Attention to detail

TIME, a plastic word I made for the Yanaka performers, with Hiharu
I feel like this has been something I have been aware of since before coming, and every day the passion for those minute details is renewed. All the most minute things are thought through and considered. There is an importance to all things, and as I watched a fellow sweeping leaves near Meiji shrine today, I saw the broom was made of branches tied together with string, and his adept handling was as fluid as the wind itself, with no energy wasted, each sweep doing exactly what he wanted it to do. In the center of the path, a line of red leaves lay...above us, millions and millions due to fall. His path was beautiful, his actions reigned in and poetic. His fight never ceases.
A blur of noodles and sake and drinks has occurred. Yesterday it rained very hard and the cooler weather seems upon us now. I went to my friend's house for dinner, and I was served a feast of perfect octopus with tomato and basil, greens with mushrooms and garlic, Korean chicken with homemade kimchi and cabbage, natto, the crazy fermented soybean, then a soup made from the broth of all the vegetables and enoki mushrooms. Can I tell you I am in heaven here? Tasty things, textures and lightness and goodness. We talked about art and philosophy and listened to jazz, drinking tea and sake with the rain beating down on the bamboo outside and freshening the pond full of greedy carp in the courtyard.
I met up with the wonderful Jenny and Phil, from Oz today, which was so exciting, to see old friends and be with them for more exploring. We went to Shimokitazawa and just walked the streets, passing interesting things, and soaking up the atmosphere. I had seen these waffle like things in the shape of fish, but have sweet pastes in them, that are cooked on the spot, and bought them each one. The magic of smelling them cooking was enough for me, but watching the women hand trimming the edges with scissors really amazed me. They see more than 100 an hour, that's a lot of trimming!
No wonder there was a queue.
I see a lot of queues here. Very silently waiting for some door to open, what do I know? It could be a popular restaurant or a book signing...I am tempted to join the queue, just to wait.
The passion for fashion seems endless here, people dressed to the nnes, and I rarely see anyone adjusting their clothing, they look perfect all the time. Hair done just so, makeup, all their accessories placed in perfect symmetry. Only once or twice have I seen someone in sweats and thongs. Looking so immaculate, what is that? Is it because in a big city more people see you, so you want to appear up to date and perfect? It confounds me, the things I read about Japan and people not wanting to stand out, yet there are a whole swad of people who are definitely exhibitionists. Boys in skirts was on the front page of the newspaper the other day, and I have seen many in all sorts of skirts, not just kilts, and they look great. Mohan told me that a new 'whats hot in fashion' bible gets published every fortnight. Now there's a turn around! The clothes are so cool, I look in the windows and think I should get my sewing machine out.
Did I mention the sweet potato cake I was given last week that was wrapped in a couple of sheets of thin waxed paper printed with bamboo, them wrapped in beautifully printed stiffer paper, into a precise square immaculately with a sticker on it that had been stamped centrally with the time and date and a pretty picture, right there, perfectly and exactly. The wrapper was more expensive than the contents, and I was much pleased!
And I think the charms on the phones have to do with the old nasuke(sp) decorations that people would hang from their kimono belts.