Monday July 12, 5:05 p.m.

Well, thanks to a sudden cancellation by Swank last night and the extended absence of SIL, I had plenty of time to see the only Japanese movie that I am willing to see....and that is "Odoru Dai Sosasen" or "Bayside Shakedown 3". The series has returned after 7 years (and a total of 13 years after its original premiere on TV) and this new entry reflects a number of changes concerning the fictional Bayside Precinct.

Yuji Oda is back in his immortalized role as Sergeant Shunsaku Aoshima, charmingly feckless but very just-minded policeman in the Odaiba district of Tokyo (he would make a fine Japanese Doctor Who). Over the past decade, he has seen himself go up the ranks to achieve Sub-Section Chief...albeit as just the organizer of the big move from the old HQ to a spanking-new building. Inexplicably, the move has gotten a huge amount of press (as would be the case in a Japanese trendy drama), which has increased the stress factor on Aoshima. But then come a couple of mysterious crime-free crimes, a possible cancer scare for still-fairly young Aoshima and finally the return of an old terrifying enemy...and she comes with acolytes this time.

After watching this latest entry, there is quite a bit to talk about here. There's a lot that's the same but also some big differences...a bit schizoid. Concerning the former, the story follows in the same way that virtually all of the previous two movies, the TV specials and the original series followed: a regular day in Bayside is wrecked by some sort of mysterious crime and further complicated by political machinations involving the higher tainted brass which then leads to an epiphany of what is truly just, just before the crime is solved. Also the director has stuck to his guns (pun intended) and continues to refuse any sort of gunplay...at least overtly...any shooting has taken place offscreen.

As for the differences, the main cast has been expanded and changed...and aged. At some points, Aoshima looked properly plumpily rumpled, and The Three Amigos, the three sycophantic, comically villainous leaders of Bayside Precinct, looked like they were ready to be shipped out to pasture. And it was obvious that the true villain of the piece, Manami Hyuga (played by former aidoru Kyoko Koizumi) has changed from the pixie-ish psychopathic killer that made her debut back in the first movie in 1998 to a warped middle-aged goddess.

In fact, I would say that the overarching theme of "Odoru Dai Sosasen 3" is that of change and the passage of time. And perhaps the biggest fans of the series may have left the theatre feeling fairly wistful. This is really Aoshima's movie. Most of his foils have largely become distanced due to promotion. Tetsuro Yanagiba, as ever-tense elite cop Muroi, has been given a mere extended cameo and the banter between him and Aoshima....one of the main things about the franchise....is limited to just one short scene near the end. Aoshima's mentor, Heihachiro Waku, has gone off to that police academy in the sky...his family replacement is his super-avid nephew, armed with his late uncle's beloved notebook of wisdom. The late Chosuke Ikariya is what is most missed in this movie, although his voice pops up at one point. Basically, only his combative partner, Sumire Onda, is left to give him advice/a kick in the pants. The rest of the active cast are the veteran juniors and some new officers consisting of Yuki Uchida, Shun Oguri and the son of a former Prime Minister of Japan. Along with some other missing old characters and virtually missing ones, things are definitely changing. Even the frenetic opening credits with the familiar techno theme is missing.

A lot of the comic elements have also gone missing, but the presence of an almost "X-Files" main plot in the 2nd half of the movie concerning psycho Manami counters it nicely. However, the subplot of Aoshima mistakenly diagnosed with lung cancer was a cheap device which should've been excised. Also, the subtitle of the movie can be translated as "Release The Bastards" referring to all of the people who were put away by Aoshima in previous episodes, movies and specials. But only Manami gets full billing while a couple of others only get cameos and the other 5 or 6 are just shown in pictures.

At the special preview a couple of weeks ago, Yuji Oda announced that there would be a fourth movie but I'm not sure if it will be the same ol' "Bayside Shakedown". However, the Publicity Assistant told me that the third movie has become a huge hit, so most likely the next entry will be on its way.

Saturday July 10, 3:41 p.m.

Finished my two lessons. Both The Publicity Assistant and The Businesswoman seemed a bit like they were going through natsubate...summer lethargy. Couldn't blame them...it's pretty steamy out there, although it's the first time in a while since the skies have been clear and sunny. The bossman is now talking it up with Miss Efficiency about her first day at work. Not too busy for her since it is a Saturday so it's an ideal way to ease herself in.

Would've loved to have seen The World Cup final but according to The PA, it's coming on at 3 a.m. Monday morning JST so I'm just stuck with the highlights.

Saturday July 10, 12:25 p.m.

One-third of the way through July, and I think the Rainy Season is quickly coming to a close. Brilliant day today with the heat to match. Safe to say that I'll be hitting the on switch for the air conditioner when I get home today.

But the Rainy Season did make its presence very well known last night when the skies opened up during dinner at The Restauranteur's place. Almost expected to see Noah's Ark floating by. But luckily by the time I got out of there, the taps were almost turned off.

Just have The Publicity Assistant and The Businesswoman starting in half an hour. The new staffer to replace Ray, Miss Efficiency, has arrived. We did the usual greetings and for most of the morning, Ray has been showing Miss Efficiency the ropes. Miss Efficiency has been absorbing the information and asking a lot of questions. Sounds like we've got a keeper.

Read in "The Japan Times" today that because of the straitjacket rules of political campaigning in this country, candidates sonically assaulting us via megaphone is the only way they can get their message across. But to be honest, I would take that over having them bothering me by knocking on my door...which is illegal. So are the other American favorites such as blogging and holding food-based activities.

Friday July 9, 3:43 p.m.

Got through that model lesson with that benefactor's son. Nice guy, if a bit avuncular. He's pretty economical with his words...a mix between The Intellectual and the Medicine Man. I'll probably call him The Shareholder. Anyways, Speedy informed me that I was able to seal the deal so he'll be in from next Friday.

The model lesson was the big thing on my mind for today, so it'll be fairly easy from here on in for the rest of the day since I just have the juku folks later tonight. I'll stop off at The Restauranteur's place for dinner since I haven't been there in a month.

Tomorrow will be slightly quieter than expected since Miss Prissy has cancelled her lesson. I'll just have The Publicity Assistant and The Businesswoman. Not too difficult there but I have to plan for The Jyuppies on Sunday.

Friday July 9, 12:28 p.m.

Back in the salt mines again. I've got a model lesson in about an hour with the son of our main benefactor...shouldn't be too bad but I've got a tie on in this weather. Hopefully, it'll all go well.

I was talking with La Fille about our fave television shows last night. Now, I've just finished talking with Miss London about fave comic books. Interesting what comes up.

Thursday July 8, 9:02 p.m.

Just The Music Man before my long day is up. Had a nice chat for several minutes with La Fille about our television likes. Looks like she's also into the American police procedural such as "NCIS" and "Criminal Minds". I cottoned her onto "The Mentalist"; I've only seen one episode of the Simon Baker series...looks pretty good.

I've managed to avoid most of the heat and humidity today since I've been inside the school all day. It won't be too bad tomorrow either. I have that model lesson here and then the usual Friday night juku students...basically, just The Restauranteur and the boss.

Thursday July 8, 6:08 p.m.

The Carolinan should be coming in soon. Ray has gone and so had Speedy, so it's just La Fille and myself. I had my brief dinner since my lunch was rather bulky. It was a hiyashi chuuka: basically egg noodles topped off with BBQ pork, egg strips, bamboo, sprouts and a slice of hard-boiled egg in a soy-vinegar sauce. Hit the mark so I should live beyond The Music Man's class.

Well, it's gonna be a Holland-Spain final...who'da thunk? I had been expecting an all-South American final but it turns out that it'll be an all-European affair. Not sure if ratings will plummet on the South American or African continent since it'll just be these two guys playing. It should be interesting, though.

Thursday July 8, 4:58 p.m.

Well, Speedy has made his decision. We got Miss Efficiency to replace Ray. She'll be coming in on Saturday to get her training, although it sounds like she may end up training us.

Unfortunately the big goodbye party for Ray on the 18th is off since almost noone can make it on that day. Well, I guess I'll make my way to Tony Roma's on my own. And the possibility is that the Akihabara hokoten may be revving up on that day anyways. I just have to see.

Thursday July 8, 3:27 p.m.

