Monday August 29, 5:08 p.m.

After Yajima's lesson, I decided to take a look up at Akihabara and was surprised to discover that there was still a hokoten going on. Apparently, the cancellation of the pedestrians' paradise was a temporary one after the March 11 earthquake.

Of course, this was the hokoten post-killing spree by that psycho a couple of years back. No performances of any kind, but at least all of us had lots of space to walk around. And the crazy cars were out. These are vehicles tricked up and decorated by otaku in tribute to their favorite characters. There were a few parked on one of the main streets which garnered quite a lot of attention by cellphone-wielding folks.

This young maid immediately shielded her face when she noticed that I was about to take a picture of her. Perhaps she is in the Maid Protection Programme.

Monday August 29, 5:01 p.m.

My gradual dissemination of my permanent departure from these shores is continuing. I informed Yajima yesterday at the end of the lesson. He kinda had this deer-in-headlights look in his eyes and there was a brief awkwardness. Of course, I knew that my private students would react in different ways but it still kinda feels bad that I have to let them know....even if I am being considerate in letting them know almost 4 months before D-Day. And then today, I let The Godfather know. He was nice enough to respond that it was too bad but he understood the situation. I still have to tell the Movie Gang, Speedy and The Sisters of State. No idea how The New Yorker or The Carolinan will take this.

Monday August 29, 4:51 p.m.

Besides the annual political winds of change, we've got the real thing happening as we speak. As labeled here on the map as Typhoons 11 and 12, the more imaginatively named Namundol and Talas are coming north. It looks like Namundol will be bothering Taiwan and mainland China, but Talas looks like it's making a straight line right for us in the Kanto. According to the timeline map in the above picture, it may strike sometime in midweek. Should be interesting. I don't think there will be quite the hype that Hurricane Irene was generating. And the hype was probably the only thing that Irene had been generating to epic levels as it relatively gently scoured through New York City. Anderson Cooper looked almost disappointed as the CNN meterologist revealed that Lower Manhattan would probably get flooded but only that. Aside from 12 hours of straight rain, Irene would basically snub The Big Apple. I can only hope that Typhoon Talas will do the same as its Atlantic big brother.

Monday August 29, 4:33 p.m.

"Allo...I bid you welcome to Maison De La Crow where you can 'ave all the crow you want to eat. May I interest you in our special for today: Japanese Prime Ministerial Candidate Crow with extra ticks and mites for extra crunchiness?"

Yup, don't bet on me for your political choices. I kinda feel like that guy who had bet all his money on The Vancouver Canucks to win The Stanley Cup in 4 straight earlier this year. I'd thought that it would be the relatively popular but dumb former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara who was gonna get the top job in Japan with the runnerup being crybaby minister Kaieda. Instead, it was current Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda who grabbed the brass ring of Nagatacho.

But I'm not alone in at the crow buffet table. A lot of the media thought it would be a two-way race between Maehara and Kaieda. There were an unprecedented 5 nominees for the DPJ presidency which had the pundits predicting...and predicting correctly...that there would have to be a runoff vote after the initial vote since noone was probably gonna get the 200 votes needed to get that majority amongst the DPJ parliamentarians. But the surprise started when the two-way turned out to be only half-right. Maehara got left in the dust in 3rd place! And here I had been ruing that Japan was gonna get its own Dan Quayle. But then again, things were looking bad for Maehara when it had been announced that the posse of Ichiro Ozawa, the blacklisted but still potent kingmaker within the party, was gonna support Kaieda instead of Maehara.

During the runoff, The Godfather and I were having our weekly talk at the Tully's in Tameike-Sanno, and we were discussing about how the party leadership elections would go. We were both surprised (and relieved) that Maehara got dumped. But then half an hour later, the runoff results came out on The Godfather's cellphone, and in the upset, Yoshihiko Noda got the nod. So, unless there are any major surprises tomorrow such as a successful assassination, the current Finance Minister will become the future Prime Minister. And he's the guy in the center in the bottom photograph. Not exactly photogenic but as long as he's competent, I'll take him anyday. May be wishing too much here.

Thursday August 25, 5:14 p.m.

For years, I've been hearing about goya champloo, which is one of the most famous dishes in Okinawan cuisine. Its main ingredient is goya, or bitter melon, and as the name suggests, this vegetable, which looks like a warty cucumber, has got a taste which would pucker anyone's mouth if that person had the bad luck to ingest it as is.
Goya champloo is a stir-fry dish consisting of sliced goya, sliced fatty pork, tofu, eggs and bean sprouts all mixed together. I seasoned the pork with soy sauce and sake beforehand. And then I just added a bit of salt and pepper. Mrs. Alp, who was the student who had kindly presented me with the goya on Tuesday, also suggested the secret ingredient to hold it all together....soba tsuyu...the flavored dipping sauce for soba noodles. A lot of folks use miso but Mrs. Alp swears by soba tsuyu. And sure enough, the tsuyu has that combination of rich soy sauce, salt and sugar to add that kick. Since it was the first time for me to whip this stuff up, it came out a bit soupier than I had intended but still, it made for a satisfying dish on a summer day.

Thursday August 25, 4:55 p.m.

Please take a good look at this fellow. Perhaps by this time next week, he will be the new Prime Minister of Japan. His name is Seiji Maehara, and he used to be the Foreign Minister in PM Kan's government until a scandal forced him to vacate the post earlier this year.

