As the ref blows the final whistle its almost drowned out by the airplane noise overhead. This moment triggers something. I raise my head up, is that my call? Another reminder of the ticking clock on my visit here in Japan. He played well today, no goals but he didn’t...
This cafe has these curious things that appear at first to be camping chairs. But there’s no great outdoors here in Kawasaki. These are bag holders – foldable little contraptions to help customers and avoid them having to put their bags on the floor. Any floor...
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...