At the end of July, there's Japan's lone observed holiday devoted to one foodstuff...unagi or eel. Known as Doyo-no-Hi or Cow Day (don't ask me what the connection is), the date isn't particularly set...it's just somewhere in the last week of this month. This year, it's on the 26th. So, you can bet your bottom dollar that all of the eel restaurants will be packed to the gills (pun unintended) and that a lot of the expensive Japanese eels and the cheapo Chinese variety will sell out in the supermarkets.

Thus, I decided to enjoy things a bit early this year by buying a huge flank of unagi on Tuesday. This one was fished in China so the cost was just 680 yen. I just brought it home, threw it in the frypan, doused it liberally in sake and the sweet sauce the eel came with and warmed it up for a few minutes on each side. And then I threw in onto some warmed white rice. It was now unadon, and after sprinkling some herbal sansho on it, I dove into it.

Now, why with all the hubbub over something most Westerners would flee from? Well, since Japanese summers have that annoying tendency to sap energy from even the hardiest of citizens over here, stamina food is a must. Eel fits into that category, apparently due to the oil that suffuses its meat.

Basically, my mega-unadon cost me perhaps 800 yen. At the legit restaurants which specialize in unadon and unaju, something far smaller and far more stylish in lacquered boxes would cost at least 3,000 yen. I like my eel but I'm not sure if I would really ever go for that. Still, I beat the crowds by 2 weeks.

Thursday July 8, 3:17 p.m.

Well, Grandma FON came after over a month away. She can still comprehend what I'm saying, but I'm a little worried about her retention. Had a bit more trouble getting her words into her mind, let alone out of her mouth. She'd spent a couple of weeks in Italy, namely Lake Como (I wonder if she waved at George Clooney). Still, she does a whole lot better than most other 78-year-olds.

Ah, as for the pictures....that's from Genkatsu, one of my favourite tonkatsu restaurants. Home of the mille-feuille cutlets...the pork is cut thinly into 25 slices and deep-fried as one unit...I went for the less-expensive lunch sets. I had my choice of sauces, so instead of the usual thick Worcestershire-like sauce, I went for shiotare, or salty sauce. Good choice. As you can see from the picture on the right, that sauce just got soaked up by those pork layers. Dem's good eatin'.

I've been proofreading The Croatian's latest essay. I've finished it but I think I'll give it another run later on. Lunch and a bit of chocolate got me drowsy so I may have glossed over some other stuff but it's never easy reading a paper on macroeconomics on a full stomach.

Thursday July 8, 10:52 a.m.

One of the discs I got during my latest CD spree was one by J-Pop veteran, Mariya Takeuchi. She's been going at it for over 30 years, and this album to the left of me is one of her earlier releases called "Love Songs". I have to say that she's the complete package: damn fine looks, fine voice, fine (if not totally native) English and a West Coast sound to force many an AOR singer to gaze at his/her loafers.

"Love Songs" offers young Mariya in various genres, something that she's been adept at and shown during her long career. At that time, it was a lot of 50s girlie standards, country-and-western, disco and AOR...pretty much a tribute to the American Songbook. I don't know too many other singers of that time who went all out for musical Americana...in fact, I don't know any.

Thursday July 8, 10:44 a.m.

Yup, that's Toonces the Juku Cat....just doing what every human in this country would like to do right now, considering the heat and humidity outside...just veg somewhere cool. Going up to 32 today in the Big Sushi.

Got to go home early yesterday, which surprised the bossman. He'd thought that 001 was coming in...and maybe he was a bit jealous about it, too. In any case, I got back and bought myself a new pair of sneakers and just spent the night watching Disc 3 of Ken Burns' series on "Jazz". I always appreciate a night off.

I thought I had a sizable enough hole in my Donut Day that I was thinking about catching "Odoru Dai Sosasen 3" in Shinjuku, but then Ray sent me word that Grandma FON reserved a lesson for 11:30 today, so I'm holding off until probably next Monday after Swank's lesson. Instead, I'm just gonna appreciate the air conditioning and hole up here at Speedy's since I've got The Carolinan and The Music Man later tonight.

Looks like even with 70% of the callers supporting cancellation before NHK's decision to not broadcast this month's sumo tourney, the callers afterwards gave NHK hell for cancelling. Just can't please everyone. Still, it's the first time that a sumo broadcast has been cancelled in over 50 years....should be interesting how sumo fans will handle the withdrawal.

Wednesday July 7, 11:03 a.m.

It's been a fairly quiet week so far...just 3 lessons on Monday, and the same number yesterday. The juku crowd was just down to Mr. White and then The Milds. Although it's too bad that Sugar N' Spice are now gone, in a way I'm glad that I'm not so winded anymore. I just have the two lessons today. One is with Grandma Enka for her monthly chit-chat session and then it's my newest student, The Artist in mid-afternoon. No 001 today so I'll be heading home early and have myself a home-cooked dinner. I'm also stopping off at the neighbourhood shoe store since my sneakers are making the inexorable metamorphosis into sandals.

I had a good session with The Beehive despite the fact that the lady who had rapped Mrs. Alp's knuckles last month was once again nearby. The ladies did lower their volume quite a bit. Almost the entire 90 minutes was centered around the sumo scandal. The overriding conclusion was that the sharp rays of education were desperately needed to smash through thousands of years of archaic custom within the sumo stables. I can't say that all of the gambling vitriol would not have happened if the lads, often recruited just after junior high school, had been given a good dose of morals education but I think the damage would've been minimized. But as it is, a stablemaster has been ousted, ozeki Kotomitsuki has been fired (but with pension) and several rikishi have been banned from the Nagoya tournament. Not a good situation right now since the ranks of sumo have been thinned due to bad-boy yokozuna Asashoryu being kicked out earlier this year and now the 2nd-tier ozeki. NHK hasn't been impressed with the Japan Sumo Association and its attempts to clean house. The station made it official...they WON'T be televising live coverage of the Nagoya tournament. Apparently, I'd misunderstood the original report. I'd thought that the station had fielded phone calls in which 70% objected to the coverage being cancelled. In fact, those 70% demanded that the coverage be cancelled.

Sunday July 11 will indeed a busy day in many ways. The Nagoya tournament starts, the Upper House elections will be held and the final World Cup game will take place. My life has gotten a bit politicized by association. The CEO told me a couple of months ago that she has had political aspirations but just didn't have the time to register for the elections, and I found out yesterday that Mr. Mild has a friend who's running for office in the Kojimachi district. I've been sighting the various vans exhorting the values of their candidates via megaphones.

Monday July 5, 9:16 p.m.

I was initially surprised when I saw the news earlier today that Takeru Kobayashi, the former hot-dog eating champion, was arrested and taken to jail after disrupting the annual contest sponsored by Nathan's. Apparently, he just couldn't help throwing himself onto the stage after supposedly hearing his name being chanted by his fans since he could no longer participate in the pork-pigout due to contract problems. I guess it was too much for the lad to see his main rival, Chestnut, win for the 3rd year in a row. To be honest, I'd always seen him as a bit of a nutcase, and he certainly had that "I'm a psycho" leer on his face as he was being led away in handcuffs. Well, he apparently also has the world record in eating cow brains, so I guess some of that BSE might be responsible.

Monday July 5, 8:09 p.m.

Yep, I bought another Carpenters album recently. Up to now, I've only purchased compilations of their best songs and their Xmas album, but "Voice of the Heart" is my first original album by Karen and Richard.

Took a listen last night as I was hitting bed. "Voice of the Heart" also happens to be the album released posthumously...a few months after Karen's untimely death back in 1983. I'd heard reports that this album was quite different from previous albums in terms of musical direction, but after hearing it last night, I'm pretty convinced that the reports must've referred to another LP. I just thought that there were a lot of familiar musical cues with some of the songs...such as far bigger hits like "Close to You" and "I Need to be in Love". And because of the circumstances of the time, the album seemed to have a rather funereal tone. I didn't really detect any sort of really upbeat melody. In a way, "This Is it" seems to have gone the same way after Michael Jackson's death. And for those in the J-Pop vein, the album "Cruise" by 80s aidoru Akina Nakamori also had that feel since it was released just a couple of weeks after her suicide attempt.

Monday July 5, 6:37 p.m.