He looks young, and is indeed young for a guy who may be getting the top job...I don't think he's even reached 50 yet. And frankly, he's a bit of a dumbass. I don't have many high hopes for Maehara. PM Hatoyama was wishy-washy, PM Kan was in over his head with all that has happened this year, but Seiji Maehara strikes me as being just plain dumb. A few years back, when he was an up-and-coming politician and the leader of the then-Opposition Democratic Party of Japan, he pulled a Chicken Little by ranting and raving over a supposed e-mail that showed a parliamentarian of the then-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a compromising situation. The e-mail proved to be a false one and Maehara had to resign in humiliation. But second and even third chances are given liberally in Japanese politics, and Maehara came back to have posts in the Cabinet. But his time as Foreign Minister was cut short when it had been found out that he had accepted political donations from a foreign resident which is a no-no and summarily had to resign once more.

However, after another few months in the political wilderness, Maehara announced his candidacy to become leader of the party, and now the pundits are predicting that he will get it next week. Prime Minister Kan will most likely announce his resignation tomorrow since all of his conditions have been met for him to step down. It's time to pass over the bull's-eye. And since the DPJ have the majority in the Lower House, whoever gets the leadership of the DPJ gets the Prime Ministership.

Oh, I just hope he isn't our equivalent of George W. Bush.

Wednesday August 24, 8:05 p.m.

One down, one to go. Finished my lesson with 001...just the usual gab with her about the usual Arashi. I've just got Kirk and then I'll be done for the day.

Heard about Jack Layton's passing today. When I was back in Toronto in March and April, that was the first time I had actually seen anything of the leader of the NDP. People had told me that he had looked far more robust, but even at that time, he was looking fighting trim for a guy who was going through cancer. But then I saw his very final press conference on YouTube today and realized that this was a guy whose days were very numbered. During the debates for Prime Minister in the Spring, he came across as the most amiable and most likely to chum around with. But, though it sounds cold, I'm glad that he didn't become PM because of the obvious final results. I wouldn't have been able to imagine the chaos of having to go through another election to replace Layton.

Wednesday August 24, 5:41 p.m.

Since I had most of the day off, I went over to Oshiage to see how Tokyo's latest architectural behemoth was doing. Tokyo Sky Tree is now basically complete although it won't officially open until next May. The last time I'd been there was last April when it had just passed the 450 m mark. Now it's at its mature 634 metres....and with a baby brother building next to it.

Kinda too bad that I won't be here next year to see the grand opening, but then again, I had my opportunities granted when the CN Tower opened up way back in 1976.

Wednesday August 24, 4:56 p.m.

Last night at 10 p.m., a severe-looking man came into a room filled with journalists and photographers and even flashes to send the most battle-hardened media watcher into seizure. And for an hour, he held everyone spellbound as he explained his errors and deeply apologized. Nope, I am not talking about Muammar Khadafy (as if he would ever be humble in front of the world media), but about Shinsuke Shimada, probably one of the most recognized figures in the geinokai, or the Japanese world of show business.

Just imagine David Letterman in the States hosting 6 weekly TV shows with those shows scattered throughout the networks, and you'll get an idea of how prevalent Shimada is on TV. And all this doesn't include the various specials and commercials that he appears on. In Japan, there isn't that presumed barrier about TV stars appearing on rival networks that firmly exists in the United States. Anyone who is in the upper echelons of TV stardom is pretty much required to have at least a half dozen programs. Shinsuke Shimada hosts those 6 variety shows, two of which have his name stamped onto the title, and there is one of his shows tonight on Fuji-TV called "Hexagon", a quiz variety show starring some of the allegedly dumbest tarento this side of a box of table legs.

Well, those show may now be history for the next little while at least. Fuji-TV may be or may have been sweating mighty bullet trains about what to do for its 7 p.m. time slot tonight. The reason is that last night at that press conference in Shinjuku, Shimada promptly resigned from show business. And though the media attention around this resignation may have rivaled that of the departure of Johnny Carson from "The Tonight Show" in the early 90s, the circumstances were far from happy last night.

Apparently, all this has come about due to some past dalliances between Shimada and the yakuza. It had come to light in the past few days that some years ago when one of the kings of Japanese TV had been in a spot of trouble, he had got in contact with an old friend who turned out to be a gangster. That gangster, who had earlier denied that he had been one, in turn, contacted a fixer to resolve the problem. The problem was apparently resolved discreetly. It may have involved the incident in which Shimada had punched out a female manager in one of his companies back in 2004.

Well, any established contact between show business and organized crime is a definite no-no, according to the media and entertainment....although I think anyone who's been anyone in show business prior to 1985 (when the yakuza were officially considered persona non grata by the government) most likely has had some sort of relationship with the J-Mob. I've always thought that there was a bit of a buddy-buddy relationship between the two, just like Frank Sinatra and the Mafia in Las Vegas. Now, the e-mail which showed the contact between Shimada and his gangster buddy was way back almost a decade ago. But it was enough for the president of his management company, Yoshimoto Kogyo, to call him in immediately after one of his programs and discuss the matter before Shimada decided to call it quits after more than 30 years on the telly.

Shinsuke Shimada had first started out as one half of a comedy duo back in the late 70s and rode the first wave of a comic duo boom. He and his partner became regular players on a popular "Saturday Night Live"-like variety show called "Oretachi wa Hyokin-zoku". And when his duo broke up in the mid-80s, he morphed into a popular host of TV shows starting with a Best 10 music show. His quicksilver Osakan wit and stylish looks basically got him to the top of TV.

