Saturday, June 21, 2008

Sunday June 22, 3:11 p.m.

A week ago, I was getting my clock punched by eager beaver mikoshi maniacs in sunny and warm weather at The Urayasu Festival. Today, all of us in Japan are being drowned. It is raining a menagerie out there which could be going as long as tomorrow morning. Commuting to Shibuya will be interesting, to say the least. I actually did my laundry this morning, and it's all hanging inside my apartment which means it'll be drippy humid in there when I get back.

Yesterday, I met Tully & The Coffeemaker for the first time in about a month...the former one for the first time in 2 months since he skipped out in May. The lad was able to secure himself a job at some company called Tokyu Dentetsu where he'll be eventually involved in urban planning. As for the class itself, it sounds like the two would rather pick up vocabulary and discuss stuff instead of going for handouts. The Coffeemaker got slightly prickly when she saw yet another photocopy handed to her.

Then, I went to Sugamo, one of the few places in The Big Sushi that I'd yet to visit in all my years here. When I got out of the station from The Mita Line, the avenue was remarkably wide. As for the famed shopping street known as the Harajuku for Seniors, it was definitely a lot more sedate place than its teen-infested counterpart. There were certainly more older folk there than younger....a possible foreshadowing of the demographics to come in Japan. The restaurants lining the street were of the wafu variety: sushi, yakitori and senbe galore. There was a shop selling red clothing of all kinds. My thought was that its market were the middle-agers hitting 60, since that is the age of kanreki (something that Mr. Mild has just gone through) when they are supposed to be feted with a red cape. I also saw red negligees being sold, but I won't make any comments about them. And I did make a celeb sighting...former boxer-turned-tarento Wajima was ambling along the street with a TV crew. He did get noticed by a few people. Of course, with all that wafu-ness of Sugamo, I ended up having lunch in a most appropriate place...Burger King. Yep, at the very area where Hideki Tojo and his minions were jailed and executed after the Second World War, there are now BK and McDs. The Home of the Whopper seems to be making inroads here like wildfire.

I returned a call to Speedy. Apparently, there will be another model lesson on the way. I have had a bit of a skid with my model lessons...I don't think I was too successful with that shy guy at Speedy's the other day, and I'm still not sure about the fate of that gabby woman at the juku on Friday. In any case, I've got one next week. Plus, it looks like BC's relapsed into her depression again. The bossman told me that she started going into her crying jags on Friday which meant that she had to head home early...the 2nd jag was because she felt badly about having to leave the boss in a lurch. Not sure who I feel more sorry for....BC or the boss.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Friday June 20, 10:30 p.m.

The juku computer seems to be encroaching senescence. There was a thin white line breaking through the screen. Now not only has it thickened but it's gained a second, skinnier little brother.

Well, I met that mystery student today first thing. She's a gabby one...not at all the lowbie that the boss had made her out to be. She's good on the basics and can show a few of the higher-level grammar but she's got sizable holes which we'll need to work upon. However, she did say that she may have to head out to Osaka for a few months due to work. Being my cynical self, I could take it as a hedge to not be my student to save face. At the same time, she did say that she would come back to be my student either starting from next week or next season.

Mild Jr. was his usual intense self when it came to his pronunication. And it looks like he's been having some personality clashes with a colleague at work. I saw The Ace for the first time in 3 weeks. He's been pretty busy himself.

But it's time for me to sign off and get some shuteye before I see Tully & The Coffeemaker for the first time in a month tomorrow.
Friday June 20, 5:50 p.m.

Basically twiddling my thumbs here at the juku waiting for that first student to come. I ended up getting something to eat at the conbini so I didn't end up sleeping on the table. I am feeling more alert now. Max Coffee works wonders.

Speaking of Max, I've been reading some of the early reviews for the cinematic version of "Get Smart" with Steve Carell. I was rather surprised that it hasn't been the bomb that I was suspecting it to be. So far, the reviews have been mixed and apparently the reviewers on IMDB are just raving about it...which does make me even more suspicious than Siegfried. Well, at this point, it doesn't really matter since I won't probably be able to see it for several months...if it comes here at all...the show isn't really known in Japan. I guess it'll be like the movie version of "Dragnet" with Dan Ackroyd and pre-"Big" Tom Hanks.