Well, then there were just 4. In another upset, Germany tossed Argentina out by an overwhelming 4-0! But at least, we were spared the potential sight of Coach Maradona strutting naked at the victory parade.

Not surprisingly, Yajima informed me that he would like me to continue teaching him although the next time I see him will be on August 1. I'm gonna see if I can at least time it so that both he and The Jyuppies are on the same day. I would like to have a Sunday off, y'know.

I'm starting a fairly sparse week this week. For example, after my early morning with Cozy, it was a huge gap of free time before coming over here. I've got Miss Genki and The Medicine Man tonight. My Tuesday night at the juku is gonna get empty again since Sugar N' Spice are no longer on the roster and Mr. Nice Guy is off in Hawaii.

The Japan Sumo Association finally let us in about what they did to "make things right" concering all that illegal gambling within the various stables. They apparently "fired" ozeki Kotomitsuki, although that is apparently one level below outright "expulsion"...which begs the question about what "firing" means. In any case, the Nagoya tournament is on track for this Sunday although without 5 major sponsors and perhaps even live coverage by NHK, although I think the station will give a late-minute reprieve. After all, there are probably a lot of folks who only watch NHK for the sumo and they may decide to refuse to pay their bimonthly fees. In any case, one of the most ancient sports in human history is in the dumps right now.

I actually fired up the air conditioner for the first time this year. Yep, Summer has come!

Saturday July 3, 4:57 p.m.

Well, spent the last few hours just twiddling away at the computer. Saw a couple of more candidates for Ray's position after which the bossman and Ray mulled their options. Looks like the leading candidate is someone who may be a bit overqualified for the position...lots of experience and degrees...a regular Miss Efficient (which may end up being her code name if she does work for us). The lady is also someone who's quite a bit older than La Fille and Miss London so the dynamics may change somewhat. It could be a bit more serious than the girls' club that Ray and La Fille have cultivated over the past year. But that's not a bad thing for a company that needs to start growing.

Anyways, the 5 o'clock chime is sounding and I haven't heard anything from Mr. Swank, so that'll mean I'm out of here.

The next week is looking a bit empty, schedule-wise. Not too bad...I could use the sleep.

Saturday July 3, 2:17 p.m.

The Publicity Assistant seemed slightly sleepy but managed to ace the test and plow through most of the lesson. I read in "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Psychology" that adults need to get 7 or 8 hours of sleep to function optimally...which means that most Japanese are probably drooling psychopaths. 7~8 hours of sleep? That's truly a dream to most of us here unless we've been laid off.

Well, I'm just waiting for that possible request from Mr. Swank...other than that I'm done for the day.

Saturday July 3, 11:53 a.m.

I just have The Publicity Assistant today for my Saturday class. I had also been expecting a rather large essay to proofread from The Croatian who's in Europe, but he just informed me that he still hasn't been able to complete the rough draft. Mr. Swank said that he could be sending me a little more stuff to take a look at later today. Speaking of which, I did listen to his staffer give his presentation yesterday at his company. Well, it was obvious that he wasn't too fluent in the language and I didn't work any miracles with him but I did try to smoothen things out before Mr. Swank and him head out to Vietnam next week. Still, it was a good thing to get through that and I even got a very handsome reward from Mr. Swank for helping smoothen out his notes.

After my lesson with The Bass earlier in the day in Funabashi, I came across another one of those pols campaigning in front of the station. But it turned out that the local had some big help via the former mayor of Yokohama, Hiroshi Nakata. The ramrod straight straight-shooter was in an atypical Polo shirt and chinos (middle-aged fogy fashion) trying to greet the passersby. He didn't have much luck as I saw, which was strange since he had cultivated an image of being a charismatic leader of men during his years in charge of the nation's 2nd-largest city, but then again, his star plunged somewhat when he managed to resign just after the debacle that was the city's sesquicentennial last year. For some reason, Funabashi seems to be the magnet for celeb politicians...a few weeks earlier, beloved judoist-turned-future senator Ryoko Tani was supposedly on the stump there.

The 2010 World Cup is starting to get the reputation as the tournament of Goliath-beaters. France, Italy and England all self-immolated, and now the biggest surprise happened last night. Brazil got its can kicked back home by Holland. A lot of people probably lost some hefty bets. I still say Argentina will be one of the finalists.

Saturday July 3, 11:37 a.m.

Yes, he is. Shunsaku Aoyama, the feckless but intrepid green-coated cop of the Bayside Precinct, has once more arrived on movie screens nationwide in the 3rd installment of "Odoru Daisosasen"...otherwise known in English as the horribly titled "Bayside Shakedown" (sounds like a straight-to-video 80s cop B-movie).

And frankly speaking, because of the usual comedic goofing common to a lot of Japanese TV dramas, "Odoru Daisosasen" will never scare anybody on "The Shield" or "The Wire", but this series was never made for anyone except for Japanese audiences. Still the show is notable for the fact that it tackles the inner politics and machinations of the National Police instead of the usual fantasy shootouts in famously gun-shy Japan.

The original TV series premiered all the way back in 1997 on Fuji-TV and featured the ups-and-downs (mostly downs) of Wangan-sho, or The Bayside Precinct in The Big Sushi's Odaiba area, as its cops fought not only the bad guys but also the sneering superiors back in the heart of Tokyo. Yuji Oda, who had been known mostly up to then as the innocent salesman Kanchi in the legendary "Tokyo Love Story" back in 1991, became immortalized as the salaryman-turned-police officer who wanted to do the right thing, in spite of a venal and politicized institution. Following the original series came a few specials and then 2 movies which ended up becoming the top-grossing movies domestically for those years. I remember catching the first movie on the very first day of release which was Halloween 1998. I ended up waiting 4 hours in Yurakucho Mullion.

Anyways, the 3rd one premieres today, and most likely it'll become the top movie of this year as well. The franchise shares a lot of genes with its American brethren like "Dragnet" or even "NCIS": an iconic lead character and a burned-in-memory theme song.

Thursday July 1, 10:45 p.m.

And thus another long Thursday has come to a quiet close. I was stricken with a throbbing headache due to neck and shoulder tension a few hours ago, so I downed a couple of Bufferin. At the time, Ray, La Fille and I were biting into the Krispy Kreme donuts.

At about the same time, The Blue Samurai came back home via Kansai International Airport at about 5 p.m. tonight. The fans were out en masse with their cellphone cameras up in the air like sabres in salute. The warriors themselves looked rather glum since they probably felt they had no reason to smile...just like true warriors; don't celebrate until whole glory has been earned.

Thanks to the Bufferin, my headache disappeared by the time the Music Man came by. I had this rather strangely euphoric and exhausted feeling throughout the class, though my student didn't notice. Still I'm happy that I could get through the lesson intact without falling on my face or doubling over in pain.

Anyways, I gotta go home and get a good night's sleep. It'll be another long one tomorrow.

Thursday July 1, 6:37 p.m.

Ray and La Fille are talking in the main lounge, presumably about the transition when Ray leaves us in a couple of weeks. The replacement interviewees have been steadily coming in over the past week, and La Fille was just phoning up a small batch of them to confirm interview dates and times. Yep, the new person will have some mighty big shoes to fill when it comes to Ray. This time, though, both men and women have applied for the position. It could be an interesting new dynamic if a guy gets hired.

Saw The Bow for the first time in a little over 2 months. We met at the same Shinjuku Starbucks. She's now working for a small Australian wine distributor full-time and it looks like things are going pretty smoothly. She was only able to see me this week since both her bosses are out in Shanghai on business so she has the week off. Basically, after this it's unknown when she will be able to see me.

Afterwards, I went up to Uniqlo, the famed trendy and cheap clothing store in Takashimaya Times Square. It used to be the second-biggest HMV in Tokyo until the walls started closing in on that chain. I bought myself a couple of shirts and a pair of chinos since some of my clothes have become rattier over the years. And on a whim, I bought a box of Krispy Kreme since Ray will be leaving us soon. Even Krispy Kreme has gotten its own Japanese twist...I got a "seasonal" box which consists of half a dozen of the regular glazed donuts and then 3 big star-shaped donuts...presumably to pay tribute to Tanabata, the national festival celebrating the star-crossed lovers.

All I have left is The Music Man in about 2.5 hours. Until then, I've gotta take another look at Mr. Swank's big lesson tomorrow, and then have a very light dinner....just too hot out there to eat anything huge now.