My take on him, though, was ambivalent at best. I was never a big fan of manzai comedy, and though a lot of the natives here enjoyed his straight-talking style and his occasional live chewouts of celebs and civilians (on his talk shows), I initially and up to the time of his press conference last night found him to be another arrogant self-righteous celebrity. And that incident of him clocking one of his employees far from impressed me although he did hold a press conference in which he deeply apologized. However, after seeing his press conference last night and then witnessing former actress-turned-TV personality Miho Takagi tearfully showing gratitude to him on a Fuji-TV morning wide show for all of his encouragement during a tough time in her life, I'm wondering if I should just label him as just a flawed mercurial person. Apparently, despite all of the pompous bluster that he has shown on his programs, he has also helped a lot of his junior colleagues through their careers on TV.

Shinsuke Shimada may have left the stage last night and left some huge (scheduling) holes, but I don't really think any of us have seen the last of him. Just like superheroes...and supervillains...in the comics, Japanese celebs have often found a way to return to glory. Plus, Shimada's contrition in front of the cameras does get bonus points in a society where the deepest apologies go a long way to reforming a person in front of public eyes. Still, as the reporters have said all this morning, there is still a lot of the maelstrom surrounding the departed Shimada that has yet to be revealed.

Monday August 22, 8:29 p.m.

Ahhhh....doesn't this look appetizing! A nice hearty bowl of ramen to finish off the day. Well, I would be able to eat this if it were just a bit cooler and less humid. As it is, I would probably end up melting into a puddle of cholesterol.

The reason for the picture? Well, I had my lesson with Miss Genki. And once again, we eschewed the text for something heartier. She and her sister had just come back from their Guam vacation last week and we ended up talking about what they had noshed on during their 4 days there. Baby back ribs, Chinese crab, tons of food. What else is new? Our conversation went through the myriad dishes of dim sum before we came onto the talk of ramen. And so of course, I just had to mention the Ramen Museum near Shin-Yokohama Station. For someone who adores ramen like Miss Genki, it was a bit of a shock to find out that she had never been to the Mecca of All Things Noodly. So, I took her to the website and she took down the images as if she were really eating a bowl of the stuff. As for me, I would like to go there myself one last time before I head on back to The Great White North, but I just can't be sure considering my financial picture.

Speaking of other people who have seen better days, CNN is reporting that Muammar Khadafy is currently missing. No surprise there. I think the term is "...gone into hiding". I just didn't think that the regime would fall this fast but then again the media may be jumping the gun on this. I'm sure when I get home I'll be seeing "BREAKING NEWS" ad nauseum posted up in black & yellow all night.

Just got word from Swank in Hawaii. Looks like she may cancel her first lesson this Friday since she may be rather busy decompressing after a month in The Aloha State. Can't say I blame her. After enjoying an entire month in paradise, I think she would need some time to recover.

Monday August 22, 5:01 p.m.

Did want to mention that The Godfather proudly informed me that his second child into the world last Friday. For all the horrible stuff that had been put on the poor man over the past few weeks, I think this news has been very welcome. Anyways, I won't see him til next Monday. It's looking like a busy Monday though with Cozy, The Bossa Novan, The Godfather and then Mr. Swank squished in between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Speaking of Mr. Swank, his wife should be back in action this Friday when I see her for the first time in a month since coming back from their annual vacation in Hawaii. Over the past few weeks, Swank has been uploading various pictures from The Aloha State to her Facebook page. Must be nice to be rich.
Looks like most of this week will be characterized by night classes, except for The Beehive tomorrow and then Swank and The OL on Friday.

Monday August 22, 4:46 p.m.

Still unseasonably cool although the humidity is definitely up there. I actually wore my casual otaku jacket although by the afternoon it was definitely helping to build up a sauna around my body. Starting from tomorrow, the temps are gonna gradually be rising again until Friday when we'll back into the heat wave once more. A number of folks around me actually thought that the summer was gonna be over, but I know from long experience that nowadays Tokyo summers last well into September.

On Saturday, I got a call from my old friend, The Cat, from up in Nagano Prefecture. I've known her for almost 20 years when she was a working-holiday student in Toronto hanging out with us in our university club. She is one of the friends whom I've already told about my intentions to leave Japan for good this December. As usual, The Cat asked me a number of questions on English since she also teaches kids as a part-time job. She also informed me that Paddy is planning to come back to Japan soon to check up on his mother who's been ailing of late. I'd never heard anything about this from Paddy in his last e-mail last week, so I'm assuming that he may not have time to see me which may explain why he hasn't told me about his plans.

Today I had Cozy for his usual 8 a.m. session. The rains were coming down this morning although things have become far drier since then. After reading my comments on Mixi concerning Junko Ohashi the singer, he promptly fed his nostalgia genes and ordered 3 CDs by her via Amazon, and then showed them to in class. Nice to know that I can influence people this way.

Since I have a huge hole in my schedule between Cozy and Miss Genki in about 2 hours, I visited Akihabara for the first time in several weeks. Checked out Tower Records and the like before having my usual doner kebab for lunch. Saw the usual maids on the main strip giving out the leaflets. I guess Maid Cafes still pull them in.

Over the past several days, I've been watching the situation in Libya. As one talking head put it on a BBC show, noone can predict as to what will happen between Khadafi and the rebels. But to noone's doubt, the endgame is here. The rebels have entered Tripoli, neighbouring Tunisia has even formally declared that the rebels are now the provisional government, and when Khadafi's mouthpiece started blaming the entire world for this mess, I kinda figured that the Colonel's days...or hours....were numbered. And indeed, CNN is reporting that a number of his sons have been captured, and that the country was now on the brink. Should be interesting when I get home. I don't believe that the Battle for Libya will be won by tonight my time but I think several things will be in play that might enhance it when the time comes.

