Domo...means sorry, please, thank you...

In all my life I have never seen ivy in flower



Many words have more than one meaning. Kaki, which means oyster, also means persimmon, for instance. And the word for yes, 'hai', can be said in many ways so that it can actually mean no. Just an aside.
I am into my second week and here and have walked a few more miles, drunk a lot more beer, and consumed my body weight in miso, rice and all sorts of deliciousness. I am doing yoga every day, and dealing with the air-conditioned 'luxury' by getting to a park (or at least near a tree), each day. I found behind the complex a wasteland of sorts, with a pond and many birds and butterflies. The scent of un-concreted land is phenomenal. I go and inhale deeply.
Lina took me one day to Jiyugaoka, a suburb where the pace is slower and there was a nice temple, Kuhonbutsu. No-one was around so we climbed over the fence and sat by a great tree that must be at least a thousand years old, it was heaven. I could feel the ground beneath me and the swarms of mosquitoes were most glad. But I thrive upon those refreshments, to counter the solidity and unending streets in this area. I have been craving vegetables so much and I feel like when I eat them I am replenishing more than just my appetite, its like I am putting the land back into my body. Fortunately on the weekends out the front of our building are these great organic markets, and I shop there. I have seen and tasted all sorts of new vegetables and fruits I have never had. The stall-holders are very keen and proffer samples readily. Ice cold cucumbers, no e-coli In fact that seems to be the case in the department stores as well, today I was meeting someone, and had an hour to wait. I was a bit hungry and wandered into the food court thinking i would buy a rice ball, but there were so many samples I basically snacked on a variety of nice things, and saved some cash!
I keep seeing re-cycling systems in place wherever I go, and wonderful things being made from rubbish, I feel what I am doing is virtually redundant here, but am still driven to make some objects and see how they survive on the streets.