Thursday July 1, 11:50 a.m.

Well, after 10 minutes, Ray decided to give Grandma FON to find out why she hadn't arrived yet. It turns out that not only did she not realize that she had a lesson today but she wasn't aware that it was Thursday....ahhh, the ravages of age. Looks like I've got a ton of time now. May want to further check on my plans for Mr. Swank tomorrow.

Feeling pretty sluggish right now so it may have been just as well that Grandma FON is a no-show. I think it's a combination of just 5 hours of sleep and the fact that it's humid out there. Plus, my shoulders have got more knots than a 5-century-old redwood pine. I really could use a rubdown but not of the shiatsu variety. That means my options are awfully limited in this country.

Thursday July 1, 8:13 a.m.

Yup, the 7th month of the year has begun, and I'm sure North America is gearing up for its big holidays. Canada Day is gonna be starting up over in The Great White North in a few hours, and I'm sure America is ready for The Fourth of July on Sunday. Mr. Nice Guy from the juku is gonna be absent next Tuesday because he has to renew his Green Card over in Hawaii; he had a heck of a time securing plane tickets there because of the holiday but at least he and his family will experience the hoopla that goes with a nation's birthday...nothing like it is over here. We've got our own holiday later this month, but it's just Marine Day, basically an add-on holiday so that almost all of our months have some sort of special day off...still waiting for something for June.

It's another humid one today...gonna end up swimming over to Shinjuku later in the afternoon to teach The Bow, so it isn't really a Donut Day but I'll have quite a few hours before The Music Man comes in. Still, I have to prepare for that big presentation class tomorrow with Mr. Swank.

Wednesday June 30, 10:10 p.m.

Did forget to mention that Larry King has finally decided to hang up his suspenders and oversized microphone for good later this Fall. I was kinda wondering when he would decide to retire. He's pretty spry for a 76-year-old but still with a major bypass operation last year, I couldn't see continuing that much longer. I'm sure some folks are quietly hailing the retirement as a move away from softball journalism, a criticism that Larry has always snorted at. But others, notably a lot of his guests, will miss him for the fact that he's been so cordial behind the desk. Strangely enough, though, Larry has had the terrifying Mike Wallace as one of those guests plenty of times.

Well, Happy 143rd, Canada!

Wednesday June 30, 10:02 p.m.

Well, 001 has undergone a few changes since I met her last. She's taken up jogging for one thing, thanks to influence from 002 and The Baker. Her ultimate goal is to tackle The Honolulu Marathon in December just like her friends. I have noticed that she seems to have lost a bit of weight, although I think she was already quite skinny to begin with. And the other thing is that she finally got her membership in the nearly million-strong Arashi Fan Club. She's up in the mid-700,000s. The reason that she went into the club in the first place was to try and get tickets for the group's concerts in the summer. So, she's entered a lottery in the hopes that she'll get selected for a seat.

The Artist had her very first lesson with me tonight. She's quiet but very pleasant, and though she's lacking in a lot of vocabulary and grammatical strength, she does pick up quickly. I found out that she's just started her love of jazz, so I quickly gave her a brief lesson into the different genres of jazz. Not a bad start.

Tomorrow shouldn't be too hard. I've got The Patent Attorney first thing in the morning, and then Grandma FON will be making her reappearance in about a month. And in another reappearance, I've got The Bow for the first time in about a couple of months in Shinjuku. Afterwards, it'll be The Music Man to wrap up.

Thursday June 30, 4:01 p.m.

Well, it was a great run while it lasted. The Blue Samurai finally ran out of miracles last night when they lost to Paraguay, and so they're coming back home from The World Cup. The bad news may have been that they couldn't score a goal during regulation time and extra time, but the good news was that they didn't let the other team do the same either. Solid defence. I didn't bother turning on the TV; I'm sure the various pundits on morning shows were all commiserating in their beer and giving analyses about why Okada's Eleven couldn't pull off another win. I read the kiosk banner that Okada has even resigned from his post. I hope it wasn't because he felt that he couldn't produce a winner...noone had expected these guys to get beyond the Group Stage. I hope it was because that he felt that he had taken them as far as he could and that it was now time for another teacher to take over the reins. Because when it comes down to it, Team Japan did themselves and their country proud.

I guess there's another transition coming in in terms of my students. I lost Sugar N' Spice to the rigours of university searching, but I gained two students via Speedy's. One is coming in tonight for her very first lesson. It turns out that The Artist has decided to join us after all, two months after the model lesson. She didn't say anything to us but just called Speedy out of the blue to go ahead with 24 classes to start. That could be a fine shot in the arm for the school. The other student is The Shareholder, the son of one of our benefactors; his classes are gonna be rather loosey-goosey since he doesn't want to do any texts.

Had The New Yorker for the first time in about 3 weeks. We finally finished that text and I was able to find something for her from Kinokuniya. Not too bad today. I've just got 001 and then The Artist. I'm sure for the former, soccer will be one of the topics...and of course, Aiba-kun.

Tuesday June 29, 1:49 p.m.

It's been another rainy day in this Rainy Season. Still managed to get some washing done. And walking hasn't been quite the arduous trek that it was yesterday when the humidity seemed to have been in triple digits. That's one good thing about the Rainy Season along with the fact that it floods the rice paddies...the rains do wash away a lot of the moisture in the air.

Saw the Slovenia-Holland game last night. Slovenia were the giant-killers against Italy but they couldn't quite pull off another miracle against the Dutch so they're now heading home. Tonight's the big game between Japan and Paraguay. I can imagine that traffic will be at a standstill for the hours between 11 and 12:30 tonight. Not sure what will happen but I think a lot of us will still be happy and proud of The Blue Samurai.

Listened to Madonna's "The Immaculate Collection" for the very first time...surprising since it's now 20 years old. I still say that the old Madge is the better Madge.

Monday June 28, 8:45 p.m.

My Mixi Friends list has grown by 2 in the last few hours. Cozy came on board and then Mr. TOEFL has also joined my cadre. Mr. TOEFL is enjoying his 3-month stay in North Carolina and has even sent pics of his new home. Raleigh is quite a far cry from the concrete jungle of Tokyo, that's for sure.

Managed to get that translation off to Mr. Swank a couple of hours ago, and I've already planned for my juku classes tomorrow so I'm just twiddling my thumbs a bit before Medicine Man comes in about 40 minutes.

The 1st anniversary of the death of The King of Pop came and went somewhat quietly by my estimation. I'd been expecting something a bit more epic over the airwaves. Of course, certain areas including Tokyo did have tributes. In Tokyo, there was a massive dance-off by the local fans to "Thriller"...it seems to be the de rigueur thing to do for Michael Jackson fans. And there was that sleepover by Tokyo Tower on Friday but really, nothing too huge....at least, nothing like last year's funeral. I guess the passing of the anniversary will now be kinda like Elvis Presley's....the die-hard fans will just make their annual pilgrimage to Jackson's estate and perhaps the news may pick up on that.

Monday June 28, 4:32 p.m.

Yup, it definitely feels like a Tokyo summer. I could swim through the air with all that humidity, and I feel like I've got that layer of moisture all around me underneath my clothing. The clouds are threatening to burst open but nothing so far as of yet.

Had my usual Sunday students yesterday. Yajima had his penultimate lesson with me in the morning. He just has one more before he heads off to Hawaii for that seminar. Then it was the Jyuppies a few hours later.

It's a bit of "A Tale of Two Cities" in the sports world right now for Japan. On the one hand, the folks here have been enjoying a Prague Spring of sorts with The Blue Samurai delightfully surprising everyone with their fine play, including what could end up being the best goal of the entire World Cup by a fellow named Endo. "Bend-o it like Endo", I say. Team Japan has made it into The Best 16, which makes it a successful run to me. Not sure if they can overcome Paraguay tomorrow night JST but they still have a small chance; if so, it'll be another week of happiness. On the other hand, sumo just seems to be declining onto another lower circle of Hell. With perhaps as much as a third of the wrestlers for the Nagoya Tournament involved in illegal gambling, an indepedent panel has just recommended that those wrestlers be ousted for this tournament. It has been a slow rotting death for one of the world's oldest sports and it seems as if the only way it can be any worse is if one of the yokozuna goes on a killing spree.