The juku boss informed me that this prospective TOEIC student coming in about an hour had dropped by on Wednesday night for an initial face-to-face. I was rather surprised to find out the boss' assessment of her. Apparently, she's not all that high-up in the conversational department. The student claims that she was able to get 600 points (which would put her solidly in the intermediate territory) solely on the Listening section which got an unbelieving snort out of me (I hardly ever snort, which will tell you how surprised I was). You don't get 600 points just out of completing half a TOEIC test, sister. Well, I guess things may have to be adjusted once she comes in. Still not sure if she'll be a convert since she lives so far away in Narita. For that matter, I kinda wonder if Suzanne will return after her Aussie homestay. She lives all the way out near Ikebukuro in west Tokyo...not as far out as Narita, but still not sure if she really thinks the juku classes have been worth enough to justify staying in Urayasu that much longer after her part-time job.

In any case, it's just a job...

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Friday June 20, 1:19 p.m.

Pretty unsettled out there. May or may not rain. Just had another tonkatsu meal. Ironically, as I was waiting for my meal to come out, I came across a comic strip in one of the cheap tomes that populate the shelf by the door which dealt with obese Japanese at a fat camp. I gather that its time has come. In a country where MegaMacs, Burger King Whoppers and eating contests reign supreme in Japanese pop culture, it's no surprise that I've come across folks who are even bigger than me. And did I forget to mention Krispy Kreme? I just heard that KK #4 will open up in Lalaport, the Funabashi mall?

I got the word from Skippy about catching "Indiana Jones". Looks like the date is set for the 29th. Luckily, I have no plans that day.

Just have the juku students tonight, including that model lesson with that intrepid TOEIC student. I've managed to cobble something together for a possible TOEIC-based lesson, but I'm not sure if the student would want a cobbler...a TOEIC teacher would be better. Afterwards, it'll be Mild Jr. and then The Ace.
Thursday June 19, 9:58 p.m.

I ended up teaching The Temp at that cafe where I'd been first introduced to her. Got there about a half-hour early so I indulged in a Keema Curry Sauce Pasta (pretty good) with a Caramel Milk (very good) before she arrived. If it weren't for the fact that her fluency was fairly low, I'd peg her as nearly an advanced student. We were lucky that it wasn't a busy night at the cafe...in fact, for the last 10 minutes, we were the only folks in there. And best of all, no crazed women.

Then, I got Slim. We had a good conversation in the last several minutes of the lesson which put us 1o minutes overtime about the somewhat progressive nature of his company. For one thing, his firm's sales staff don't need to fight against quotas in an industry which just loves them. Although sales will always be tough, a lot of pressure is taken off in his company because of the lack of quotas.

I'll have another leisurely Friday although I'll have to go to City Hall to find out about clinics or hospitals where I can get my checkup. Then, I'll have a threesome at the juku. There's that model lesson student for TOEIC (not sure how that's gonna go) and then Mild Jr. followed by The Ace.
Thursday June 19, 4:44 p.m.

The Nurse remarked that our lessons don't seem to make much progress in terms of text pages; it was another case of sidetracking again, not that she minded too much seemingly. Plus, she's observed that whenever she re-listens to our conversation on her recorder, the theme tends to hover around food a lot.

Which brings me to the confession that today has become a McD Day. Speedy was gently nudging me to take advantage of the coupons that have been hanging on our fridge door. I have to admit that it didn't take much arm-twisting to get in on the McMeal despite the fact that I'd had a McBreakfast this morning. This could be interesting when I head over to the cafe to teach The Temp.

Which brings me to yet another segue. It was a bit late in coming, but Speedy said that I could bring my newest student over to the school, if so desired. So I've sent over a better-late-than-never message to her about the bossman's offer.

I just saw the newest and last trailer for the cinematic version of "Get Smart"...the movie will open tomorrow in the States. I know that the movie will probably bomb worse than even....well, "The Nude Bomb" almost 30 years ago but I did enjoy the one scene in the trailer where 99 had to nudge something from Max's jacket with her bare foot....and I do mean in a humourous way. Aside from that scene, though, the humour looks pretty non-existent and the movie will probably end up being on the heap of failed TV show remakes.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Thursday June 19, 11:33 a.m.

