked, for the first time in many years, to sign my credit card before I could pay for my bullet train ticket at Tokyo Station, then signing the ticket, and then the conductor checking the signatures matched. I guess he was just doing his job but it did make me smile. Letting things go is a lot easier than being a little frustrated in Japan you'll find. So it goes.

Oh, and I got absolutely soaked walking home a few weeks ago until a lady saw me. looking akin to a drowned rat... She ran into her store and brought me out an umbrella. It wasn't going to help, I was already swimming in my clothes. And she wouldn't take any money for it. But she gave me a wonderful memory and I'll pay it back someday, somewhere.

Being RickRolled in Japan

And so I finally got around to opening some, rather aging, email from my inbox. One from a friend (I checked in advance it was legitimate as I hadn't heard from them in a while) had a link to Japan's new visa laws. This, being somewhat important, I clicked the link. And got RickRolled. I cried laughing when I saw the original date of April 1st. My bad. But it took the rest of my life to explain to my Japanese friends the concept of RickRolling. Some things translate into the common lexicon, others don't have a hope...

I've lived in a great area of Tokyo, just off the beaten path from Shibuya, for more years than I care to remember, but I'd never been to a small side street I walk past all the time. That is, until a friend was playing in a Live Bar (Live Music) which took me down said side street. His band was covering Oasis songs, he was on guitar and a Japanese guy was Liam Gallagher. And terrified. So got drunk before the show. Actually he was really good and then I realised this area was full of Live or themed bars and I'd never known it. You learn something new everyday in Tokyo.

Another piece of fun that occurred towards the end of March was the Sakura (cherry blossom) coming out. This is the time for the traditional "Hanami" party which is centered around friends sitting under the trees drinking beer and just relaxing and catching up. If you're ever in Japan around Hanami time, I recommend grabbing a beer, blanket and a friend and copy the entire country. It's a wonderful part of culture, some companies even send junior staff out early to grab the best spots in the morning before joining after work. But we were good, great weather (for a change) and we just hung out for the day with my dog and the Sakura trees.

It's been a good few weeks. An art reception, Chicken Pie in an English pub (may not sound too interesting to many but when you haven't had a chicken pie for too many years, these things appeal to you) and added to that I was invited to the baseball at the historical Jingu Stadium where Babe Ruth played in 1934 and everyone wore Boaters. And to top it off, after a freezing winter and a miserable spring, it's finally becoming just that little bit warmer...

The Snows of Spring

So, I'm enjoying the balmy first days of Spring in Tokyo, whereas two weeks ago I was sliding, knee deep in snow just two hours from here (managed to keep my feet if not my dignity). And then two days ago in central Tokyo the snow caught up with me, the temperatures having dropped to the lowest for many a moon. There was the fun of comparing snow depths around the area, a friend winning with 30cm, mine had been a more modest 18cm. And then another friend, in the throws of making a short movie in Niigata, north west Japan, extinguished all bonfires with a whopping two meters.

But as I say, we're now 24C and I may be able to switch off the yukadambo (under-floor heating) until next winter. With the extraordinary help of a good friend, my car is now re-certified (shaken) and instead of costing JPY1.4m as per the dealer, it only set me back ~JPY65k (that's roughly the difference between USD10k and USD500, if you were wondering) (and thank you, without you I'd be wondering lost around the testing station in downtown Shinagawa).

Hay fever season has kicked in in the Tokyo Metropole, although I'm lucky and don't suffer too badly, there are a lot of exploding people around me as I walk into town (I like to walk and when I say "town" I'm referring to the center of one of the largest cities on Planet Earth. Nice walk though. Flu season seems to have passed, it was mild this year but a few friends were laid low for a week or so (I acquired Swine Flu a few years back and that one knocked me sideways). And now waiting for hay-fever to subside, before the next round in May, we're coming to Hanami Season when the entire country sits under the Cherry Blossom, drinking beer and contemplating the world going by. Could be worse.

The Winding Streets of Shibuya

Shibuya is a district in central Tokyo famous for the "crazy crossing" and the statue of "Hachiko, The Dog" both stories I've covered elsewhere in TenguLife and you can look them up if you'd like to know more. It's also now home to an alleyway of a multitude of bars starting with the first one being Okinawa themed and finishing at the far end with the final chapter providing Hokkaido delicacies (you may need a map to figure out why if it's not obvious). And that's where I was last night though "delicacy" would be a little bit of a stretch but Anthony Bourdain style, try the food and meet the people.  

Life starts around 11.30am and sitting outside you're just in time to catch the sun and a slew of people carrying luggage from Shibuya Station to their hotels (this tide reverses by mid-afternoon). It used to be a pretty seedy carpark with a mud pile on the roof where the homeless slept, built in for the 1964 Olympics, over a local river. But it's now a fairly cool shopping plaza with a roof garden that breaks all regulations but no one really seems to mind.

And so last night saw me thirty minutes early, iPhone just incase my friends called and a copy of "Slaughter House 5" to keep me entertained. One of the great things about Japan is you can just sit and watch the world go by. The manager knows me though doesn't speak a word of English and my Japanese wouldn't hurt to be a little better, but we've built a friendship over the last couple of years. So if you see a westerner sitting by himself, reading a book, that's probably me. Feel free to say hello.

We didn't all come out alive

Some days go better than others. As we all know. No sleep last night and as I was dozing off at dawn I'd promised to wake my wife at 7.00 so had to stay awake. Wife up and out of the house but by now I'm wide awake and no chance of sleep again. And walking to the local store (they're everywhere in Tokyo, we have four within five minutes walk), wasn't watching what I was doing and tripped. Flat on the face. Not great.

Problem being I now have a video conference at 11.00am, running a mild fever, bumped up and banged around I managed to get through that and then I really, really wanted some sleep. But managed to do some UK admin specialised for residents of Japan. Except for time zone... And as I put my head down my FB Messenger started to ping. Of course it did. But getting up to check I received a sad message. A guy I recruited nearly thirty years ago had passed away.

He was a good man, willing to tell me when I was wrong, something rare here. He had a view and could communicate it without leaving people upset but very clear of the message. In Japan you rarely tell your boss he's wrong, but this guys had the bravery and honesty to do so. And so I respected him and we grew to be friends. And now I'm going to miss him.  

Tokyo - 25 Years Later

There's something of a golden rule in Tokyo "only ever do three things in one day". I may have mentioned this before but it runs pretty true and is a good guide to not breaking down along with the world around you. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of one that refines to how many activities are a good idea in a week, or even four. And excluding a number of other mornings, the last few weeks would really benefit from something of a guiding light. It's been an interesting interlude.

Kick off related to an old friend arriving with four others I last saw at his wedding some twenty five plus years ago. It was a genuine pleasure to see them after a beach in Hawaii in the heady days of 1996. For a couple of them it was their first trip to Tokyo, so naturally, when then end of the evening arrived, we hit the karaoke. I sing like a donkey but turns out two of the ladies had beautiful voices. We also managed to (legally!) source something for one of the guys collection (he didn't have a Japanese one). And they had a wonderful time. Especially when I told them my "looking after Tom Brady in Tokyo" story...

And the following day it was the turn of another family of friends that I probably hadn't see for another twenty years visiting from overseas. The two boys, now teenagers, who I was meeting for the first time, were great, one a dog whisperer and the other an academic. The interesting issue was with both sets of friends, we didn't reminisce on old times, we chatted, laughed and talked about the future. The only history recounted was swimming with turtles off the shores of Maui and trying to call a friend after I'd dropped his phone into a pint of beer. Seemed like a good idea at the time but apparently HR weren't too pleased...