This morning, I had Cozy for his regular early morning session before having Swank in Roppongi Hills. Swank will be heading for the Phillipines next week with her kids so I'll have a huge donut in my Monday schedule next week with SIL off indefinitely while she gets her personal issues settled. Ended up doing some shopping in Tower Records. I had lunch in the McDonalds right in the heart of Shibuya....got to see some of the ugly young there (loud and brash). I will probably consider Burger King next time.

I just have the Medicine Man tonight but I'm pretty busy. I gotta get those corrections for Mr. Swank's presentation text typed up and headed over to him, and I also have to prep up for the juku students tomorrow. I'm just lucky I don't have The Beehive in the morning.

Speaking about The World Cup, that much-vaunted England-Germany match last night turned out to be a bit of a fizzle. It kinda looked like the second Blitz out there as the Germans seemed to dominate over Rooney and Co. And so yet another so-called favorite gets kicked out. I could imagine "Another One Bites The Dust" playing on the speakers. Probably a lot of pubcrawlers in London commiserating over their Guinness last night.

Saturday June 26, 10:35 a.m.

Yup, it's starting to feel like a typical Tokyo summer. Had my first 2-shower day of the year yesterday and bought some heavy-duty air freshener for the living room. Once the air conditioner goes on, I'll know the season is on. Haven't reached that stage yet.

Yesterday was basically an off day except for the juku classes. Went to Genkatsu, home of the mille-feuille pork cutlet, in Ginza for lunch. For a tonkatsu restaurant in the world's most expensive piece of real estate, the place serves pretty reasonable lunch sets. I had one for 1,290 yen and got a small but filling piece of multi-layered pork along with the usual mountain of shredded cabbage, pickles, rice and miso soup. But instead of the de rigueur brown sauce for dipping the pork, I got another one of negi-shio tare or salty onion sauce. Pretty darn nice and there were plenty of nooks and crannies in the pork to hold it.

Then it was off to Shinjuku Kinokuniya to see if I could find a pronounciation text for Mr. Jyuppie. Really couldn't find anything too useful for him there so I'll take a look at Maruzen in Otemachi after I finish with my classes here today. I still had a few hours before the juku classes so I decided to check out Nakano Broadway just on a whim...perhaps I could find a few used CDs. I should give my whim a raise. I went to Recomints and found an EPO disc, the soundtrack for "When Harry Met Sally" and Madonna's "The Immaculate Collection"...all of them for a grand total of 900 yen. The soundtrack was the one that I really wanted...and I saved myself a lot of money by finding it there for just 3 coins instead of paying full price at Tower Records.

I had a coffee at Urayasu Starbucks...or I should say that I had a liquid dessert there. It was some sort of Frappucino topped with a ton of whipped cream and orange syrup. Basically, it was the coffee version of a hardcore porn movie. The lady who took my order must've downed a few of those before I came in...a little too genki she was.

I'm starting to see the future of my juku classes and it will be sparse. Mr. White did a dotakyan again for the 2nd week in a row; his wife called in a couple of hours before game time to say that he was sick. Either he's gone into depression again or he's nursing a hangover; the last time he canned was for that latter reason. Either way, it doesn't bode too well although I did get half the money. Also I found out from the boss that Sugar N' Spice's temporary absence from the juku will probably head all the way to next March! In other words, I think they may as well come back as freshmen again next year. I've got their final class next week. They wanted it to be a small party of sorts.

I've got just Miss Prissy and The Intellectual today. Considering Thursday's morose powwow with Speedy about the school's chances of survival over the summer, I'm kinda wondering what's gonna happen with my students if and when the hammer falls. Despite all those ideas that the two of us were throwing about like wads of paper, I don't think any of those have really any chance of getting off the ground within the next month.

Thursday June 24, 4:46 p.m.

Well, spent nearly an hour with the bossman in what was an impromptu meeting. The only reason he ever calls me into a meeting is because the school is in financial woe again. And yup, it was another shot across the bow. I'm sympathetic to his plight since I know what it was like to be near the end of one's financial tether. But sometimes I think whether it is probably better to euthanize the patient a la Kevorkian. I gave him some ideas for which I think only one perked his interest and that was to actively recruit students for group classes...something that should've been done years ago since that was one of the things offered at Speedy's. I'm not sure if it's a case of too little, too late.

Talking about too little, too late....tomorrow is the 1-year anniversary of the demise of The Gloved One. Hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since Michael Jackson's death. I remember the day of June 25, 2009 very clearly. I had woken up to see BBC delivering the bulletin that MJ had been rushed to hospital early in the morning. By the time I got to Speedy's, the news had already been reported that he was dead. There will probably be tons of coverage all over CNN, BBC and the other major outlets...a lot of marathon MJ video clips throughout the day. Even in Tokyo, there will be a mass sleepover for 50 of his die-hardest fans at the foot of Tokyo Tower which will cost each of the "lucky" ones a cool 100,000 yen.

Thursday June 24, 12:34 p.m.

It's been a fairly quiet week so far. I once again had the empty Wednesday to split up my work week into two mini-weeks. My Monday was also quite sparse since Cozy had re-scheduled to Tuesday morning and SIL has stopped her lessons...for the next little while, at least...to tend to some family matters. So, it was just Swank in the morning followed by Miss Genki (who's now my regular sheep in my flock) and then Medicine Man.

On Tuesday, The Beehive welcomed back Mrs. Travel, the first time she's been with us since her daughters had given her two more grandsons in the past couple of weeks. She was fairly beaming with pride. It was also a pretty sparse Tuesday as well since at the juku, both Mr. White and Mr. Nice Guy were away. Sugar N' Spice were filled with beans as usual. Unfortunately, I'll just have one more lesson with them next week and then they're off for the summer at least.

I was determined to keep anything about school off the schedule yesterday during my day off. Just watched TV and ironed away. The World Cup has now finished its second week, and it's been predictably unpredictable. The big news is that the French populace were hoping to get a big case of the Les Bleus, only to get a really big case of the blues. The only thing that the French team were able to pull off in South Africa was a horribly public implosion in which one of their leading strikers was ejected from the tournament, the other players actually became strikers of a different sort, and the captain was demoted before what would be their final game against South Africa. It all showed on the field as the team looked like a bunch of Sunday amateurs against a quixotically enthused South African team. South Africa may have become the first hosting team to have been kicked out of the tournament in the very first round, but they had oodles more class than their opponents. I bet that the plane ride back to Paris must've been a truly silent one. The Japanese team have one more game to see if they'll join South Korea, Mexico and Maradona's Argentinians in the knockout round starting this weekend. They've gotta defeat Denmark in the early morning our time to ensure this. I'm not quite sure how many rabid fans will be willing to get up at 3 a.m. in the morning to catch the game.

The other local news is that just a little over 2 weeks after the 2nd anniversary of the Akihabara Massacre, some disgruntled former temp worker for Mazda in Hiroshima went postal and tried to do the same thing against his former colleagues....the weapon of choice in his case was a car. He managed to injure 11 people and kill one man. As the psycho was being taken away, he had this anguished look on his face and looked askance at heaven. I kinda wonder if this may have any affect on the scheduled return of the Akiba hokoten next month.

That sumo scandal involving rikishi making illegal bets on baseball and hanafuda keeps spreading. Several wrestlers, stablemasters and hairdressers have been caught in the police investigation and now the cops are looking for a 38-year-old former sumo-turned-yakuza thug who had extorted ozeki Kotomitsuki out of millions of yen as hush money. In a way, I kinda wonder where else ex-sumo could go after their days in the dohyo...if it isn't entertainment, then I could only imagine enforcement. But even NHK has started to pull its weight (no pun intended) on the matter by threatening that it could decide not to show the Nagoya Tournament next month if the Japan Sumo Association doesn't come totally clean. I don't think I ever heard of a tournament being shunned by the network. Already a lot of sumo fans have called in to berate it, but I think NHK may be onto something here.

It's a fairly busy Thursday. I had The Patent Attorney and a double lesson with Grandma Dynamite since she cancelled last week's session. Then, it'll be The Carolinan later tonight followed by The German and then The Music Man. Pretty busy but then again I've only got the juku folks tomorrow night. The Bow has sent word back to me that she wants a lesson next week since she's got a day off then.

Thursday June 24, 12:28 p.m.

