fighting
Hit the Fighting Fitness Dojo for the first time in forever. Punch combos, kicks, more kicks, and finished off with various sets of abs. Pain never smelled so sweaty. Yamamoto-san was also featured in a motorcycle magazine, which makes her Officially Cool.
sunday in honbu
Promotion exams, so I sat around for a while, sometimes watching, mostly hanging in the air-conditioned office doing slow aikido with Elvis.
Everyone passed, hurray! And then I grabbed a bokken and got sweaty real fast. And then, the rain. Mad, mad sheets of pouring rain, thunder & lightning. Nothing to do but wait it out. Square off 45 degrees to a mirror, stand perfectly still, then move. Raise, forward, cut. Raise, forward, cut. Repeat until the rain stops.
Everyone passed, hurray! And then I grabbed a bokken and got sweaty real fast. And then, the rain. Mad, mad sheets of pouring rain, thunder & lightning. Nothing to do but wait it out. Square off 45 degrees to a mirror, stand perfectly still, then move. Raise, forward, cut. Raise, forward, cut. Repeat until the rain stops.
kelly & yuka's wedding
Took Kairi and the gang to Kelly & Yuka's Wedding.
Kairi and I spent most of the time wandering around, walking down stairs and up escalators, and doodling pictures. Ah, to by four again.
just sittin'
So I spent a few days in Tokeiin, a temple in the foothills of Shizuoka Prefecture, at a zen retreat. It was lead by Brad Warner, author of Hardcore Zen and Soto Buddhist Priest. And it was, surprisingly, a most beneficial experience. The food was awesome, too. Turns out the cook was a retired professional chef, so instead of the boring pious monk meals, we had some great stuff including tempura and veggie curry.
I was worried I'd be surrounded by crystal-hugging new age hippies, but was pleased to discover an international crowd (Spain, Canada, USA, France, Lithuania, Argentina, Ireland) of folks generally sincere and pleasant.
Typical day went something like this: 4:30 am wake up. Sit. Eat. Clean. Sit. Discuss. Sit. Eat. Sit. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
I am not entirely convinced that the religion of Buddhism is necessary, though it certainly seems a better alternative than any other religion (a quote I heard and a challenge I make to fundamentalist Christians, Muslims, and Jews: "The principles of Zen Buddhism will not oppose reality, the realm of science.") The zen however, is another thing altogether. I thought swinging a sword for two hours every day was hard. Try this: Sit with your legs crossed reasonably uncomfortably (I recommend full lotus). Relax. Now stare at the wall. And don't move. For 10 minutes. 20 minutes. 30 minutes. 45 minutes.
Hard, isn't it? Not exactly inspirational, but the idea is that if you can sit and deal with your own random thoughts for half an hour, then all the other crap in life won't bug you as much. That's an extremely abridged version of an incredibly limited understanding, but you get the idea.
Oh yeah, I also did 20 minutes of yoga. It was incredibly grueling. I will never make fun of yoga hippies again.
So I am attempting some discipline and continue to wake up at 5:30 every morning and sit for half an hour. Does it help?
how to ruin a japanese garden
Ah, the architectural and artistic travesty that is Roppongi Hills. We grabbed some fine rotator sushi for lunch and checked out the newly opened Banana Republic (small, overpriced) before questing for icecream. Instead of icecream we found, right in the middle of the pond of the traditional garden, these massive Murakami sculptures...sigh...talking 'biggest strength is biggest weakness'; the great and terrible thing about Japan is the juxtaposition (car crash?) of old and new, modern and traditional. Sometimes it works: modern Danish furniture and traditional home architecture, modern retro kimono prints, shamisen mixed with rock. And other times, it fails miserably. Case in point. Then again, it wouldn't be Roppongi Hills unless it was gaudy, expensive, tasteless, overdone, and basically ineffective.
talk
First things first: googleTalk is La Bomba. Download and use. Right now it's only for folks with a gMail account, but that will change soon. BTW, if you want a gMail account, lemme know. I have tons.
Secondly, jetlag sucks bigtime. Still trying to reel my soul back in from NYC. I figure it's somewhere over Hokkaido, and will be with me shortly.
Secondly, jetlag sucks bigtime. Still trying to reel my soul back in from NYC. I figure it's somewhere over Hokkaido, and will be with me shortly.
NYC
Photos from post North Carolina.
Many days of shopping in CT and NYC, hanging out in Gramercy Park with the Guzilla Crew, aristrocratic blasphemy in the University Club, party with Lily, Rolands, and more, the new Moma, plus grandma chowing down on waffles with fruit and extra whipped cream at The Bucaneer!
the south will rise again
3 hour delay in Narita, 2 hour delay in Chicago. Finally got to the hotel in Raleigh at 1am. Up at 8am for traditional biscuits and gravy, grits and bacon breakfast. The whole gang was there: Jeff and Ericka with Lily, Will and Arisa with Big Riki, Lee and Charity, Jenn and Devon, Tony...
After Lily had a quick pee in the pool, we checked out the local farmer's market, tasted some peaches and honey and lemonade (lemons, sugar, water, cherries), picked up some vegan (?) cake, and got back for an afternoon nap before the wedding.
Hiroko was in fine form in her kimono, as were Lee and Charity in matching seersucker and of course Lee and Zareen in matching Traditional Native Dress (her native as in India, not his native as in overalls and a Nascar hat.) The food: samosas, curry, biscuits with country ham. The music: Kevin W. Beck's Worst Hits of the '80s.
The bar back at the Sheraton: devastated.
Finally made it to bed around 2am, up by 7am for breakfast, then Packy drove us to the airport for a puddle jump to LaGuardia.
After Lily had a quick pee in the pool, we checked out the local farmer's market, tasted some peaches and honey and lemonade (lemons, sugar, water, cherries), picked up some vegan (?) cake, and got back for an afternoon nap before the wedding.