Saturday August 20, 1:58 p.m.

Just had to mention that the cops had finally found the body of that Japanese girl who had fallen over Niagara Falls last week. Her name was Ayano Tokumasu of Aichi Prefecture. A memorial page has been set up on Facebook for her, and the lass actually had her own Facebook account which wasn't visited by her too often.

Saturday August 20, 1:41 p.m.

Gloriously cool today thanks to a major storm that swept through the Kanto yesterday. I couldn't quite believe it on Thursday when I read the 3-day report and discovered that although it would be hitting 32 C at 9 a.m. on Friday, the temps would be plummeting to well below 30 C by the afternoon due to some seriously heavy rain.

Well, sure enough, I did get my Gatorade at the nearby vending machine by my home at about 9 yesterday since I was losing water again as I had done everyday for the past 2 weeks. But during my lesson with The Bass in Funabashi, the clouds just got darker and darker until they finally exploded and let loose with a torrent of precipitation which continued into the evening. It was all coming down in sheets and my umbrella just kept my head dry on my way home.

Finally decided to try out the McBarbers in my neighbourhood for the first time. I was starting to take on that heavy metal roadie look so I figured that I didn't want to have the bossman lecture me on my hair and tried the place out. As the name would hint, it is one of those discount barbers, and as you can see from the picture, all one has to pay is 990 yen...you can actually get change from giving that one bill. When I entered the place, I was the only customer so the barber quickly got me seated in politely and in a friendly way, and just asked some simple questions of confirmation in terms of how much I wanted cut off. Then it was off to the races. Bring out the scissors and clippers and within 10 minutes, 5 months' growth of hair was all over me and on the floor. Luckily, I didn't have to suffer the itchiness of walking home with hair bits running down into my underwear; the barber had one of those vacuum hoses to suck everything up.

10 minutes and 990 yen. It took a sixth of the time and a fifth of the price that I'd once paid at my old salon. Economically speaking, I was certainly showing my wisdom but I felt rather bad that I could no longer go to that old place with the friendly stylists, complementary cup of tea and shampoo/scalp massage. Financially, I really could no longer justify it although I had always appreciated this service in this country. The last time I'd been there was in late February, just a couple of weeks before the big quake. I had a hack job on my scalp in Toronto during my escape there in April and then I just held off on a cut for almost half a year. I think it was just as well that I just hadn't made any more contact with the salon and just have them assume that I had gone back permanently. Not really good with the goodbye thing.

On YouTube, I went over some of the media coverage of 9/11 since we're almost at the 10th anniversary. Even though, it's almost a decade since that day, watching the ABC/CNN coverage still brings goosebumps. Frankly, I'm not sure what things are gonna be like next month on the 11th.

Thursday August 18, 1:52 p.m.

Before I left for work this morning, I was switching between the latest episode of "The Mentalist" (the one where Cho goes on a rampage on his old gang) and today's "Piers Morgan Tonight". The latter show had Christine O'Donnell, former wannabe witch (and I mean this literally if you can watch her 1999 appearance on Jay Mohr's old show) and attempted Congresswoman representing The Tea Party. I only saw the first several minutes when I came to the decision that the interview was devolving into a verbal slap fest. And so Mr. Jane won out; as it turned out, I'd just read that O'Donnell walked off the set. No surprise there. It kinda looked like Piers Morgan was sinking his teeth into some red meat....Larry King, he is not.

Thursday August 18, 12:48 p.m.

Another hot one out there. If it weren't for some of the breeziness, I would probably be taking on the consistency of cheese fondue outside. As it is, I'm doing OK here at Speedy's since he's got the air conditioner working again.

I just have the one student today: The Bossa Novan. I'll have to put on the kid gloves to a certain extent today. Perhaps I was a bit too fast with her last week. In any case, once we hit 4:00, I'll be out of here and back home. Yup, Mrs. Thursday isn't in the house this week and I don't have The Carolinan tonight. For that matter, it's gonna be a quiet end to the week. Just only have The Bass tomorrow since The OL is off to a hot spring with her family up in Nagano Prefecture and I've got bupkiss on Saturday.

Strangely enough, I got another contact from Facebook. My ol' student, Miss Honolulu, contacted me from Perth, Australia, her home of several years. She was a good friend of MB's as well. Speaking of whom, he and The Satyr should be heading out to New York City sometime this weekend.

CNN had a feature about the hidden dangers of Yosemite National Park. Apparently, people who were destined to become the losing end of Darwinism have ended their lives needlessly by trying to get that great picture by the waterfall, not caring about the rangers' safety advice. At this time, my Sunday morning student, Yajima, and his wife are traveling in that very park. But he seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders....unlike that poor girl going over Niagara Falls earlier this week.

Wednesday August 17, 6:30 p.m.

Looks like I got another cancellation. I was supposed to have another one of the S-series but he's canned his lesson for tomorrow night. So I've just got The Bossa Novan tomorrow afternoon. I did tell The Businesswoman about their mutual interest in Brazilian music; maybe someday they can meet, but I'm not sure how The Bossa Novan is feeling about her lessons so far.

The Magician was fine. Luckily, we had to do one of those Snakes N' Ladders type of games to wrap up the text so it was basically a lot of practice there. We haven't even finished half of it and she won't be showing up til mid-September for her next class so we're looking at October probably for a new text.

