sushi in ginza


sushi, originally uploaded by renfield.

Went to Ginza with Hiroko to do some random shopping. Ended up buying an absolutely killer summer kimono and a pair of geta. Also got widely assaulted by old women. At the geta/shoe area Old Woman Mrs. Chiba decided exactly what I should by; my opinion was irrelevant.
Then, at the antique fair on the top floor of Matsuya Department Store (right after a fairly burly earthquake that made me feel sorry for the dude selling all that antique glass) I was surrounded and attacaked by no less than five Old Women. One demanded I remove my jeans whilst another wrapped my in a kimono and tied the belt so tight I couldn't feel my legs. In the end they wouldn't let me leave until I dropped the cash for the kimono, but it's all good because that kind of kimono is so rare, and to find an antique in my size simply doesn't happen.
After shopping we lined up at Midori Sushi under the train tracks and stuffed ourselves on good, cheap sushi and then took the bus home. Good thing, too, because many of the trains and subways were still stopped.

Hiroko wrote about this very same day in her blog, too!

distance, timing

If I could ever figure out two things -- distance and timing. That was a lovely sentence fragment, btw, and it describes perfectly my understanding of the two. That is, I have no clue. The whole concept of moving, closing, and striking, shoulders and hips, arms and legs, feet and hands, is still totally beyond me. I think I know what I should be doing, but I have no idea how to do it. Teaching is always fun when I start by showing the wrong way to do it, practicing with everyone, and then concluding with a simple question: anyone figure it out? I sure have no clue.
Big turnout for class tonight, and it was hot and humid, decreasing my move-alot motivation, so we paired up with bokken and took turns trying to reach each other from the neutral tip-to-tip distance of just-outta-reach. The end result was generally not being able to reach at all, or overstretching the upper body and getting way off balance.
In a feeble attempt to connect this movement to some actual iai, we did a few kata and I tried to tie in this movement-from-the-hips (what isn't?) from both standing and sitting. Not sure if any of it made any sense, but I had fun trying to figure out the near impenetrable. Seems like "getting it" is an asymtope: I can get closer and closer, but never actually arrive.

not funny any more

OK this heat is no longer funny. Supposedly the typhoon season is over. Which leaves me asking what happened to all the rain we didn't have.
Went to Jiyugaoka on a shopping mission (failed) and it was so hot we just went to the Tsutaya/Starbucks bookstore in Roppongi Hills and sat around in the cool reading silly magazines and wasting time until the sun dipped.
And what is up with this lack of daylight savings in Japan? I don't get it; for a country so concerned with high energy costs and use, that extra hour in the morning would mean it's not already blazing hot by 6am, and more light in the evening when folks are out and about means less need for lighting. Probably has something to do with the uniqueness of Japanese cows or some assine excuse.

kairi

Hiroko had to work, so I went to the dojo in the morning and then came by her office to play with Kairi. When I arrived Kairi was drawing pictures with Hiroko, but I soon took over and we proceeded to assault the office furniture, play with her colored bricks, and then we discovered the nubby exercise ball behind someone's cubicle. This provided us with hours of giggles as she attempted to stand up on the ball and I grabbed onto it and her and tried to avoid having her experience serious head trauma.
We finished up with a rousing game of hide-and-seek before heading back to Shibuya and saying goodbye. She was bummed and tired (no nap) but I gotta say, as far as four year-olds go, Kairi is the best playmate a dude could have.