Hiroko was in fine form in her kimono, as were Lee and Charity in matching seersucker and of course Lee and Zareen in matching Traditional Native Dress (her native as in India, not his native as in overalls and a Nascar hat.) The food: samosas, curry, biscuits with country ham. The music: Kevin W. Beck's Worst Hits of the '80s.
The bar back at the Sheraton: devastated.
Finally made it to bed around 2am, up by 7am for breakfast, then Packy drove us to the airport for a puddle jump to LaGuardia.
not like it's brain surgery or anything...
Hiroko's dad is doing fine so far. Had some basic, all day brain surgery to relieve the pressure of an aneurysm behind his left eye, in the part of the brain that makes him think Nomo has a shot at returning to the majors. Should have a cool head scar, too, which as we all know is key for impressin' the ladies.
elvis & ballerina
A wee Starbucks break with the kids before a huge cutting session at Honbu. Over 10 people, so we cut mats and made a whole buncha trash. Great session; I wasn't totally lame, but lame enough. Gotta work on my left kesa, and I didn't quite manage to get through the second roll on a double yoki-ichi
-- if I spiked the targets I would have had it, but since spiking is for sissies, I failed wonderfully. So much more to learn!
brunch @ cravings
Was supposed to meet up with The Buena Vista so that I could try and hook him up with Miri (full disclosure: it's her mom that's desparate, not Miri herself!) but he pulled an all-nighter partying. So, I swing'd by the Plant to get some pre-brunch fixins and headed over to Miri's.
Miri herself was having a bit of a late start, so I drank some iced coffee and waited for the air conditioner to kick into high gear. Did the standard sit/chat/stare at the grill until it was obvious that the Buena Vista was a no-show, and then Hiroko called and said she'd be along shortly, so I waited patiently before digging into my SuperSize scrambled eggs with all the trimmings.
Risa, her husband, and her dogs, kicked it at the outside tables, and then SkyCorp Penthouser drives by on his motorcycle, so I wave him in and he gives in to a brunch feast as well.
Managed to spend several hours talking smack and drinking coffee and harassing Miri about hooking up a wireless internet connection, so that I could really REALLY spend all day hanging out and being productive.
yakisoba & okonomiyaki
Popped across the street to check out the local Shinohashi Summer Festival. It is small, local, and basically lame. The kids seemed to enjoy it, but after walking up and down the few blocks looking for inspiration, we decided to just head into Komugi for some quality eats.
amy on the train
Met Todd and Amy at Akihabara station around noon and proceeded with the mission: backup solution for his digital photos, laptop replacement for Hiroko, and introduce Amy to the joys of Akiba. We nailed one, getting Todd a sweet external 120 gig HD, failed on the next, as Hiroko's old Thinkpad had secondary cache errors on the CPU and I had to beg them to trash it for me, let alone get any trade-in money for it.
And did Amy enjoy her afternoon out with the guys? She alternated between dead silence and giggling hysterics, she ate a bunch of sandwhiches and blueberry pie, and she was generally adorable and almost-three-ish.
meat @ barbacoa
Just basically too much meat. Garlic steack + grilled pineapple is the Food Of The Gods. After dinner I was so stuffed I walked home from Aoyama in a feeble attempt to burn it off. Needless to say it didn't help much.
stick this
Showed up at honbu and immediately realized it's the first Tuesday of the month: jo day.
A ridiculous number of people (12 at one point) jammed into the dojo to practice.
Admittedly, jo is not my thing, for several reasons:
I admit it's a damn good way to learn some fundamentals that we can all stand to work on; distance, timing, generating power from the hips.
A ridiculous number of people (12 at one point) jammed into the dojo to practice.
Admittedly, jo is not my thing, for several reasons:
- it's really, REALLY hard
- it's not a sword
I admit it's a damn good way to learn some fundamentals that we can all stand to work on; distance, timing, generating power from the hips.
license plate
Papa is the Prison Warden for the state of New Jersey. OK, that's a lie. He's actually in charge of re-engineering the Department of Motor Vehicles for the whole state. I think the idea is to use modern change management and leading technology to streamline the process of buying fake IDs online, or something like that.
He went to the prison where they make license plates and was given a gift. The joke is, his real CT license plate is exactly the same.
Reminds me of that old joke: What's the Secret Service codename for Al Gore?
Al Gore.
birthday summary
After work Hiroko and I had dinner at Lucky. It was typically dead and the mama-san who runs it was happy to see us, so we got free stuff (garlic potato salad!) and ate most leisurely.
Cruised home and took stock of my 33rd haul:
Cruised home and took stock of my 33rd haul:
- two equally silly electronic Hallmark greeting cards from my favorite mom and my favorite her twin sister.
- Five volume set (softcover) of Harry Potter. Yes, I know, so shutup already. I WANT to read them. Been a while since I read something fun in English. Loan Securitization documents don't count.
- Teku-teku Angel, in blue.
- Cool black Nike t-shirt from Masa declaring "The Legend Continues"
- Summer kimono and matching geta
cuttin'
Did some cutting in the basement with Elvis. Lots of silliness, and at least one decent yokoichimonji.
Check out the slide show, or even watch the video.
After cutting Miri fed us at Cravings, then Elvis went to work and Hiroko and I went up to the local kimono place, bought a killer obi for her, and dropped off my kimono for some much needed fixin'.
keith married!
Congrats to the baddest zen buddhist priest in Chicago, shown here completing the bonds of matrimony in Poland.
zest
We had our second and final dinner for all the summer interns at Zest. We took the whole top floor/roof with the nice outdoor open courtyard. Food is perfectly respectable, and the place is cheap. Summer interns seemed impressed enough; I think we've spent more money on summer intern functions (we invite all interns from all the foreign financial firms in Tokyo) than any other bank, and have good officer turnout. We had most of the executive management committee eating onion rings and chatting up the kids. After I wow'd the youngin's with my "What kind of container are you?" speech, I took a leisurely walk home through the soup that is Tokyo's summer night air. Shortly thereafter Hiroko came back from practice sore and tired. Naturally, I abused her because she was so sore she couldn't lift her arms enough to take off her own t-shirt, but unfortunately I discovered that she did in fact have enough energy left to punch me repeatedly.
birthday socks from parentals!
