'All Tomorrow's Parties'

I don't know whether the ability to sleep in public is something that is taught in schools in Japan, but it's certainly a skill that everyone here seems to possess. People will get on the subway, fall immediately asleep (sometimes standing up), travel perhaps only two or three stops and then instantly snap awake and disembark. It's quite instinctive. I wish I could do it. 

Of course, it might all be rather less controlled than I suppose, and they all get off as soon as they wake up because they panic and realise they've slept beyond their station, but I suspect not.

We've used the subway quite a lot so far; it's beautifully efficient. Yesterday we went  on it up to Shibuya, one of the most manic parts of the city, browsed (some of) the shops and ate delicious noodles in a sidestreet 'ramen' cafe. They saw us coming a mile off (literally - they had a screen in the kitchen showing the street outside) and tucked us away in the far corner of the restaurant, away from the regulars, though, like virtually everyone we talk to, I think they were pleasantly astonished when Scarlett spoke to them in Japanese.

Later, we sat in the upstairs window of a well-known Seattle-based coffee establishment (the icy tentacles of globalisation are firmly entrenched here) overlooking Shibuya's famous 'scramble' crossings; three enormous pedestrian crossings that all converge and trisect each other on one junction. There is a curious fascination to be had just watching the patient build-up of people at each of these, and then the movement of the crowds in unison as the lights change to green (or blue, as the japanese reckon), and then again the slow build-up. Humanity just bloody everywhere. This is a seriously big city.

Today we went to 'Zoorasia' in Yokohama with Jeremy, Rachael and the children. I'm not normally on board with zoos, being put off by the concrete walls and depression, but this one had an airy, spacious feel to it that I liked, plus we saw elephants, tigers and otters (possibly the most underrated animal) so you can't really argue with that at the end of the day.

I also took on some 'joyful vitamin c' from a lemon-flavoured drink produced by a well-known japanese beverage company. For relaxing times, make it...Suntory time.

- Adam