Friday 28th August

It is 11.25am. I have just woken up to fresh coffee, a banana, a peach and celtic music. Could life get any better?! Last night was exhausting, I spent hours and hours trying to get to where I am now. The journey from the airport to Osaka station took ages(1.5 hours including hilarious encounters with unimpressed salarymen), and I suppose having travelled for 27 hours non stop (on Valium) didn’t help my understanding of new but familiar Japan. I had to get to Kyoto, and then to Yu’s house. It was all seeming a bit impossible but I got saved by a lovely lady in Kyoto, who took me to the right station, phoned Yu and then packed me off in a Taxi! I must have looked quite a sorry state with my vacant gaze and masssiiiive suitcase.
Yu’s house is so lovely. It is a 6-tatami mat room with a cute little kitchen at the front and a cute little bathroom at the back. The main room changes its function constantly; it is a dining room, a living room, a bedroom. The atmosphere changes with the time of day. Right now it is a room which smells of fresh coffee and incense and sounds like Lou Reed and cicadas humming gently outside. Sometimes they scream. The atmosphere was very different a few hours ago- I had a really strange experience when I woke up briefly at 8am. I had awful dreams where I couldn’t move at all and I wanted to move while dreaming lucidly about moving and trying to scream. I can’t actually tell what happened but I’m pretty sure I didn’t wake up sleeping on the wall or staring at a 5 foot spider, like I originally thought. Yu said that many times I cried out in my sleep, I know I was scared. It’s alright now.
Today everything seems normal again, it’s really nice. Normal meaning this- everything is all so familiar and charming. The one thing which has struck me more than anything about ‘wrapped Japan’ is the significance of the unwrap; the way a peach is wrapped in polystyrene mesh and cling film and then ceremoniously removed from these artificial wrappers, and also removed from its skin…all the soft fuzz cut off painstakingly with a sharp knife until the vulnerable and fragrant flesh is exposed, and then cut up to serve and consume. This was my job this morning, while Yu emptied fresh coffee beans into a hand grinder. Beauty lies in the care and attention in the process of doing things, an act which does not seem to exist in England. Yu was surprised to hear that in England peaches come in packs of 6 for about £2 (450 yen). We also savour the soft fuzzy skin.

Later…
Today was hot; overcast and shady and humid. We took bikes into Kyoto and had a look at some temples. It was so very relaxing. I’ve felt full of peace all day long, apologies for sounding so vomity! There’s no other way to describe it. Everything is just wonderful. I feel at home here, even though Japan definitely isn’t my home. This is my theory: I can’t understand what’s going on because my Japanese is more like Crapanese. Being unable to pick up on advertisements and media messages must be quite positive because it means I rely solely on my own ideas and experiences about the immediate environment. Even though I do not exist entirely on assumption, it is still nice not to feel the pressure of needing to own or give or take or desire. For now.
Now we are cooking some delicious dinner. Again, consuming the meal is only half the experience- the rest is made up of chopping carefully and putting items in special bowls waiting to be cooked. And then cooking them. Ja, mata ne!