Birthday socks! Kinda long. And kinda green. But they sure are sporty!
mama with showgirl
Mama went to Vegas for the annual General Federation of Women's Clubs meeting.
Here she is with a showgirl (mama's on the left.)
sushi in ginza
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.
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.
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.
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.
yeah, but it's a dry heat
Rode hiroko's bycicle to the dojo in the morning, but it was already 25°C and climbing. Trained for a bit and then after The King showed up we cruised down to Kudanshita for sandwhiches at Subway and some toy shopping at Sakuraya. The Scotland D bought out the place, loading up on gear for his students back home, and I bought the super lightweight hakama and keikogi for summer.
Hiroko was done with work so I came home, got my haircut, and cooked pasta for dinner.
Did I mention it was hot?
Hiroko was done with work so I came home, got my haircut, and cooked pasta for dinner.
Did I mention it was hot?
one too many in ginza
Had a lovely work out with D. from Scotland and ate too much greasy Chinese food afterwards, so decided to walk off a bit of it. Passed this gentleman on the way home and thanked my lucky stars I don't drink. What are the odds he still has his bag, wallet, and shoes when he wakes up? Could be worse; if this was Manhattan, he'd probably wake up naked and covered in spray paint. In New Jersey.
ayu ramen
Really, REALLY good ramen. Okinawan, the speciality being the full and complete ayu fish. Hint: eat the head first!
hata-chan
Hata-chan wore her purple yukata today, and it goes so well with her knife. She looks evil, don't she?
more kimonoage
Went to Ichikawa to Aunt Mari's place and watched as Mari-san spent hours helping Hiroko figure out how to wear the kimono correctly. It's official: my job is to tie the obi (belt) as there is simply no way any normal human can do that behind her own back without having inhuman reversable elbows or something.
I threw on my lightest kimono and as the always styling couple that we are, we took the train back into Tokyo and walked home from Mita Station. And it was hot and humid and nasty.
Got home and I was totally inspired by how cool (at least 5°C cooler than upstairs) the basement was, so I went on a mad cleaning spree. I think I'll drag the futon down there and sleep in cool, air-conditionerless comfort for the rest of the summer!
women's club
My mom is president of the Stamford Women's Club, which has just celebrated its 100th anniversary.
hiroko's wisdom
As y'all may know, Hiroko writes an interestingly random anecdote in her company newletter. Now, we have collected those anecdotes into Hiroko's Hitokoto ("Hiroko's Last Word").
isekan
Hiroko and I were looking for some good fish, and happened upon a fairly new place called Isekan in Azabujyuban. Sat at the counter and watched them pull lobster, giant oysters, and fish out of the tank and slice-n-dice them right there. Only in Japan can you get your food so fresh it's still wiggling! We had all kinds of stuff; sushi, clams, grilled fish...it was all fresh and damn good. Service was a little buggy because the place is still new, and it was a tad pricey, but we ate way too much and enjoyed it thoroughly. Definitely a good place to take (and freak out!) the tourists.
journalists in jail
The United States of America now officially puts journalists in jail. In relation to a grand jury investigation of whether or not senior White House officials broke the law by knowingly disclosing the identity of an undercover agent, a reporter (who didn't even write about the exposed agent) is going to jail for not revealing her sources. Not the reporter who originally did expose the agent, not the government official who originally exposed her.
I don't care what your party affiliation is, not even Kafka could make up a story this assinine. This is not about the letter of the law that every citizen is compelled to comply with a grand jury investigation. It is about the spirit of the law; the right of a free press to investigate exactly these kinds of blatant political machinations.
The saddest part of this story is the Silent Majority of American citizens who are too drunk on reality tv to get off their couch and care, or worse yet who shrug and say the loss of the very freedoms that define America is a necessary evil because of the "war on terrorism" whatever that means. Most of them get their so-called "news" from Fox, so issues of journalistic integrity are a non-starter anyway.
A century from now, students of American history will look back on the early 21st century and compare it to the days of McCarthyism and Stalinism...assuming by then citizens still have the right to study history freely.
I don't care what your party affiliation is, not even Kafka could make up a story this assinine. This is not about the letter of the law that every citizen is compelled to comply with a grand jury investigation. It is about the spirit of the law; the right of a free press to investigate exactly these kinds of blatant political machinations.
The saddest part of this story is the Silent Majority of American citizens who are too drunk on reality tv to get off their couch and care, or worse yet who shrug and say the loss of the very freedoms that define America is a necessary evil because of the "war on terrorism" whatever that means. Most of them get their so-called "news" from Fox, so issues of journalistic integrity are a non-starter anyway.
A century from now, students of American history will look back on the early 21st century and compare it to the days of McCarthyism and Stalinism...assuming by then citizens still have the right to study history freely.
gajoen demo
Put up the photos from the demo we did last week at Gajoen in Meguro. Niina-gosoke looks bad-ass, as always. Amazing how good things look when a pro takes the photos. Plus, Gajoen is just a stunningly beautiful place. A bit overly gawdy, but awesome nontheless.
miri & carrot cake @ cravings
Miri is the owner/chef of Cravings. She cooks Real American Food, and she's funny and cool. My mission(s):
1) Help her set up a wireless LAN so that I can hang out all day w/my laptop
2) Hook her up with my poppyseed cake and apple pie recipes
3) Get her to Supersize my brunches
congrats moka!