Grandma Dynamite was anything but today. As Speedy passed her off onto me, he whispered that she wasn't firing on all cylinders...memory lapses, mumbling to herself, the whole schmear. She told me that she wasn't feeling too well; yep, I could see that...she was burping a bit during class. However, the yuzu jam tea helped her flagging energies somewhat. Maybe I could've used a cup of it as well, but I had to settle for ice water.

Well, I've got the first of two long breaks since The Nurse's lesson isn't til 3 p.m.
Thursday June 19, 9:06 a.m.

Was looking for that Harrison Ford appearance on BISTRO SMAP via YouTube. Sure enough, it was there. He looked rather zoned out or befuddled, but when you're in the midst of Japanese pop culture, it can be easy to feel that way. I see that he's also paid his tribute to Japan by appearing in his first Kirin beer commercial in many years...this time, he's in a sauna.

Since it's another morning lesson here at Speedy's, it was another MacBreakfast. I gave the MegaMuffin another try after a somewhat underwhelming first try some weeks ago. This time, it went down a bit easier. Still, the slippage factor is of some concern. Forgive my anal nature, but I just don't like it when the contents of a sandwich threaten to vomit out the other side whenever I bite into it. The overall grease, ketchup and cheese act as a great example to hydroplaning. Overall, though, I think I'm pretty much filled up til dinner time when I meet The Temp for her 2nd lesson.
Thursday June 19, 8:43 a.m.

Woke up later than I should have, but still managed to get out of the house within 15 minutes. That may not seem too impressive to you up-and-at-'ems, but for a guy like me who usually takes 3 hours between getting up and taking off, this is a matter for some celebration. So, it was with some irony that Speedy had overslept and had to rush on over here to see his very first student of the day. I'd first thought when I came in to an empty school that the student had cancelled, as he is prone to do from time to time due to the rigours of his work. So, when the student did arrive with no bossman around, I went into crisis mode. However, the student reassured me that he would be on his way....apparently, Speedy contacted his student on his cell while the student was en route.

I've only got 4 students today but my schedule is stretched out due to a combined total of 7 hours of downtime. A bit of a bummer but as they say here, sho ga nai.
Wednesday June 18, 9:37 p.m.

Well, it may have been a truncated Hump Day, but I still feel like I went through a wringer, thanks to that off-kilter model lesson and the usual roller-coaster ride with The Diver. 001 was fine, as long as we didn't stay too long on the text; she's not too thrilled with it anymore. She and The Diver did get their amusement from the pictures of me carrying the mikoshi.

Tomorrow, I've got another foursome starting with Grandma Dynamite followed by The Nurse, The Temp and then Slim.
Wednesday June 18, 5:36 p.m.

Well, that model lesson was like an incomplete high school curriculum...no chemistry. The man's nice enough but he is apparently an extreme practitioner of that art of appreciating the silences between utterances. It was like pulling teeth. Not sure if I'm gonna make a convert out of him, but then again, I had no hope for The Yogist at her model lesson, and now she's a fan on the level of 001 or 002.

There's nothing like struggling through a model lesson to sap the energy out of you. I was ready for that conbini lunch. Fortunately, I have 001 up next before The Diver. If it had been the other way around, I would've needed an ambulance.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Wednesday June 18, 12:38 p.m.

Another unsettled day....not particularly sunny but not too cloudy or rainy. And we're neither too hot or too cold, but it is humid. The morning wide shows have been analyzing the horribly mad world of the late Tsutomu Miyazaki. Miyazaki had once said about his killings that anyone would've been fine...dare demo yokatta. It would seem that this phrase may become a candidate for one of the annual catchphrases since it's been used by several of this year's psychos, including the one responsible for The Akihabara Massacre.

Looks like someone came a tad too early for my lesson. I just heard from BC and Speedy that The Big Lug made a mistake on his lesson day and arrived here 24 hours early instead of his time of 1:45 today. We would laugh but he lives quite a ways away. Also have a model lesson coming up right after him. And then it's 001 followed by The Diver.

Harrison Ford did the thing that a lot of Hollywood celebs do whenever they come into town to plug a picture...he showed up on the Fuji-TV morning news show, "Mezamashi Terebi". Well, the feature itself will be shown tomorrow morning. I'm pretty sure he'll be considerably less bizarre than Mr. Karube's last foreign guest, Mariah Carey. And I'm sure Ford will find Mr. Karube considerably less bizarre than the sight of Puffy as interviewers when he had come over to plug "Air Force One" years ago.
Tuesday June 17, 9:16 p.m.