Not sure if the Canadian authorities have found the body of that Japanese girl who had gone over the Falls. Apparently, they're frantically trying to track down her family back over here. At this point, if they haven't found her by now, she's pretty much a fatality.

Wednesday August 17, 3:45 p.m.

Saw The Businesswoman for the first time in over 5 months, i.e. before the quake. She had been extremely busy at her university but with summer vacation, she finally had time to get some down time in. She's lost quite a bit of weight and gained some rustiness in her English ability but she was OK otherwise. We of course did some catchup on our respective situations because of 3/11.

The bossman was kind enough to bring over The Colonel....Sanders, that is. Had a couple of regular wings plus some sort of spicy number and a mountain of fries. I think dinner is now out of the question for tonight. Y'know....you just get that craving for all those secret herbs and spices but once you're satisfied, you can go on for another 6 months before KFC gets back at you.

Wednesday August 17, 1:42 p.m.

Well, from the musically sublime to the ridiculous....I just found out that there had been a hostage-taking incident in Shibuya involving Johnny Kitagawa. Ol' John just happens to be the head honcho of Johnny's Entertainment, probably the largest aidoru company in Japan taking care of the male aidoru groups such as SMAP and Arashi. Apparently, some nutbar forced his way into Johnny's place...not sure if it was the office or the home at about 9:45 a.m. Happily though, the police were able to defuse the situation quickly and the babbling freak has been taken into custody. Effeminate boys and ardent female fans can sigh relief.

Wednesday August 17, 1:02 p.m.

Still going on about my J-Pop oldies craze here. The picture on the left is that of Hiromi Iwasaki, probably one of the best pop singers in terms of pure vocalic talent. Apparently there are two celebs with the same name in Japan; this is the one who had her aidoru heyday in the mid-70s before turning into a pure pop singer going into the 80s. Of course, the pic is from her younger days since she's now over 50. At that time, she was noticeable also for the waist-length hair and the bangs...a hair style that was very popular amongst young women who were not interested in looking like Seiko Matsuda. And unlike the Queen of Aidoru, Iwasaki didn't have turn on the cutie and pouty looks, although she was attractive. She had this powerful voice with good range which the songwriters helped her with when she got out of the aidoru phase of her career. And sure enough, for the past several years, she has been performing onstage in various musicals, notably the Japanese rendition of "Les Miserables".

Iwasaki is one of my favourite singers here and has been for 30 years. The very first song of hers that hit my ears was "Sumire Iro no Namida" (Violet Tears), a ballad that was her big hit of 1981. And I think she performs ballads better than her more uptempo tunes. She seems to struggle for breath when she tries something with a faster beat.

In any case the reason I mention her is that I was listening to one of the many albums I possess of her, "Diamant" earlier this morning. Listening to old tunes has been one way that I've been using to beat the heat in my apartment.

Wednesday August 17, 12:38 p.m.

Another steamy one in The Big Sushi. 10 straight days of 35-degree-plus weather out there. It still won't approach the horrors of last summer but I am looking forward to some of that autumn weather. One thing about moving out and about on the streets...make sure you have your handkerchief, a package of Gatsby wipes and a vending machine near you.

With 001 cancelling today, I have The Businesswoman in about 90 minutes, followed by The Magician and then Kirk. Nicely spread out in terms of schedule and with the gap left by 001, I even have time to get a small dinner.

Tuesday August 16, 8:58 p.m.

Finished that 2-hour with S-Fluent. And yep, he's very fluent. Very adept with the language due to his many years in America. Will be looking forward to his next two lessons.

I've heard about that 19-year-old Japanese student who fell over Niagara Falls. If they can't find her by now, I'm afraid there is very little hope left. She'd be staying in Toronto, I heard.

And I finally got word from my old friend, Paddy, who's living in London with his wife. He assured me that they hadn't gotten dragged into the riots of last week, but he didn't mince words about what to do about the thugs. You'd think a guy who had lived several years in The Big Apple would be kinda inured to that sort of stuff, but....

Tuesday August 16, 5:46 p.m.

Still have quite a bit of time before the next student enters. I did a bit more research on this new musical target, Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama. I checked the Wikipedia writeup and found out that she's had quite a few albums released. And she not only has a community devoted to her on Mixi but also the lady herself has an account and occasionally chimes in. Plus, she's got an Ameba blog. I haven't joined this community since I still have to listen to some more of her stuff on YouTube. I did have a chance to listen to one of her tunes called "Our Lovely Days" which is indeed a lovely City Pop ballad. But still have more to hear.

I bought myself some cola to help get me up for this next lesson although I am well aware of the possible sugar crash. Just hope that this fellow is interesting enough.

Speaking of City Pop singers, I listened to Junko Ohashi's Best album last night since I had that rare moment of nothing on TV and no pressing need for pressing clothes or prepping lessons. That last sentence may not have sounded too complimentary to her but really I do have an interest in her stuff as well. Her most famous songs are "Silhouette Romance" and "Tasogare My Love", two pretty ballads with the latter being strongly in the Showa Era kayo kyoku vein of things. However, they don't really reveal that before and after those hits in the late 70s and early 80s, she had a streak of funkiness in her songs on the level of a Wild Cherry in which she could really belt a lyric out of the stadium. I've also been collecting her old albums of late as well. However, strangely enough, my favorite tune of hers hasn't even rated a mention on any of her Best albums. And her 1987 disc called "DEF (D-something or other, Emotion, Fragrance)" didn't have anything particularly noteworthy except for the first track called "Nemurenai Diamond" (Sleepless Diamond...yep, I can't figure it out either) which just has that sophisticated pop feel to it which I've always been drawn to....kinda like Swingout Sister. It's something that hasn't been usually attached to Ohashi but she really pulls it off well.