The second half of my foodie weekend involved meeting up with the juku boss and Cozy in Kinshicho for dinner at a hotel restaurant. It was the polar opposite of the journey to Bingo Burger the day before. Instead of being at picnic benches in the wilds of Chiba Prefecture, I was on top of the Tobu Hotel Levant in a place called Ren. The three of us had a rather heftily-priced but delicious kaiseki course dinner. For 8,000 yen per head, we were able to dine on sashimi, lobster and the like. We always enjoy our annual trio dinners so Cozy is thinking about having them on a semi-annual basis. However, it almost turned out to be a duo since the juku boss had sent me a phone message stating that she'd come down with a fever, but I was surprised to see my smiling boss with her old friend in our private room.

Thursday June 24, 12:13 p.m.

Yes, it's been a while. I was just too busy to blog on Monday and I didn't have access for the past couple of days. 001 was once again off so I had a completely free Wednesday. That will end next week on Canada Day.

Last Saturday, The Bass and I made that 2-hour pilgrimage from our neck of the woods in Chiba all the way to the other end over 100 km away to the small town of Tateyama, just so that we could grab some hamburgers at this stand called Bingo Burger. The drive there was somewhat easier than I'd thought. The ride on the expressway was free of incident. It's rare for me to see the countryside by car and Tateyama is in the deepest wilds of my home prefecture.

I'd first thought that Bingo Burger was this rustic restaurant in the middle of nowhere, but as it turned out, it was a glorified burger stand in the middle of nowhere. The only sitting space was just behind the stand in the form of a few picnic benches. The Bass and I were lucky in that the dreaded rains never came. I had my default Bacon Burger and what I got was this pretty large American burger with a big slab of bacon wrapped around the patty. The fries came in an American stars-and-stripes paper bag and I chose a bottle of Coke....a cola is the only acceptable drink for a burger. The place did remind me of a Midwestern burger stand....right down to the somewhat sullen slightly overweight proprietor. The only thing that was missing was a radio playing The Everly Brothers. The cook even supplied a complementary gaggle of Hershey's Chocolate Kisses and a lollipop. Afterwads, The Bass and I visited a temple and we did a short stopover at a roadside souvenir shop for some ice cream, but it was for the Bingo Burger that our mission was about. It didn't disappoint, and despite the 4-hour round trip, The Bass and I agreed that it would be worth another visit. Next time, though, I'm gonna go for the Super Bingo with twice of everything, including patties

Thursday June 17, 10:46 p.m.

Well, the Donut Day is now over. I've come out the other side feeling pretty weary. There's nothing like doing nothing to tucker one out. I had Mr. TOEFL's final lesson before his big trip, and The Music Man has come back into the fold. He'd been transferred to the Shibuya office so there was all this training that he had to go through for the past month which would explain his month's absence. Still, he won't tell me what he does for a living. I think he's a grand pianist, but the other idea of secret assassin is also lounging about in my brain.

I'm not gonna get near a computer for the next few days since I'm away from Speedy's for the weekend. I've got The Bass, Mr. Swank and then the juku crowd (basically the boss and The Restauranteur) for tomorrow. Then I head out with The Bass and a friend to check out this famed Bingo Burger in deepest Chiba on Saturday.

Gonna be sleeping in the subway, darling.

Thursday June 17, 6:40 p.m.

Coming to the end of the hole of my Donut Day. In just a little over 90 minutes, Mr. TOEFL will come in for his final lesson with us before heading off to North Carolina for his work-related adventure. It has felt like a bit of an adventure for me, actually, since my long break between lessons reminds me of being on an Air Canada 777....Business Class, though, since I have all this space around me. Just me and my computer which has acted as my onboard entertainment system.

The World Cup holds a mere second place to what seemingly is becoming the big event for this week for Japanese "NCIS" fans...Season 6 starts at 11 p.m. tonight. The local fans on Mixi have been commenting about their excited anticipation about what's to become of DiNozzo, McGee, David and Gibbs now that their team has been scattered to the four winds by new toothpick-chomping Director Vance. Yep, I realize that you folks back Stateside have just finished Season 7.

Thursday June 17, 1:57 p.m.

In the middle of that hole of Donut Day. I've gotten most of the stuff done for the next few days' worth of classes so I'm basically just twiddling my thumbs until dinner or Mr. TOEFL calls.

Bought another lunch from that store near the school. Hmmmm....the quality seems to be going downhill a bit. I used to get a pretty delectable bento consisting of karaage with that starchy salty sauce but those have disappeared from the menu over the past couple of months, and the stand where I usually get the lunches don't come with rice anymore, which is a shocker.

Ray looks like she's gonna doze off any minute. And I don't think she's even had lunch yet.

Thursday June 17, 8:19 a.m.

After yesterday's glorious day of having no classes whatsoever, I'm back in the saddle here at Speedy's. But with Grandma Dynamite once again cancelling her lesson this morning, I find myself in a Donut Day. Nope, it's not a daily run to Krispy Kreme, but the fact that I've just got one morning class with The Patent Attorney followed by nearly 12 hours of nothing before Mr. TOEFL and The Music Man come in for their lessons tonight. Thus, my nickname for this situation.

Just enjoyed my night last night with a good dinner...all of it store-bought....and then I watched what I think was the penultimate episode for Season 1 of "Leverage". Things were getting a bit slumpy with the shows of this otherwise great series with Tim Hutton. Then, last night's ep got things ready for the cliffhanger. And Season 6 of "NCIS" debuts tonight on Fox Japan. Unfortunately, unless both of my students tonight cancel as well, there's no way I'll be able to catch that one at 11 p.m. but reruns are numerous.

It's definitely feeling a lot like Summer out there. Pretty steamy in The Big Sushi. Just in time for the 21st.

Wednesday June 16, 2:32 p.m.

There is some joy in Mudville...or has been for the past couple of days since Japan won over Cameroon 1-0 on Monday night in the opening rounds of The World Cup. Even CNN has reported the win as a stunner. Of course, there was glee in the streets of Tokyo...notably the entertainment districts such as Shibuya and Shinjuku. SIL told me that she'd even heard that cars all stopped for a second when the final whistle blew. Of course, the game this weekend against Holland will be a whole different ball game; Samurai Blue will once again be underdogs, but at least the media has lots of meat to talk about until then.

Prime Minister Kan must be having a good week. Even with a non-confidence motion being filed by the Opposition, the news has been buried underneath The World Cup, and one other news story...also a sports story but a far darker one. Once again, sumo is being rocked by yet another scandal. This time, the rikishi have been caught doing some illegal gambling, notably by ozeki Kotomitsuki. Apparently the big boys have been betting on baseball and other stuff. Kotomitsuki, whose face looks like it's been ingrown, probably wants to suck his face in even further. Well, he's been suspended from the next tournament being held in his own hometown of Nagoya.

As for me, I'm having a rare Wednesday off. I only had 001 today but she cancelled by e-mail last night. Ray sent me word that it was too bad that I couldn't come in today since Grandma Fado brought over some inari sushi for all of the staff. Well, y'know....I think I can live without pouches of vinegared rice when it comes to just enjoying a well-deserved day off. I worked 22 straight days without any complete break.

Yesterday, it was just Mrs. Alp and Mrs. Jade for The Beehive session at JR Tsudanuma. The ladies were noticeably quieter in tone since Alp got that chewing out by that one woman a couple of weeks back, and I have to admit that I was wondering whether that lady was going to come back. However, things worked out nicely. Mrs. Travel was absent since she once again became a grandmother...this time twice, thanks to some good timing by both of her daughters. I'll have to send word over to her.

As for the juku crowd, Mr. White cancelled last night since apparently he's gone back into his depressive funk due to the pressures of his other classes. Sugar N' Spice were going crazy as usual....this time, they were in their civvies rather than their uniforms. The two will be taking a break from me since Sugar will be searching for a university. The boss had thought that Spice would be coming in solo but I'm glad that she'll also be taking off as well....keeps the balance in terms of levels. The juku boss also told me that Cozy has sent official word on the venue for Sunday's dinner. It'll be at a hotel in Kinshicho up on the top with a great view of the rising Tokyo Sky Tree. The boss kinda blanched at the thought since she told me that she has acrophobia. That's news to me....we've had dinner together at that rooftop restaurant at the East 21 Hotel in Toyocho.

