November 2006
(29th November 2006)
I spent some time yesterday in Shinjuku. Also known as "the place that has that street from Lost in Translation." Neon, neon, neon. The station is also stunning, not architecturally, but because two million people pass through it every day, apparently, and I think they do it all at once, all the time. On the neon streets, I found Mitsukoshi department store. Specifically, the craft ...
→ AEIOU
(27th November 2006)
A day of small pleasures. Like figuring out the heating, having spent several days occasionally wrapped in blankets, before thinking to ask the helpful concierge desk. The helpful concierge photocopied the instructions to the ventilator remote controls and pointed me to the underfloor-heating control panels, which I had not noticed, as they don't bear any semiotic help like "This panel controls underfloor heating." If I ...
(26th November 2006)
Today I branched out from the Tokyo metro system (easy) to the Japan Railways overland system (not so easy). I had an appointment with the chairman of the Japan Toilet Association, a man who has answered his phone once though I have rung it 20 times, and the appointment was in Kokubunji, or, as the Italians say, in culo alla luna (up the backside of ...
(25th November 2006)
1. When I came back to the flat after several hours walking in chilly temperatures, there was a heated toilet seat waiting for me. Until you have tried it, you won't know how good that feels.
2. The bath in the flat has a remote control panel that controls temperature and can automatically fill the bath to a pre-selected level. Once I figured out the ...