I've got the distinct feeling that I'm gonna need extra boxes for the CDs when I finally move home in December.

Tuesday August 16, 5:01 p.m.

Well, I've just got another one of the S-series for my other student tonight. I had a marathon session involving three of them back on Saturday....really wrung me out by the end but nice folks all. According to the bossman, this new guy tonight is supposedly the best of the lot, and his presentation notes show it....very concise phrases in point form on his PowerPoint slides. And he even did some volunteer work in Compton, LA...and survived. Still, these are 2 hours in the evening so I'll have to grab some caffeinated stuff before I start the lesson or I may end up doing some rather embarrassing such as dozing off in front of him.
Also got the news that 001 has cancelled her lesson for tomorrow. But I still have The Businesswoman for the first time in several months....let's say this, the earthquake hadn't happened yet when I'd had her last class. Then, it's The Magician with a couple of hours now vacant due to 001's cancellation and finally Kirk.
Newswise, the interesting feature today is in Osaka where the cops found a can which had been sitting beside a telephone pole for a few days. The contents were a lot less innocuous....body parts, including a human head, two right feet and various other gory gems. At first, I had thought it was a Yakuza gang sending a message to those who would dare cross them but now it looks like it may be a personal conspiracy. Apparently, according to eyewitnesses, there were a couple of guys and one woman who had been handling the can.
I listened to that Taeko Ohnuki album last night. "Signifie"was a remarkably short album....just 36 minutes, and a lot of the songs are actually on her Best album. Still, it's nice to know that I do have the original. I think it is quite an interesting disc by Ohnuki for an album that had been released in the early aidoru-saturated 80s. Although I wouldn't really peg it as City Pop, it is notable for Ohnuki's whispery vocals and the French Pop-influenced melodies....something that reflects, according to the Japanese Wikipedia write-up on the album, the New Academism boom of the time. O-h-h-h-h-kay. In any case, I now have that urge to get her previous album, "Cliche".
As I've said before, that City Pop book I got at Towers several weeks ago has been a musical godsend to me. I've discovered a number of artists that really never got on my radar although their heyday was at least 25 years ago. Now, I'm trying to look up artists such as Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama and Tomoko Aran. I actually did come across their albums at Tacto yesterday but I guess their rarity has jacked up their prices.

Tuesday August 16, 4:48 p.m.

An unusual day in that I didn't have the Beehive for the 2nd week in a row. Instead, I had The Godfather in the afternoon. As you may have read in the last entry concerning him, my latest student fell prey to a con artist recently although the money that had been stolen wasn't all that much considering how high-powered he and his colleagues are. Still, the fact that he was victimized was understandably galling to them. Well, when we met earlier today, there was a reckoning of sorts...the fraudster actually showed up out of the blue at a meeting last Monday for the victims to regroup. Obviously, the jerk wasn't welcomed with open arms but they did take the opportunity to grill him. He didn't show much remorse aside from some watery eyes (Seiko Matsuda tears, I call them), according to The Godfather, but he did fess up to his fakery on some points in his resume such as attending Berkeley to get his PhD (he actually had just audited a few courses there), and he even apologized to my student. The Godfather saw some hint of sincerity in the person that he has considered to be not a bad person basically but someone who is very troubled. The picture The Godfather painted of this guy seemed like something out of "The Talented Mr. Ripley"....a sociopath who had yearned for the good life and would do anything to get it. And the conman did get it for a while. He had used the stolen money to rent himself a luxury weekly apartment in Aoyama and to enjoy the cuisine at a number of Michelin 2-star and 3-star restaurants throughout Tokyo.

The Godfather wasn't totally satisfied with the outcome of the discussion. With the cost and notorious slowness of the Japanese justice system, it was decided that it would be no use to charge the conman. However, he and his fellows warned him that if he were to show up within The Godfather's rarefied business community again, they wouldn't hesitate to target him with a lawsuit. Frankly, I don't think someone like this Ocean's-Eleven wannabe is gonna go straight at all...most likely, he'll disappear for several months and then will try to find another mark.

Monday August 15, 5:24 p.m.

Well, I guess I've made it to 4,000 entries! I should celebrate this some way. Perhaps with a very nice bento tonight when I head home. And to think, it took just 8 years.

I had The German for her last lesson before she heads out to Hokkaido on the Hokuto-sei express...kinda like the domestic version of The Orient Express without the mystery. However, she'll get a nice French dinner in the club car. I teased her a bit by saying that perhaps a Sean Connery-type may ask to sit with her. She's definitely a student who would be happy never to use the text. We spoke on everything from the oversized amounts in an American restaurant to the current problems in London.

Monday August 15, 2:47 p.m.
It was a scene that I'd never thought I would ever see on a Monday morning. The Tozai Line was not only empty but I could easily get a seat. Usually it would be the usual attempt to break spatial laws of physics as I get on the subway, even at 6:30 a.m. but it was like going on at midday. O-Bon must be firmly in session. And I'd also noticed that despite the summer heat, the walk to the station was a bit more bearable than usual...I wonder if the exodus of thousands of people shrunk the heat island effect.

Unlike the 6-hour marathon of Saturday, today will end up being pretty light in the schedule. I had Cozy for his usual morning lesson and I just have The German in a little more than an hour. And that will be all she wrote for me since Miss Genki is off for her own O-Bon holiday this week and Kirk seems to have made Wednesday nights his regular time.