I only had Mr. Mild today. Apparently, Mrs. Mild had a bout of dizziness due to fatigue. He gave me some of the shots from Sunday's hijinks. Man, I really DO NOT take good pictures. I looked like an exhausted Jabba Du Hutt carrying that mikoshi. Well, it'll be worth several minutes of laughs tomorrow at Speedy's. And as the saying goes, if you can get a minute's worth of laughter out of someone, that'll mean he'll listen to you an extra minute longer. I think I should coast through tomorrow's classes then.

Well, Jolly is indeed coming, albeit he'll be a few minutes late. However, since I have an afternoon start to Wednesday, I don't mind that much at all. It'll also be a slower Hump Day since I don't have The Nurse starting up in the morning and Medicine Man won't be coming in to wrap things up. I may be able to head home early yet again.
Tuesday June 17, 4:54 p.m.

Well, after nearly 20 years, the government finally gave notorious serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki what everyone (including himself) had expected and hoped for...his chance at the noose. He was executed earlier today and the Justice Minister made the announcement around noon. I'm sure the news hit the stands via bulletin. I'd just come to Japan for my stint on JET when the news of this owlish man who had killed little girls, desecrated their bodies and ate a couple of them hit the screens and papers like a howitzer. Miyazaki became the poster boy for all that was supposedly wrong with the otaku of Akihabara (ironically, not too long after, a tarento named Hachiro Taku parodying a doll-obsessed otaku became a popular fellow on TV). The timing of the execution is interesting...it came just a week after another otaku, Tomohiro Kato, had attacked Akihabara itself in a stab-and-run massacre and just a couple of days after a slew of copycats threatened to follow Kato's lead. A warning?

In any case, unlike in the States where executions are publicly advertised on all of the networks, the Japanese justice system never announces its executions until after the deed has been done. The death-row inmates sometimes get less than 24 hours' notice although they may have been waiting for years and years. I'm sure as I type this, the TV stations are going over the history of this madman Miyazaki once more.

Well, The Beehive just had a couple of its members show up...Mrs. Alp and Mrs. Jade. There was more on the Croatian trip....I received another souvenir in the form of Croatian raisins, or perhaps they should be called sultanas instead. They're fairly big and juicy suckers although I could hardly call them dates. I'll probably share them with The Milds in partial thanks for Sunday. Mrs. Alp also informed us that Mrs. Perth's father had finally passed away last Tuesday which brought up the topic of Japanese funerals. However, by the end of the session, the two ladies were bursting at the seams at this possible new project of setting up a private party at a nearby hotel when Mrs. Tulip returns for a summer vacation late next month.

002 and I had another rollicking good time although I'm starting to wonder if we're just chatting a bit too much in these lessons.

When I got into Urayasu, the lanterns from last weekend's festival were still up. But it was basically back to normal business after all of the mikoshi-fueled madness of last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The welts on my right shoulder are healing quite nicely now, although I'm joking that they look like the aftereffects of a vigourous session at an S&M club in Roppongi. I'm still an hour away from seeing The Milds and perhaps Jolly. It'll be a short session tonight in any event. However, this Friday is looking atypically busy here. I've got Mild Jr. and The Ace, but before them, I may have a new student in the form of a lady who wants to up her TOEIC score from 600 to 800 points. That would be patently impossible but I'll see what I can do for her. I'm not sure if it would be worth the effort since she lives all the way out in Narita, but the lady says that the juku is on the way between her job in Tokyo and her home. Oooooookay. I did see The Brazilian...who was looking considerably less genki than she did when I'd first met her. She just went through 3/4 of a marathon grammar session with the boss before the boss herself cut things short due to her young charge's imminent collapse.

Well, I did try to hold off but the hunger is coming back again so time to grab a little something at the conbini.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Monday June 16, 9:14 p.m.

Yes, as it turned out, Slim erred on the time so he literally dropped a rice ball and flew over here on a wave of sweat and embarrassment. He was profusely sorry but no worries here. He has established himself as a fine student.