A lovely wedding at the Westin Hotel in Ebisu. Fairly lavish affair with your standard speeches, college football buddies and flight attendant friends' antics, teary-eyed flowers-to-parentals, and of course damn good food.
More photos on flickr.
lost liberty hotel
I apologize, but the United Supreme Court has gone bonkers. Good thing someone's trying to do something about it.
antiques
Hiroko and I slogged through the humidity to ride the monorail and check out the quadrannual Heiwajima Antique Fair. I was looking for sword parts and Hiroko was looking for kimono parts. One of got a bunch of great stuff. Hint: my bag was full of Hiroko's stuff.
Actually I did find a bunch of cool items, but they were SO overpriced that even negotiating a 20% discount wouldn't have helped. Hiroko, on the other hand, got last-day-please-take-it deals on a tons of stuff.
Came home, cranked on the ceiling fan, watched a couple more episodes of Kimmy-Must-Die season III, and had some self-rolled sushi for dinner. Bliss.
Actually I did find a bunch of cool items, but they were SO overpriced that even negotiating a 20% discount wouldn't have helped. Hiroko, on the other hand, got last-day-please-take-it deals on a tons of stuff.
Came home, cranked on the ceiling fan, watched a couple more episodes of Kimmy-Must-Die season III, and had some self-rolled sushi for dinner. Bliss.
cutting and cutting
Construction dudes were putting in the new windows so we could only use half the dojo, but it was enough. We cut. Alot. Niina-gosoke broke out the wakizashi (short sword) and man that thing is fun to cut with! Elvis was in terrible form -- massive sinus infection (but at least the stink of summer-ripe cutting targets didn't get to him -- but a good time was had by all.
After cutting we cleaned the dojo top to bottom and then chilled under the air conditioner with beverages and grapes.
Did I mention it was stupendously, unebarably hot? As in 30°C outside, easily 35°C inside. Where in the world has the typhoon season gone?
After cutting we cleaned the dojo top to bottom and then chilled under the air conditioner with beverages and grapes.
Did I mention it was stupendously, unebarably hot? As in 30°C outside, easily 35°C inside. Where in the world has the typhoon season gone?
Izumo Daijo Ishibashi Masamitsu
My new friend. 2.3.7 length, 1070 grams of pure Edo Period joy.
Went by Sakaguchi-san's shop to pick it up, after having new fittings and tsuka (handle) put on that are more to my liking.
Actually not as heavy as I remember, with a decent profile and a fair amount of meatiness. Will try it in class on Friday, and will probably try cutting with it on Saturday as well. Not too much fear of bending it unless I try something stunningly silly.
Will be a trick getting used to a sword with so little audible feedback. The lack of bohi ("fullers" as the grooves that run lengthwise along the sides of the blade are called in the West) means a lack of the distinctive ha-oto (whistle or woosh) that you get with a decent cut. The geometry of this blade means it displays enough air to make a slight noise, but nothing like the whining-two-year-old-wants-a-Barney-DVD-and-some-apple-juice-RIGHT-NOW that my previous blade makes.
noah blair bastian
Born June 16th at 6:50 am in the Los
Alamitos Medical Center - at birth he weighed 8 pounds 8.5 ounces and was 21
inches long.
goodbye bill
The understatement of the century is to say that it has been a tough week.
In order to deal with this, I will resort to the age old technique of denial through humor. What else can you do but laugh when you see your friend die not once, but twice?
We trained at honbu on Friday afternoon before heading down to Ajiro, a resort town on the coast of Shizuoka Prefecture.
Early Saturday morning I was woken up and told that Bill had passed out in the bath. When I ran downstairs I saw Bill lying on his side. His head was purple, his heart stopped, no pulse, no breathing. I immediately started CPR, and within seconds the paramedics arrived and took over. They got his started again and I rode with him in the ambulance. His heart kept starting and stopping on the ride to the hospital. After about an hour, they got him stabilized and into an intensive care room. The doctor said that his family should come to Japan immediately, so that call went to his wife. I stayed with him all day until 8pm. He was convulsing in epileptic seizures and his heart rate was erratic, though the ventilator kept his breathing regular and the six IVs of drugs and fluids kept him going.
Went back to the hotel and told everyone what I was told: he was stabilized but not out of danger yet.
On Sunday I went back and everyone else went to the tournament. He looked much better; color was good, heart and breathing stable, blood pressure normal, no more seizures. After the tournament everyone came by to see him and we all felt better, hoping the brain damage after he wakes up would be minimal.
Sue and Tony arrived Sunday night and we went back to see Bill on Monday morning.
He had just had another brain scan, and Dr. Takanashi gave the assessment: it was not, as originally believed, an epileptic seizure. He had a brain infarction in the left occipital lobe, which caused the seizures. His heart was stopped for at least ten minutes total, causing massive brain damage due to lack of oxygen to the brain. Most likely caused by a blood clot in the brain.
His breathing weakened steadily, and within the hour I saw him die for the second time, his wife and friends by his side.
According to his and his family's wishes, I arranged to have him cremated. The hospital asked for permission to do an autopsy to find out the specific cause of death, and so I came back on Tuesday morning to sign the permission slip and do the paperwork to transfer the body.
According to Japanese law, a doctor's certificate of death is necessary to transport a dead body, and a governmental death certificate is required for cremation. To get a death certificate at the City Hall, proof of next of kin is required. But since both the wife and deceased are not Japanese, the director of the hospital signed as the family representative. Also, in order to verify the deceased name and birthday, a copy of his passport was required. The hospital had a copy on file, but according to the Personal Information Protection Law, I was not entitled to a copy since I was not next of kin. I swear at that point I was on the verge of a breakdown, with my head in my hands. I think the hospital figured it out because they took one look at me and decided to just give me a copy of the passport.
