The following was written after my visit to Japan this past May.

May 16, 2007
I stood on the platform of Odakyu Sagamihara station as I had done so many hundreds (thousands?) of times in the past 34 years and never gave a second thought to where I was as it seemed so natural to me. After all, I am home again and it does feel good to be in familiar surroundings.

I heard the familiar tone signaling an approaching train and the familiar female voice informing everyone...

I always try to remember this story by Michiko Inukai. I don't remember which one, but in one of her essays she remembered her childhood and her nanny. (She was born in 1921 and from a good family, she's a grand daughter of Tsuyoshi Inukai.)

When she was small, she was always afraid of going to the station, as the steam engines make such a noise and clouds of steam. When a steam engine was approaching, she could not help closing her eyes with fears.

The nanny was not...

Today I went to the grocery store on the way home from work.

I was thinking about the discussion on the "Have you Ever Experienced Discrimination in Japan?" thread here, and I was quietly monitoring the people around me in a way that I normally do not any more, looking for signs of racism or discrimination for the sake of "science".

I did notice that people looked at me. Yes, they looked, but I saw nothing sinister in their eyes. I didn't even...

The journey has started...no...that's not correct. The journey will start after I have had lunch. I'm a bit at a loss for just how to operate this new toy of a thing, but hope all can see the description I have given.

Later ! MM