Rainy Season has officially started in the Kanto, and last night, we did get a dousing. Apparently, we should be getting another one any minute but it was pretty summery and steamy when I made my way out here.

Monday June 14, 9:00 p.m.

Well, I made some actual text progress...all of 1 page...with Miss Genki tonight. I didn't tell her of the impending change to become her permanent teacher. I figure that should be Speedy's job.

Cozy's got the restaurant reservations done for the next get-together. It's at the Tobu Hotel in Shin-Urayasu. Looks like things may get a bit pricey. He's quoting 8,000 yen per head. Yep, he likes his fancy food.

Monday June 14, 4:56 p.m.



Well, it looks like outside of the Mandela tragedy, the World Cup has gone off without a hitch. No acts of terrorism, no bombings. But we apparently have a bunch of ties. Of course, the big thing tonight or tomorrow morning is Japan vs. Cameroon. I've been asking around the student population about The Blue Samurai's chances, and they've all said rather sheepishly that they would like to see Japan win, but...
My feeling is that the first game is already a must-win for Okada's bunch. They've lost pretty much all of the friendlies so I can't believe that confidence and morale are at a fever pitch. If they win, then there's a chance that they could at least do respectably in their group, but if they lose tonight, then it's pretty much assured that Okada will be retiring fairly quickly and Japan will have an early and silent trip back home.

Yesterday, after my classes with Yajima and The Jyuppies, I met up with the dinner-and-the-movie gang in Shinjuku. It was another round of ramen at Foo Foo. MB has just fallen in love with the deep fried pork cutlet in the pai ko tan tan men. The Sylph didn't bother to show up since she was doing the "Sex and the City" thing and having herself some pampering at a spa. However, MB did bring over a rather muscular Manhattanite from the gym for the dinner and movie. He, MB, The Satyr and I went to see "Iron Man 2" while Skippy and Miss Ivory were off to see "Sex and the City 2" at the Picadilly. Testosterone for us, and very aggressive progesterone for the ladies.

As for "Iron Man 2", it was as I had thought...not quite as good as the first one, but still a game go of it. I just thought that for a blockbuster superhero movie, it was a little too talky for a good third of the flick (although the Senate hearings were fun to watch Robert Downey Jr. take a chunk out of a horrifyingly Jabba-like Garry Shandling). And this time around, the movie was pretty much an "Ocean's 11"-like sample of casting: along with Gwyneth Paltrow, there was Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johannssen, etc. Strangely enough, with this many celebs in one movie, it did work out pretty well by the end, although the final battle scene approached disturbingly toward "Transformers"-level FX hysteria. And of course, there was the now-de rigueur post-closing credit cliffhanger scene with the appearance of Mjolnir in the New Mexico desert. Robert Downey Jr. is definitely the engine that makes this movie work, though.

It's been a drippy Monday with the usual regulars. Cozy informed me that he's found a possible place for the annual dinner with me and the juku boss. It might be some restaurant in tony Shin-Urayasu. My session with Swank had me finding out that she had almost had a meltdown at her daughters' birthday party...as I had thought. She was pretty darn intense about what to say and when to say it on Friday; I kinda figured that she was gonna panic a bit. In fact, one of the mothers even had to take her aside to calm her down.

My talk with SIL was pretty interesting. We spoke about my former student, The Lady, and what she and her defrocked husband might be up to at this time. It's been well over a year since I'd last seen her and The Matron. The couple has frankly been persona non grata within the family ever since hubby saw his empire collapse.

Speedy is back after his annual two weeks of business trip. Looks like I'll probably have Miss Genki for good since the bossman will be taking care of a new client in-company. And after about a month away, The Medicine Man is back again. No knowing what he'll be like. I just hope that the long absence away will mean that there will be more to talk about. At the same time, I'm happy to hear that I'll have a virtual day off on Wednesday except for 001.

Saturday June 12, 3:15 p.m.

Finished my two today. Miss Prissy is such a nice person, but she's just so slow in her answers. The Businesswoman was fine but she's a bit rusty from the lack of time with English. Anyways, I'm feeling rather laggardly since I have yet to have lunch, and most likely, it'll be dinner in any case.

Saturday June 12, 10:13 a.m.

Certainly feels like a Summer day out there.

Well, the World Cup is now up and running. And one couldn't have asked for a more dramatic beginning. There were tens of thousands of spectators inside the arena screaming and blowing horns, millions more outside and all over the world watching the festivity, a family of an icon openly mourning the loss of a member due to senseless tragedy, and the South African team scored the very first goal of the entire match. The host team isn't expected to even make it out of the prelims so I guess getting at least the first goal comes as a celebration of sorts.

After the nutso schedule on Thursday, I had a fairly easy day on Friday. However, my class with Swank, which had been meant to be shorter than her usual session (60 instead of 90), actually ended up being over 2 hours long. The lady completely lost track of time and at the end, she got flustered packing everything up so that she could rush over to her daughter's party. She got so intense about hosting her girls' birthday party today in terms of the wording....I kept telling her to just relax and enjoy.

Afterwards, I walked from Roppongi down to Azabu-Juban to check out Frijoles once more. Frijoles is that taco place I found out in "The Japan Times" a couple of weeks ago. This time, I went for the fajita burrito with carnitas...the fave braised pork. This time, there was a steadily moving lineup which was nice to see...the first time I went there was during a rainy day and there were only a few people. It's always nice to see a fledgling business doing well in this economy. I had the burrito with that hot sauce. Last time, I had the tacos with some medium sauce which wasn't too spicy in my estimation. Well, that hot sauce knocked things up several notches in the heat category...I was able to still appreciate the carnitas but perhaps I'll take things down a bit next time.

Last night, I discovered the hard way that I really didn't need to be at the juku. The Restauranteur sidled into the classroom wearing a mask and sounding quite hoarse. She'd caught a cold and just wanted to get the homework. The juku boss just has her half-hour with me, only because The Restauranteur's class is also just 30 minutes. If The Restauranteur had only canned straight away, I would've been able to just spend a nice evening at home, but that would just be rather churlish of me. At the very least, I should be grateful that The Restauranteur cares enough about her class to make that detour to the juku to pick up homework.

Well, it didn't take long for the new Prime Minister to get his trial by fire. It was the departure of Mizuho Fukushima and her Social Democrats from the coalition which pretty much put the last nail in previous PM Hatoyama's coffin over a week ago. Now, the other partner, Shizuka Kamei, has pulled out due to his objection against PM Kan for refusing to extend the current Diet session so that the postal reform bill can get passed. However, his People's New Party will stay in there. But the political news showed PM Kan getting the Parliament's equivalent of the Bronx Cheer...no honeymoon at all for this guy.

Anyways, I have just two up today....Miss Prissy and The Businesswoman.

Gonna be catching "Iron Man 2" tomorrow with the regular movie folk. Actually, it'll be a gender split. The women will be seeing "Sex and The City 2" while we menfolk will be catching the hijinks of Tony Stark.

Thursday June 10, 9:45 p.m.

Well, some 14 hours after having arrived in this school, I'm still here typing away. I'm doing La Fille a bit of a courtesy since she wanted to do a bit of cramming before her next test tomorrow. It's not as if I have a hugely busy schedule tomorrow. I basically just have Swank for a special in the morning and then it's just the juku boss and The Restauranteur. This past day was the Mega Hump Day with 7.5 hours of classes.

The Carolinan did get that sighting of the cast from "Sex And The City" last Tuesday from Roppongi Hills. The ladies were mere ants from her sight but luckily TV Asahi in its infinite wisdom had huge screens to broadcast all of the red carpet stuff.

As for Mr. TOEFL, he was his usual steady self. He had his second-last class tonight and then we wrap things up next Thursday before he takes off for North Carolina. He was so grateful to the school that he bought us a box of lovely confectionaries...it's nice to be noticed.

Not sure how much longer La Fille wants to cram but I can hang on.

Thursday June 10, 7:40 p.m.

Finished up with The Carolinan. Meanwhile, a major unexpected squall has swamped Tokyo. There was no sign of any rain in the weather forecasts which probably means that all of the weatherfolk are getting irate phone calls right about now.