Then, when I tried to get another copy of the death certificate for the US Embassy at City Hall, I could not because I was not immediate family. The wife could not either, since again they could not "prove" that she was next of kin. Ah, but the hospital director could get a copy, since he filed the original paperwork. So the wife of the funeral director went down the street to get a name stamp in the name of the hospital director, which was used to forge the hospital director's name on the death certificate request. This was, by the way, suggested by the woman who worked at City Hall as the best method of procuring a copy of the death certificate.
Paperwork completed, I went back to Tokyo and we took Sue and all to Honbu Dojo to see Niina-gosoke. After some group hugs we went out for a feast of meat, and that certainly helped lift everyone's spirits for a bit.
On Wednesday, Sue and The Verduginator got on the bus to the airport and Tony and I went to the Embassy to get the US paperwork. Otokita-san at the embassy was an absolute angel, and since I had done as she suggested and faxed in most of the paperwork, she was able to finish up everything else fairly quickly. She gave us several copies of English death certificates that Sue would need for various things, and some paperwork that Tony could use to take the remains back to the US.
On Thursday Tony and I went back to Atami and picked up Bill.
It was a cold, rainy day.
Bill is now a pile of ash and bones in a simple pottery jar with a lid. We wrapped him in a Senpokan tenugui.
On Friday Tony took Bill back to LA to be with his family.
Dying in a country in which your friends and family don't speak the language is complicated. I am glad that I could be useful and do something helpful for Bill and everyone else.
Death is neither glorious nor romantic.
Death is horribly ugly and miserably depressing.
Death is sticky and smelly and a dead arm hanging off the side of the bed is cold and heavy.
And I will never, ever forget that color I watched him turn. Twice. Death is not black, it is sickly purple.
His room was overlooking the ocean and when he died the sky was blue and the haze was far, making the mountains float. The sound of the ocean waved through the room as slowly as his breath. His heart beat and his lungs filled with salt air for the last time. And the ocean waves rumbled on.
In order to deal with this, I will resort to the age old technique of denial through humor. What else can you do but laugh when you see your friend die not once, but twice?
We trained at honbu on Friday afternoon before heading down to Ajiro, a resort town on the coast of Shizuoka Prefecture.
Early Saturday morning I was woken up and told that Bill had passed out in the bath. When I ran downstairs I saw Bill lying on his side. His head was purple, his heart stopped, no pulse, no breathing. I immediately started CPR, and within seconds the paramedics arrived and took over. They got his started again and I rode with him in the ambulance. His heart kept starting and stopping on the ride to the hospital. After about an hour, they got him stabilized and into an intensive care room. The doctor said that his family should come to Japan immediately, so that call went to his wife. I stayed with him all day until 8pm. He was convulsing in epileptic seizures and his heart rate was erratic, though the ventilator kept his breathing regular and the six IVs of drugs and fluids kept him going.
Went back to the hotel and told everyone what I was told: he was stabilized but not out of danger yet.
On Sunday I went back and everyone else went to the tournament. He looked much better; color was good, heart and breathing stable, blood pressure normal, no more seizures. After the tournament everyone came by to see him and we all felt better, hoping the brain damage after he wakes up would be minimal.
Sue and Tony arrived Sunday night and we went back to see Bill on Monday morning.
He had just had another brain scan, and Dr. Takanashi gave the assessment: it was not, as originally believed, an epileptic seizure. He had a brain infarction in the left occipital lobe, which caused the seizures. His heart was stopped for at least ten minutes total, causing massive brain damage due to lack of oxygen to the brain. Most likely caused by a blood clot in the brain.
His breathing weakened steadily, and within the hour I saw him die for the second time, his wife and friends by his side.
According to his and his family's wishes, I arranged to have him cremated. The hospital asked for permission to do an autopsy to find out the specific cause of death, and so I came back on Tuesday morning to sign the permission slip and do the paperwork to transfer the body.
According to Japanese law, a doctor's certificate of death is necessary to transport a dead body, and a governmental death certificate is required for cremation. To get a death certificate at the City Hall, proof of next of kin is required. But since both the wife and deceased are not Japanese, the director of the hospital signed as the family representative. Also, in order to verify the deceased name and birthday, a copy of his passport was required. The hospital had a copy on file, but according to the Personal Information Protection Law, I was not entitled to a copy since I was not next of kin. I swear at that point I was on the verge of a breakdown, with my head in my hands. I think the hospital figured it out because they took one look at me and decided to just give me a copy of the passport.
Then, when I tried to get another copy of the death certificate for the US Embassy at City Hall, I could not because I was not immediate family. The wife could not either, since again they could not "prove" that she was next of kin. Ah, but the hospital director could get a copy, since he filed the original paperwork. So the wife of the funeral director went down the street to get a name stamp in the name of the hospital director, which was used to forge the hospital director's name on the death certificate request. This was, by the way, suggested by the woman who worked at City Hall as the best method of procuring a copy of the death certificate.
Paperwork completed, I went back to Tokyo and we took Sue and all to Honbu Dojo to see Niina-gosoke. After some group hugs we went out for a feast of meat, and that certainly helped lift everyone's spirits for a bit.
On Wednesday, Sue and The Verduginator got on the bus to the airport and Tony and I went to the Embassy to get the US paperwork. Otokita-san at the embassy was an absolute angel, and since I had done as she suggested and faxed in most of the paperwork, she was able to finish up everything else fairly quickly. She gave us several copies of English death certificates that Sue would need for various things, and some paperwork that Tony could use to take the remains back to the US.
On Thursday Tony and I went back to Atami and picked up Bill.
It was a cold, rainy day.
Bill is now a pile of ash and bones in a simple pottery jar with a lid. We wrapped him in a Senpokan tenugui.
On Friday Tony took Bill back to LA to be with his family.
Dying in a country in which your friends and family don't speak the language is complicated. I am glad that I could be useful and do something helpful for Bill and everyone else.
Death is neither glorious nor romantic.
Death is horribly ugly and miserably depressing.
