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...
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...
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...
It’s Saturday night, and I’ve arranged to meet a friend from language school in a bar in Ebisu for a drink. Happy Hour at the Hub ends at 7pm, and he texts to say he’ll be late – there’s a body on the line. Trains are so rarely late here. They are sleek,...
I awoke and felt warm. I’d been dreaming of an ice bath, an underground maze of ice baths to be precise. I was taking part in a communal mediation/chanting and upon completion everyone dived into the ice water… but I wasn’t sure where it lead to. People weren’t...