That just leaves Mr. TOEFL to end this long day. Ironically, he'll be going to the same state that The Carolinan did in her college days. She asked me to ask him to find out where he'll be going to for his duration.

Earlier today, Ray informed me that she'd gotten e-mail from Miss Sedona, my old Thursday morning student. Looks like her dream of setting up tentpoles in Canada has now dissipated and she wants to come back to Japan permanently. Nothing like living abroad to get a better perspective on home. I wonder if she still has perpetual smile on her face.

Thursday June 10, 5:57 p.m.

Into the homestretch now. The Magician was probably the only other student who I had to keep on my toes since she's the bossman's student. But she was OK. Got into a good conversation about the banana split.

Just have The Carolinan and Mr. TOEFL before I finish my epic day of lessons. Still not feeling too worse for wear.

Thursday June 10, 2:47 p.m.

Had The Ol' Staffer just now. She admitted that it felt a bit weird actually sitting in the student's chair instead of serving tea beside it. We did some work on pronounciation and delivery. Looks like she's a bit self-conscious about the way she talks.

Over halfway through the day now. Just got The Magician, The Carolinan and Mr. TOEFL.

Thursday June 10, 11:20 a.m.

I've gotten through the first two students of my septet this morning. The Patent Attorney and I had another smooth session, and he even gave me some food for thought...the possibility of using karaoke boxes as another venue for private lessons...during the weekdays, the rooms are a huge bargain.

Grandma Dynamite wasn't quite as proficient but she did bring her A-game. And I found out that she's become an ardent Takarazuka fan of late. In fact, she and a friend are headed for a performance in Hibiya in a couple of weeks.

Anyways, I've got The Slacker in about 5. I'll try not to yawn.

Thursday June 10, 8:17 a.m.

Back in the saddle for a very full day of classes. And I've got that Slacker squeezed in between Grandma Dynamite and the ol' staffer. Well, luckily I start off with the congenial Patent Attorney.

It'll be an early Summer day...going up to 27 C...definitely do not need a jacket.

Wednesday June 9, 8:29 p.m.

Well, it certainly didn't take long, did it? The puns have started for the new guy...PM Naoto Kan. I had predicted that the old Obama campaign saying could be applied to the new leader. I'm still waiting for "The Wrath of Kan" to be quoted.

My three students have come and gone. With Grandma Fado, it was simply talking about the mouse infestation in her apartment. Then, The CEO and I got into discussing about her presentation in Beijing next week, followed by talk on the new administration. There was an extended interlude/stand-up routine with Ray and La Fille which involved watching YouTube videos of maggot cheese, deep-fried cockroaches, steak, ribs and Chicago deep dish pizza...yep, in that order. We now have a tentative date to head out to Tony Roma's once the bossman gets back into town. And finally, 001 and I had another grand old time conversing on the fact that she finally got that membership within the Arashi Fan Club, just so that she could pre-order some tickets for a November concert. Then, we got into our old drunken hangover war stories.

Basically I'm done for the day. I'll let La Fille know within the next few minutes that we'll be shutting down. Then tomorrow will be the massive Hump Day...but thankfully, the Music Man, the last student in the lineup decided to cancel his lesson. Still, it'll be quite the schedule. I'll have my usual Patent Attorney, and Grandma Dynamite in the morning, followed by the first lesson with that former staffer, then it's The Magician, The Carolinan and finally Mr. TOEFL. Will definitely earn my salary.

Wednesday June 9, 9:26 a.m.

Not so much of a Hump Day today...my Mega Hump is due for tomorrow. I've just got Grandma Fado, The CEO (should enjoy talking politics with her today considering current events) and then 001. Grandma Enka is not on the slate for some reason; I'll have to confirm with Ray when she comes in about 20 minutes. Kinda glad that I don't have it too busy, although The CEO will keep me on my toes...I feel rather knotty today (not naughty...I haven't felt that way in almost a decade). I could use with a nice shoulder massage but I rather doubt that Ray or Miss London would be too willing to give a good kneading.

Luckily, yesterday I just had the juku folks so I could sleep in. The news yesterday was pretty much all on the new Kan administration here. The Chief Cabinet Secretary, Sengoku, ( a cross between The Chief of Staff and The Press Secretary...just imagine Leo McGarry in C.J. Cregg's power dress) exhorted about the "youth" and the change that this new government will provide. I'm sure there were quite a few in the media, the opposition and the public at large who were chortling ruefully at that comment. Less than half of the new Cabinet were in their 40s and 50s, and most of the so-called new team are holdovers from the last disastrous administration under PM Hatoyama. If Naoto Kan can just last up to 2 years, I think that will be the major achievement.

As for the juku classes, I got an initial scare from Mr. White when he shambled in looking like death warmed over. I thought that he had gone into another major depression like he did last Fall when he had to stay away from us for about a month. However, it just turns out that he has been exhausted from his other academic pursuits and probably because he had received a bit of a chewout from his Korean teacher...apparently someone along the lines of a Sue Sylvester. He brightened up somewhat after my humour-laced lesson.

Sugar N' Spice were great as always. They often banter with each other like a female comedy duo. However, the act will be breaking up for a while from July as Sugar has to go search for an appropriate university once she graduates next year. Spice will be with me but she'll probably go to a half-hour status. The Milds went on a trip to Hiroshima last week and stayed at a ryokan which had also catered to members of the Imperial Family. Mr. Nice Guy was his usual steady self with his stream of questions.

Well, my worries about spilling the beans to The New Yorker about her sister's recent hooking up with a Floridian came to naught. I got the word from The Carolinan that she thought that she had told her sister about the relationship. I'd thought that that had indeed been the case, so no problems. I'm sure she'll have plenty to talk about.

Monday June 7, 9:45 p.m.

Well, my long day has come to a quiet end. I was lucky with The German and Miss Genki, although I'm not sure how happy Speedy will be when he finds out that I didn't really progress too far in the text...he's a bit of a stickler for procedure. The German and I have always had trouble getting through the book since we always end up tangenting into the far ends of conversation. And today with Miss Genki, we just got "mired" in the wonders of musicals (which she loves) and movies (which I do). However, the odds are looking that I'll have both students again the next time which may get me a reprieve of sorts.

As for the weekend, I met Yajima in Den'en-Chofu as usual. There was some sort of mikoshi festival going on so it was lucky that my student picked me up just when the parade was about to get started. We, ironically, didn't pass former PM Hatoyama's house as we had done in past weeks, but I could imagine that the security there was probably a whole lot thicker.

Caught that episode of "NCIS" in which Jenny Shepherd buys the farm; I'm sure the Mixi community is currently abuzz about the implications. Wait til they see the season ender.

Also bought the first album by quirky Marina & The Diamonds called "The Family Jewels". I was seduced a bit by that video for "Mowgli's Road" in which Marina is bouncing on origami legs. And then I caught "I am Not a Robot" on YouTube and that settled the argument for me. She has that Kate Bush loopiness in her delivery...and perhaps even a bit of Sheryl Crow and Shiina Ringo. And even she admits in her tune "Hollywood" that she has that resemblance to Catherine Zeta-Jones. That CD cover didn't hurt either.

Anyways, I'm just about fit to be tied after 7 hours of lessons today. Happily, I've got most of the day off tomorrow before the juku students come in. I'll sleep well tonight. I'll have to remember to bring over the DVD set of "Glee" for Miss London.

Monday June 7, 6:46 p.m.

Well, this is one of the reasons that I've never liked getting too close to students outside of the classroom. A couple of weeks ago, The Carolinan informed me that she'd gotten a new beau in Guam. I asked her whether she had told her sister, The New Yorker, to which she nodded. She hadn't told her parents. Well, I saw The New Yorker today and when I made a sly referral to The Carolinan's new status, The New Yorker seemed surprised...well, mildly surprised...she was never one for copious amounts of emotion. Apparently, The New Yorker knows about the guy but she hadn't been aware that he and her sister were now an item. Whoops! Well, I hope that I haven't caused something. I did ask The New Yorker to keep mum about it, but I'm now wondering whether I should just come clean to The Carolinan.

It's been a Hump Day for me. I've taught four lessons: Cozy, Swank, SIL and The New Yorker. And I've got two more to go with Speedy's students: The German and Miss Genki. Over 6 hours' worth. Luckily, I've got most of the day off tomorrow since The Beehive is not convening in the morning.