Death is sticky and smelly and a dead arm hanging off the side of the bed is cold and heavy.
And I will never, ever forget that color I watched him turn. Twice. Death is not black, it is sickly purple.
His room was overlooking the ocean and when he died the sky was blue and the haze was far, making the mountains float. The sound of the ocean waved through the room as slowly as his breath. His heart beat and his lungs filled with salt air for the last time. And the ocean waves rumbled on.
bill arno
William Joseph Arno, aka Froat, 48 years old, loving husband and father. God speed, bless your soul, and we'll see ya in the next life.
t-minus one week
Stopped by Honbu yesterday and did some cutting, trying to figure out what to do for my demo at the taikai next week. Cut terribly, so that's probably a good sign (?)
Had a big seminar today. Spent the first hour or so with all the upper ranks going over the judging process and how to use the judges flags, etc. After that I took the unranked beginners and beat them senseless. Actually, I just talked them through a few kata and tried to get them to relax a bit and have some fun. A couple of them will be ok if they keep practicing. So, how many of them will still be here a year from now...?
One of the girls was practicing on her own and kept stabbing straight at her friend, so I commented "Trying to kill off the competition before the tournament? Good strategy, Killer." From now on her nickname is "Koroshiya" (killer). Not bad for a four-foot tall giggly Japanese girl. She loves the nickname. No, really.
Came home and Masa came over for dinner. We had the standard Sunday evening feast; ginger pork, Masa's famous miso soup with pumpkin and onions and a boiled egg, spinach and tofu, cucumber with bacon...
Had a big seminar today. Spent the first hour or so with all the upper ranks going over the judging process and how to use the judges flags, etc. After that I took the unranked beginners and beat them senseless. Actually, I just talked them through a few kata and tried to get them to relax a bit and have some fun. A couple of them will be ok if they keep practicing. So, how many of them will still be here a year from now...?
One of the girls was practicing on her own and kept stabbing straight at her friend, so I commented "Trying to kill off the competition before the tournament? Good strategy, Killer." From now on her nickname is "Koroshiya" (killer). Not bad for a four-foot tall giggly Japanese girl. She loves the nickname. No, really.
Came home and Masa came over for dinner. We had the standard Sunday evening feast; ginger pork, Masa's famous miso soup with pumpkin and onions and a boiled egg, spinach and tofu, cucumber with bacon...
imperial palace swan @ night
Crummy day at work, unfocused at practice, so decided to walk home past the Imperial Palace. Reasonably cool night, and as I walked along the moat, I spied a swan pecking at the wall and generally just swimming around looking chill as only swans can. Felt much better after that.
dog day
After practice I got on the subway with Hata-chan, and a woman got on carrying an Annoyingly Small Dog in a Louis Vuitton doggy bag. I started into my standard diatribe about comparing the amount of money people on their dog accessories versus what we spend on human children living in poverty.
Coincidence? As soon as she got on the subway, my eyes started watering, my throat got all scratchy, and I started coughing. Ah, the joys of allergies. I am usually ok, because in a city like Tokyo it's generally quite simple to avoid animals. But not when they are brought onto the damn subway.
Reminds me of the flight a couple of years ago I took from London to New York. Seems someone bought her cat on board. I started sneezing like a madman, and of course didn't have any allergy medicine on me as I made the obviously silly assumption that this would be a cat-free flight. I asked the flight attendant if she could move the cat to the back of the plane, but she said the owner bought her cat a business class ticket seat, and suggested that I move to the back of the plane. I reminded her that I was a business flyer, on a ticket purchased at full fare, two weeks before flying, going from Tokyo to London to New York to Tokyo, working for a company that flies exclusively on United. I said the choices were simple:
1) The cat goes as far away as possible;
2) We wait another hour and, when my allergy attack gets bad enough, we turn the plane around and land back at Heathrow so that I can be taken to the hospital; or
3) I move up to first class.
For some reason the flight attendant actually had to think about it and consult with ground operations before moving me up to first class.
I have nothing against pets or animals in general. I am totally indifferent, having never had any significant pets of my own. What really festers my bunions are people who treat their animals better than they treat their fellow human beings. Never mind the fact that United was so desperate for the sale that they actually sold a seat to a cat. The cat was actually miserable; crying the whole flight, obviously scared out of its mind from being stuck in a caged box inside an airplane surrounded by strangers for 12 hours, and subjected to violent turbulence and altitude changes. I don't know how desperate the cat owner was for her cat's companionship, but the non-cruel thing to do is sedate the animal and stick it in freight. 12 hours later the cat awakes from its nap in New York, never the wiser.
So this lady on the train, with a dog the size of a sewer rat in a handbag expensive enough to feed an impoverished family of 10 for a year, taking this miserable canine-rodent onto a shaking, noisy subway full of strangers, she's not doing ratdog any favors. The short-haired little chihuahua was trembling in fear and wishing it was big enough to support its own body weight instead of being so pampered (read: malnourished) that it needs to carried everywhere.
The only acceptable animals-as-fashion-accessory: fur and leather. Wear 'em with pride, bonus points for killing it yourself.
Coincidence? As soon as she got on the subway, my eyes started watering, my throat got all scratchy, and I started coughing. Ah, the joys of allergies. I am usually ok, because in a city like Tokyo it's generally quite simple to avoid animals. But not when they are brought onto the damn subway.
Reminds me of the flight a couple of years ago I took from London to New York. Seems someone bought her cat on board. I started sneezing like a madman, and of course didn't have any allergy medicine on me as I made the obviously silly assumption that this would be a cat-free flight. I asked the flight attendant if she could move the cat to the back of the plane, but she said the owner bought her cat a business class ticket seat, and suggested that I move to the back of the plane. I reminded her that I was a business flyer, on a ticket purchased at full fare, two weeks before flying, going from Tokyo to London to New York to Tokyo, working for a company that flies exclusively on United. I said the choices were simple:
1) The cat goes as far away as possible;
2) We wait another hour and, when my allergy attack gets bad enough, we turn the plane around and land back at Heathrow so that I can be taken to the hospital; or
3) I move up to first class.