Looks like Skippy's hopes for Harrison Ford to show up on the premiere day of the latest Indiana Jones flick will be dashed. The big man had already shown up for the Japan special premiere last week at Roppongi Hills and even did a Bistro SMAP. Kinda glad I missed that.

Anyways, I'm ready to get home at an insanely more reasonable time than I've had for a Monday in several months.
Monday June 16, 7:42 p.m.

Uh-oh. Slim hasn't shown up yet, and he's usually punctual to the second. I've got a feeling he's misunderstood the time. We'll see...

Looks like the police have been keeping a very sharp eye for any copycat would-be killers after The Akihabara Massacre. The cops arrested a 17-year-old girl in one of the far-flung prefectures after they'd found out that she was "inspired" to do the same thing. Not sure if she had also been targeting Akiba, though.

Well, so far so good. BC seems to be in fairly good spirits. I asked Speedy quietly about her condition and she seems to be doing OK.

Tomorrow I've got The Beehive at the usual place. And I've still gotta give the last two presents from Mom for Mrs. Jade and Mrs. Tee. Then, it'll be 002 followed by the juku gang. Well, it'll be more like a trio...just The Milds and Jolly, although Jolly is always a maybe.

So I see that John Barrowman of "Torchwood" and "Doctor Who" fame will be showing up on CITY-TV's "Breakfast Television" in about an hour or so back in Toronto. I wonder if he'll be trying to pick up everyone in sight on Queen St.

Thought as much...Slim thought his class was for 8:30 p.m. He's coming around the mountain, as we speak.
Monday June 16, 5:31 p.m.

Continuing on about The Urayasu Festival...Mr. Mild and I came back to his house for a little respite. We ended up playing his Wii Sports on the plasma TV. Well, mikoshi-carrying and Wii tennis may not be my forte, but I seemed to have been in the groove like Tiger Woods yesterday when it came to Wii bowling. Not sure what it was, but I was able to get 5 strikes in one game.

We made one more foray outside, but this time I changed back into J-Canuck, regular citizen. It was about 5 p.m. and our mikoshi had already reached "home" as it were and the young'uns were making one final tired toss of the shrine before finally calling it quits. Some congratulatory iced coffee and squid-on-a-stick, and then Mr. Mild and I were walking through the non-mikoshi festivities in old Urayasu. I keep mentioning old Urayasu, the reason being that Mr. Mild explained that The Urayasu Festival is only held in the original town, and not Shin (New) Urayasu which was built on reclaimed land. The main sidewalks were clogged with festivalgoers stopping at the various stands selling okonomiyaki, choco-bananas and yakisoba. One guy was even frying up chicken steaks. After a good long walk, we reached Seiryu Shrine, one of the three main shrines in Urayasu. We dutifully lined up and made our prayers. Also, the 38 mikoshi that were involved in all of the hijinks were to be brought majestically into the shrine grounds with all of the "Mae da!" that had been characteristic of the day. The schedule was running late, so I only saw the first huge mikoshi being brought in. That turned out to be the only really dangerous point in the festival as the exhausted bearers almost lost control of it and unfortunately there was a crowd surrounding the shrine. People ended up being slightly crushed and pushed as the guys struggled to get hold onto it. But that was about it. I gave my thanks to Mr. Mild and made my way home. Mr. Mild promised (threatened?) to show the prints from my stint under the mikoshi tomorrow at the juku. I'm sure much hilarity will ensue.

Today has been the usual Monday. I got to see The Class Act for the first time in a couple of weeks. I got a couple of small containers of turtle jelly from The Lady via her trip to Hong Kong last week. I'll probably give one container to the Milds in thanks for yesterday. I should warn them to put on lots of honey before eating the jelly. Then, I had SIL...again a lot of nostalgic talk. I'm having The Full-Timer in about 15 minutes followed by Slim to wrap up. It'll be an uncharacteristically early night since folks like The Tippler and Medicine Man won't be coming in tonight. I'll definitely head on back home once I'm finished with Slim.

That earthquake up in the Tohoku area has had deaths, missing and injuries regrettably. And the green hills look like whole slabs had been carved out from them. Although the loss of life is tragic, I still have to say that the consequences of that quake compared to the ones that have hit China and other countries in recent years have convinced me that Japan is the leading nation when it comes to earthquake prevention and emergency aid. Just wonder when The Big One is gonna hit the Kanto, though. It's like a geological game of Russian Roulette.
Monday June 16, 4:40 p.m.

