Taiga woke up seething, as despite there being snow on the ground, school remains open today in Minatomirai. He’d gone to bed optimistic, with snow forecast overnight and the school putting out an emergency message that it ‘might’ cancel. But at around 6am they sent a...
And just like that… everything was fine again. All because I slept for twelve hours last night. I struggle with sleep here. Part of it is the time difference, we are nine hours ahead of the UK and so I’ll often be up late engaged in zoom calls. That stuff is going...
Coat, hat and gloves on, I scoop up his school bag / randoseru (?????) by the leather shoulder straps and heave it onto his back. He pushes the door open to leave for school he turns to me, sighs and says: “Another long day at school for me.” It can be hard to get the...
Two men in their 70s do Tai Chi at the park. Wearing matching sleeveless bomber jackets, warm jumpers and khaki cargo pants – their bicycles discarded by a nearby tree. As if lead by a conductor, they move effortlessly and gracefully in sync. I imagine a...
When I arrive at the park Taiga’s cheeks are red and he’s breathless but happy. He has his own agenda today and has been playing football for the last two hours with his schoolmates, proudly announcing he did 21 kickups, using both feet. A few months ago he was...
I’m sat on the opposite side of the glass this morning, as the coffee shop’s closed for New Year’s Day. Japan closes down for the first 3 days of January; pretty much the only time of year you’ll witness such a universal shut down of business. Last night was busy!...