For some reason the flight attendant actually had to think about it and consult with ground operations before moving me up to first class.
I have nothing against pets or animals in general. I am totally indifferent, having never had any significant pets of my own. What really festers my bunions are people who treat their animals better than they treat their fellow human beings. Never mind the fact that United was so desperate for the sale that they actually sold a seat to a cat. The cat was actually miserable; crying the whole flight, obviously scared out of its mind from being stuck in a caged box inside an airplane surrounded by strangers for 12 hours, and subjected to violent turbulence and altitude changes. I don't know how desperate the cat owner was for her cat's companionship, but the non-cruel thing to do is sedate the animal and stick it in freight. 12 hours later the cat awakes from its nap in New York, never the wiser.
So this lady on the train, with a dog the size of a sewer rat in a handbag expensive enough to feed an impoverished family of 10 for a year, taking this miserable canine-rodent onto a shaking, noisy subway full of strangers, she's not doing ratdog any favors. The short-haired little chihuahua was trembling in fear and wishing it was big enough to support its own body weight instead of being so pampered (read: malnourished) that it needs to carried everywhere.
The only acceptable animals-as-fashion-accessory: fur and leather. Wear 'em with pride, bonus points for killing it yourself.
kimono shopping
Hiroko wanted some kimono stuff, so we spent the day wandering Harajuku/Shibuya/Omotesando. First powered up on Nathan's and then went to the used clothing mecca Chicago and loaded up on han-obi. Then we walked up towards Aoyama and hit a few different places. Got a few used kimono and more obi at a Oyama Kimono inside of Oriental Bazaar.
Got home with a craving for steaks so instead of the traditional Japanese Sunday dinner, we feasted on slabs of dead cow and 'taters, side o' greens.
Got home with a craving for steaks so instead of the traditional Japanese Sunday dinner, we feasted on slabs of dead cow and 'taters, side o' greens.
mugaido
Went to Sakaguchi-san's shop in Takadanobaba and checked out his toys. More of a hang out than a store, he's got some nice papered swords and various bits and bobs. One really sweet shinto blade just my spec; unsigned but papered. Have to get some new fittings on it though, as it's kitted out for display not use and that's just NG.
jon gibson & phillip glass
So my cousin (well technically he's my mom's cousin; he was married to the daughter of the older sister of my mom's mom) Jon Gibson was in town with Phillip Glass On Film. They were performing live while showing the classic Dracula. It was most cool. After the show we hung out with the band for a never-ending tofu feast. Phillip played with his rented cell phone taking videos and we were all being generally silly and just eating way too damn much tofu!
fighting
Glutton for punishment. After three straight days of iai, I went to fighting fitness with Hiroko, in an attempt to do something reasonably cardiovascular for a change. The result: stunning pain. I am so out of shape.?And uncoordinated. And out of shape. Did I mention I also can't hold a beat?
kumitachi
Kumitachi seminar today at Akihabara. Haven't been to Akihabara practice in forever. Nakayama-san and I had lunch first (his choice: deepFriedPork!) and then headed over. Good crowd; about twenty. We did the seated kata first; took forever on the first one and then paced well for the rest of the seminar. Yoshida-sensei brought her mom and daughter, both of whom played in the corner as mom trained.
It was good fun and three hours flew by, but after Friday and yesterday, my arms and back were fried.
Started raining so we cabbed back to Honbu Dojo, put the gear away, and headed home. Hiroko made the traditional Kuroda Sunday Japanese Fest, and there was much eating, and loosening of waistbands, and leaning back on the couch and pronouncing "Umph...full..."
As is the tradition, we ended the evening with The Best Show On Television: Kurobara.
It was good fun and three hours flew by, but after Friday and yesterday, my arms and back were fried.
Started raining so we cabbed back to Honbu Dojo, put the gear away, and headed home. Hiroko made the traditional Kuroda Sunday Japanese Fest, and there was much eating, and loosening of waistbands, and leaning back on the couch and pronouncing "Umph...full..."
As is the tradition, we ended the evening with The Best Show On Television: Kurobara.
gyoza
Cut like ass today, and that's all there is too it. Everyone else did really well. I was in my worst form ever. Shoulder hurt, arm hurt, hand bleeding from scraping it on the tsuba. Lots of excuses, but bottom line is I suck and need to practice more.
Came home after practice, chilled and changed, and then had dinner with Will and The Satch, in town for a bit doing pre-marriage things. Gyoza. Mmm....gyoza. So Good. A little meaty drop of joy in a fresh hand-made skin!
Came home after practice, chilled and changed, and then had dinner with Will and The Satch, in town for a bit doing pre-marriage things. Gyoza. Mmm....gyoza. So Good. A little meaty drop of joy in a fresh hand-made skin!
ow
Too much right arm. My right shoulder is my definitive "old man" body part. It hurts; a nice deep, stabbing pain in my bones. If I put to much muscle into my cuts, it lights up on fire and I see stars. Good way to remind myself to use my hips more.
So like the moron that I am I worked way too hard tonight; doing lots of one-armed cuts and getting my back, shoulders, and forearms nice and sore. Cutting practice tomorrow, too.
So like the moron that I am I worked way too hard tonight; doing lots of one-armed cuts and getting my back, shoulders, and forearms nice and sore. Cutting practice tomorrow, too.
arbitrage
Was chatting with our summer interns and came up with a pretty good example to help explain arbitrage.
Say you're looking to buy a book. On Amazon.com the book's price is USD10. On Amazon.co.jp the book's price is JPY1500, and the used market shows a buyer willing to pay JPY1300 for a used copy.