I ended up spending the late morning and early afternoon in Jimbocho, the bookstore area in Tokyo. That image of an empty Tokyo from early in the morning dissipated when I reached Kudanshita Station, the closest subway station on the Tozai without having to pay extra outside of my commuter PASMO. Just saw a lot of oldtimers and some young 'uns with cameras pour up the stairs. And then I figured it out....today is the 66th anniversary of the official surrender of Japan to the Allies in World War II. Kudanshita Station is also the closest station to Yasukuni Shrine where Japan's war dead are buried. Most of the people were making the annual pilgrimage. Not sure if Prime Minister Kan was planning to go in an official capacity; usually when a Japanese PM heads over to Yasukuni, other Asian governments press the "I protest" button. In any case, I was walking the other way to Jimbocho so I didn't have to fight through the crowds but the police riot hoosegows were present along with an increased presence of cops on Yasukuni Avenue.

Now for the picture...I went over to Tacto, my go-to store for all of those old and rare J-Pop CDs although I should more accurately state kayo kyoku CDs since these come from the 70s and 80s. Being a Monday, I was the only one in the store so plenty of room to browse. I ended up getting Taeko Ohnuki's "Signifie" on the 2nd floor. Ohnuki has become my latest singer du jour because of her eclectic sound back 30 years ago and her long professional and platonic relationship with Ryuichi Sakamoto. I'd bought her 1977 album, "Sunshower", last month and it was a City Pop disc through and through. However, "Signifie" is her 1984 release of a more techno and European sound that had been part and parcel of hers and Sakamoto's efforts during the early 80s. Ohnuki was one of the biggies in the New Music movement which began in the early 70s along with Yumi Arai and Minako Yoshida. But whereas Yuming went more with the West Coast Sound and Yoshida headed into a more soulful direction, Ohnuki decided to veer more into a French Pop sensibility. Always interesting to see and hear how these young singers evolved over the decades. Anyways, I've got some listening to do later tonight. But there is a rerun of that old music show, "Uta no Top 10" on cable tonight.

Monday August 15, 2:26 p.m.

Ah...you may know this beauty's father better than her if you're living outside of Japan. Pops was Oscar-nominated for his supporting turn (I guess when you star with Tom Cruise, you can only be supporting) in "The Last Samurai" and was in there with Leonardo DiCaprio in "Inception". Of course, I'm talking about Ken Watanabe. Well, this is his comely young daughter, Anne (which is the Anglicism of "An" 杏), all 5' 10" and 25 years of her. Over the last couple of years, she's become the latest "It" girl on Japanese TV and movies. Her agent should either have gotten a raise or fired for even getting her to do a musical though she's never sung a tune publicly in her life. And apparently she's an otaku as well....although before you mouthbreathers start increasing your pantings, she's a fan of Japanese history so a bit more on the academic side of things. Anyways, thought I'd let you know since someday she may even follow her father's footsteps and go across the pond to Hollywood.

As has been the case for the past several days, yesterday was another scorcher in the Kanto. I had to vacate my apartment for a few hours in the afternoon lest I actually broil in my own juices while sitting on my sofa. I ended up having lunch and writing at the station bakery. The night was little better even with both of my windows open and a fan going nonstop. However, Sunday night has been my must-see TV night thanks to AXN. I've been privy to "Hawaii Five-O"/"Nikita" from 9-11 p.m. Both shows are now well into their first season over here and have been developing their mythic arcs...the seeming prerogative for successful action dramas nowadays.

Just before must-see TV, though, I did get a phone call from Teddy Bear for the first time in several years. Teddy Bear used to be one of my students at the ol' school a decade ago, and though he wasn't the sharpest tack in the tool kit he was very studious with his English. He also often annoyed the heck out of me, one other teacher and that ol' student of mine, The Stick. Despite Bear's obvious mental difficulties, The Stick had very little patience or sympathy for him. I have to admit that I had tried to ditch him since he'd had a penchant for calling me at rather inconvenient hours such as midnight and that one other teacher was starting to get rather scared of him since he used to pester her all the time. But after several years' absence from my social world, he managed to track me down via Facebook and did the usual Friend Request. I decided to respond positively, and sure enough, he contacted me. I let him talk with me for about half an hour since he has never really developed a sense of timing about when to cut the conversation. He's admitted that he easily gets lonely which would explain the need for him to contact people at any time, and in the past few years, has developed a form of trainphobia because he's gotten a panic attack on a Ferris Wheel (sorry, can't explain the connection). Anyways, I've told him about my permanent departure from these shores at the end of the year so he wants to see me at least once for lunch or dinner.

Saturday August 13, 5:05 p.m.

A bank of vending machines in Shinjuku. Honestly speaking, none of us would be surviving if it weren't for these life savers. The heat and humidity of this country pretty much makes juice machines a mandatory part of urban infrastructure. There are so many of these machines anywhere and everywhere that they should be getting voting rights. Plus, they're given the utmost of respect. Back in Canada, vending machines are basically considered extinct because like in the States, they're treated more like practice targets for vandals. Here, they're kings and queens of electrical urban structures and they repay our kindness with cola, ginger ale and Mountain Dew.

I finished my 6 hours of teaching today. It's been a while since I pulled off a marathon session like that. And I was lucky that all 3 students were all pleasant fellows. S-Tall wanted work on her upcoming presentation; I guess she was impressed by my mellifluous voice so that she actually recorded me giving her presentation by her I-Phone. S-40 wasn't as fluent or as accurate as her predecessor but she did quite well in her 2 hours. And finally, S-Art is this soft-spoken, low-key fellow but he has a very deep appreciation for art. He's been to Venice a couple of times and his wife is an artist of note.

