When I arrived yesterday, it was an overcast, cold, cloudy day in Tokyo (as it is again today). The moisture in the air is incredible \u00e2\u20ac\u201c stepping out of the airport into the train, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost the same damp smell that you get when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re visiting England. My hair is curling like crazy from the humidity, and my asthmatic lungs don’t like it at all. I suppose I should have known the climate would be wet, given all the bamboo and rice growing natively. The view out the window as I headed away from Narita and towards Shinjuku was of thick stands of evergreens and gently rolling fields. The houses in that area are quite large, clustered together to leave arable land free for agriculture. They have many windows and beautiful roofs made of interlocking black or red clay tiles. The sidings are wooden, and the gardens full of topiary \u00e2\u20ac\u201c carefully manicured trees and shrubs. Flying in, many of the roofs were bright blue, but I suppose that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an industrial standard?<\/p>\n I like hearing the announcements on the train and the lady in her little pinafore announcing the goods available for sale on her vending cart. Hearing Japanese spoken around me is still very surreal. I feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m in one of the hundreds of subtitled import films I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve watched \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Suzuki Seijun, or more appropriate for a grey, uneventful afternoon like this one, Yasujiro Ozu<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrived at Shinjuku and took a cab to my hotel, the Keio Plaza<\/a>, where I nearly crashed but managed to drag myself out to see Heather and Bill and their lovely friend Jonathan for a night on the town and dinner in Shibuya. More on that next entry…<\/p>\n As requested, here is a short (1m 30s) video of some of the supremely weird Japanese television I watched before passing out last night.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/lh6.ggpht.com\/_KOjj4nL_qnQ\/Sc4yMnHB9xI\/AAAAAAAAB5I\/au7_RYZTllU\/s800\/Japan%2012.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n