Assuming an exchange rate of 100JPY/USD, then theoretically you simultaneously buy the book on Amazon.com for ten bucks and sell it used on Amazon.co.jp for thirteen, making a nice three dollar profit. That's arbitrage (with an FX component.)
Of course, nothing is that simple. First of all, if shipping from Amazon.com costs four dollars, then you actually loose a dollar on the transaction.
Or, if the exchange rate moves to 110, then your profit drops to not even two bucks. In fact, if the exchange rate moves to more than 130, your profit is wiped out.
And markets naturally seek to eliminate arbitrage opportunities. So if a whole bunch of folks buy the book on Amazon.com and sell it used in Japan, the used market on Amazon.co.jp gets flooded and the price drops. At our original FX rate of 100, if the price of a used book in Japan drops to JPY1000, the arbitrage opportunity evaporates. (Inversely, with everyone buying the book on Amazon.com, the price could rise up to USD13, and then again the arbitrage opportunity is zeroed.)
Also, as people buy more books on Amazon.com, they need US dollars to pay. Demand for the USD goes up, and a dollar gets more expensive relative to other currencies. Folks holding dollars can sell them for more than they could before, demanding say 130 yen for every dollar instead of our original 100 yen. At 130JPY/USD once again the arbitrage opportunity disappears.
Say you're looking to buy a book. On Amazon.com the book's price is USD10. On Amazon.co.jp the book's price is JPY1500, and the used market shows a buyer willing to pay JPY1300 for a used copy.
Assuming an exchange rate of 100JPY/USD, then theoretically you simultaneously buy the book on Amazon.com for ten bucks and sell it used on Amazon.co.jp for thirteen, making a nice three dollar profit. That's arbitrage (with an FX component.)
Of course, nothing is that simple. First of all, if shipping from Amazon.com costs four dollars, then you actually loose a dollar on the transaction.
Or, if the exchange rate moves to 110, then your profit drops to not even two bucks. In fact, if the exchange rate moves to more than 130, your profit is wiped out.
And markets naturally seek to eliminate arbitrage opportunities. So if a whole bunch of folks buy the book on Amazon.com and sell it used in Japan, the used market on Amazon.co.jp gets flooded and the price drops. At our original FX rate of 100, if the price of a used book in Japan drops to JPY1000, the arbitrage opportunity evaporates. (Inversely, with everyone buying the book on Amazon.com, the price could rise up to USD13, and then again the arbitrage opportunity is zeroed.)
Also, as people buy more books on Amazon.com, they need US dollars to pay. Demand for the USD goes up, and a dollar gets more expensive relative to other currencies. Folks holding dollars can sell them for more than they could before, demanding say 130 yen for every dollar instead of our original 100 yen. At 130JPY/USD once again the arbitrage opportunity disappears.
dtww
Double-Tongued Word Wrester: "A Growing Dictionary of Old and New Words From the Fringes of English".
I used to live behind the Orange Curtain, where I went to school with many an asiental friend.
I used to live behind the Orange Curtain, where I went to school with many an asiental friend.
ebt get-together
Chimi's off to Italy soon, so we went to a Japanese tofu place and then met Shlab (in town from HK) at Footnick Pub for some bevvies and silly-talk. Good to get the old gang together. I think I'm the last married person on the team without kids...
kanda festival
Kanda Festival this weekend around Honbu Dojo. I was practicing and getting ready for next week, with Miyasawa-san up from Osaka. Crazy weather: sunny turns cloudy, earthquake shakes the building, thunder and lightning, rain turns to hail, then sunny again. Not sure if the gods were thrilled or pissed.
yard work
Hiroko pulled up all the weeds and swept up the leaves and we burnt the pile in our 'front yard.'
Neighbors are used to us smoking the neighborhood with the BBQ grill, so I reckon this was no different, although I'm sure it's pretty rare (and most likely illegal) to burn yard offage in front of your house in Tokyo.
sushi
First class in over a week. Felt slow and sloppy, so we worked at a nice mellow pace; lots of time on basic cuts at the beginning and finishing up with a couple of kata, getting nicely into details. Tried to focus on hand and blade control, making the sword go where it's supposed to, without forgetting about the feet and hips.
After class I fed Elvis cheap sushi served by non-Japanese waitresses with thick accents and we (what else?) talked smack about budo and babes.
His shinken will be ready next week, and he is SO looking forward to cutting himself repeatedly with it until he gets used to using a live blade a bit longer than the dull practice blade he uses now.
After class I fed Elvis cheap sushi served by non-Japanese waitresses with thick accents and we (what else?) talked smack about budo and babes.
His shinken will be ready next week, and he is SO looking forward to cutting himself repeatedly with it until he gets used to using a live blade a bit longer than the dull practice blade he uses now.
shintoryu
Only two guys showed up for kumitachi class, so we drilled through most of the Shintoryu kenjutsu kata. Niina-gosoke popped in and out every now and then to laugh or comment. I haven't done them all in a while so I was forgetting details (left or right foot?) but got the general flow down. Still feeling a bit clunky since I had a long break last week.
national museum of western art
Went to Ueno to check out the George de La Tour exhibit at NMWA. Fairly interesting -- neat to see how many of the works are copies, and how they use X-rays and infrared to authenticate the originals. La Tour's not one of my favorites, but he's got that wrinkled-clothing-by-candlelight thing down, and it just looks so cool.
The museum's regular collection is ok, I guess; some paintings by artists I've seeen or heard of before, but nothing really gripping.
After the museum we walked down to Ameyoko for the Last Great Bargains in Tokyo. We passed fishmongers with stacks of fresh cut maguro slabs for ridiculously cheap, bags of nuts and crackers and fruit-on-a-stick and cheap ties and rip-off brand name sportswear before finally hitting the candy store and loading up on sugary goodness. Two overflowing shopping bags for less than 3000 yen.
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