Well, we're past the halfway mark for this month again. It's getting warm out there...including my apartment which should reach oven levels in the next couple of weeks. I'm trying to toughen myself up from using my air conditioner so that I don't end up in hock to TEPCO.

Saturday night was once again DVD Night with Movie Buddy and The Satyr. First up was "The Kingdom", the action-thriller flick with Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner as an FBI team in Saudi Arabia. It was pretty much a connect-the-dots flick...not particularly imaginative or gripping but entertaining enough. The best movie of the night was "Superbad" which had teens with some unbelievably potty mouths. And the characters weren't the usual stereotypes...at least, not totally. Everyone, including McLovin, cussed each other out with equal measure. Then, there was "Apocalypto" which was 3/4 historical tragic epic and 1/4 "Rambo".

Strangely enough, while MB and I were watching "Apocalypto", I received a call from GC for the first time in years. It was almost as if there had been no grand silence between us. Unfortunately, the timing was rather bad since we were in mid-feature so I asked him to call me back the next night.

The next day had MB and I doing our usual post-DVD breakfast at the nearby Skylark's. While I was headed out for The Urayasu Festival, MB would be heading for Akihabara. He only realized it too late, but he was wearing a T-shirt which had what looked like blood spatters and some kanji which translated into "I'm sorry for cutting you into little pieces." Not particularly the right tee to wear, considering last week's bloodbath there.

As for The Urayasu Festival, I'd mentioned last entry about that frenzied scene in Classic Trek where the residents of Landru's planet always went completely nutso for about 12 hours. Well, this festival only comes around once every four years. And the residents of old Urayasu certainly acted as if they were members of Landru.

It all started when I got to the Milds' house. Mr. Mild had me decked out in happi coat, 27.5-cm tabi and sash. The weather was ideal for mikoshi-carrying...sunny but not too hot. At first, Mr. Mild and Mild Jr. took me to one of the main streets to see this huge parade of mikoshi, or portable shrines, each being carried by a dozen or so ever-so-happy folks in traditional gear. Finally, came our turn. Mild Jr. and I took our places under the wooden bars of our mikoshi. When it was time, we started strutting our stuff. We had to yell "Mae da! Mae da" (Ahead! Ahead!) which was the Urayasu version of what other festivalgoers usually say, which is "Wa shoi! Wa shoi!" I tell you...those 5 minutes were pretty much a roller coaster. The mikoshi itself wasn't too heavy since there was a good gross of hardier types carrying it along with me. But when it came to tossing the mikoshi up and down, my right shoulder ended up getting mugged worse than a tourist in Central Park. Mild Jr. would later tell me that I sounded as I had been slowly dying. That solid wooden bar just thwacked my shoulder several times.

It was a bit of break for lunch at the Milds' place where Mrs. Mild put out a pretty nice spread of food. Then, it was back to mikoshi-carrying again. The sun was far brighter and hotter in the afternoon, of course, and so I only lasted a few minutes, which probably didn't get much respect from the surrounding veterans. It was only a few minutes but I felt like I went through the wringer. However, to add to my internal humiliation, Mr. Mild, retired fellow, went under the shrine 3 times for some minutes each time, and a number of the younger ladies were literally shouldering the burden as well. Mr. Mild later told me that there were two types of people at The Urayasu Festival...those that were mikoshi maniacs and those who were mikoshi-phobic and preferred to watch. I think I became a convert to the latter. Mr. Mild and I noticed one guy walking in front of us...he was built like a sumotori and had a rather sizable hump on the back of his neck which looked like an angry red lava flow ready to blow...now he was a mikoshi maniac!

The majority of the time, the mikoshi carriers kept on doing their chants and moving along, but once in a while, they would stop and proceed to perform another action which involved bringing down the shrine to a low level and rotating it 360 degrees while the supporters yelled "Maware!" (Turn it!). That looked like backbreaking work. But the real craziness was when the dozen or so carriers would suddenly start tossing this huge heavy mikoshi up in the air three times....a bit risky but somehow they were able to steady the thing without having it crash onto automobile traffic (yep, there were some unfortunate motorists who had to negotiate through the strees of old Urayasu).

More later....