In any case, I'm done here like dinner. I'm ready for some serious grub and then relax for my student-less Sunday.

Saturday August 13, 9:28 a.m.

Here at Speedy's for a now-rare Saturday at work. The bossman begged me to do a Saturday to teach some of that incoming wave of students from the nearby company. So, I've got 3 2-hour lessons nearly back-to-back. I've got 15 minutes between each class but this will be quite a haul today. I'll make my money but I'm not sure I'll be in a great mood by the time I finish. I did have an extra breakfast of sorts at Vie De France since I probably won't have anytime for a decent lunch but I still brought the Kaki-P as a quick snack during the breaks.

O-Bon has definitely started. NHK reported the annual Shinkansen capacity levels for the folks heading back to their hometowns...unsurprisingly, it's over the 100% mark. In a way, I'm kinda glad that I did estrange myself from my relatives. Not a big fan of having to travel 3 hours standing up on a Bullet Train. Since the O-Bon festival highlights the need to give tribute to deceased loved ones, this year is more significant than most due to the ravages of the March 11th disaster, especially for those heading home to Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures. And it's also the 26th anniversary since the worst single airline crash in history took place in Gunma Prefecture back in 1985.

Friday August 12, 2:25 p.m.

Time for a bit of local foodie show n' tell here on the old blog. This was my lunch today since I figured that most of the restaurants would be crowded with the lunch time folks. A couple of rice balls courtesy of Seven-Eleven. For those who not quite with the language, the ball on the left contains flavored chicken while the other once contains tuna and mayo. As you can see from the prices, not too bad on the wallet.


This was actually last night's dinner, also from 7-11, although the one right next to Speedy's. Pretty nice little o-tsumami....spicy chicken bits with sesame seeds. Ought to go well with beer although I drank this with milk tea....yeah? Well, I still like it that way.

And the piece de resistance. Good ol' fashioned soumen. Perfect for the steamy summer we have right now. These carbs will go down within a minute...the noodles are just that smooth.

Only had The OL as the sole lesson today. We were once again esconced in that cubby hole only millimetres away from the neighbouring table. But it wasn't too bad. The OL and I could have our lesson without too much glare. She's heading out to Nagano with her family next week for a nice ol' O-Bon holiday hot spring vacation. Yup, I believe the summer holiday season gets underway from today. I don't particularly follow the custom, mostly due to financial reasons. I can hardly afford to spend even a night at some onsen.

My old student, California Girl, who has been living the past decade near San Francisco with her high-flying husband, is back in town for a few days of vacation herself. She had invited me to a potluck dinner at her friend's apartment in Shibuya. Her local friends here and my students, The Sisters of State and The Singer, are heading over but I politely declined. Frankly, if there is one thing I've learned about myself after almost two decades in this country, it's that I'm not much for parties anymore...especially where current students are concerned. One of my former colleagues from the NOVA days put it rather well....any social interaction between students and teachers should be kept at an absolute minimum. At the time, I had thought that the fellow had been growing a rather long vegetable in his rectum, but as I've gotten older and sadly wiser, I've gradually realized that I'm just not all that good with people outside of the classroom. That former colleague had been referring to social interaction of a romantic nature, but even on a purely platonic one, it's not all that comfortable for me to be with students in a non-academic setting anymore. Looks like that initially jokey Prime Directive has become quite serious now.

Thursday August 11, 6:19 p.m
As I mentioned yesterday, I was up on the observation deck, 45 floors up, in Tokyo City Hall. I decided to take some final photos of the mass that is Tokyo.
Looking at this photo to the right of me here, I can see where George Lucas may have gotten his inspiration for the design of the outer surface of the Death Star. There was a rather ominous thundercloud overlooking everything, but I couldn't see Mount Fuji beyond the thick cloud of smaze. Heck, it was even difficult just trying to find Tokyo Sky Tree.


This is a view looking out west. Tokyo Opera City is that big building right in front of you.

And then there is the bulk of the skyscrapers that populate West Shinjuku. The London Gherkin's cousin, The Cocoon, is right there.

Thursday August 11, 5:19 p.m.

Had my 2nd lesson with The Bossa Novan. She was cured of her cold but I think I may have run a bit too fast on the mouth with the lesson. I think she was left a bit winded. I'll have to apply the brakes a bit more next time, otherwise she'll just finish up with me by the end of the month.

I've just got The Carolinan and Mrs. Thursday tonight, so I'll have to think about grabbing a bit of dinner before they come in. I'm thinking of the prototypically summer dish of soumen...just thin white cold noodles eaten in a savory broth with chopped green onions. Still, I may want to put in some meat as well.

Thursday August 11, 1:12 p.m.

Over the past several days, I've been re-watching all of those Ken Burns "Jazz" DVDs that I'd managed to amass over several months. I've read that the series caught a lot of flak from various sources, including people who have a rather huge axe aimed at Wynton Marsalis' head. However, I've been enjoying watching the history of America's musical gift to the planet with Satchmo, The Duke, Lady Day and The King of Swing as the major players. And I've yet to see anything this comprehensive anywhere on the small screen. This set is definitely coming back with me home.

Thursday August 11, 12:21 p.m.

That's my neighbourhood. Looks rather non-descript but right now, that area is a sauna in disguise. All that pavement and concrete has been throwing back all that heat at us poor pedestrians for the past few days. We've got a forecast high of 36 degrees C but I'm sure that's just merely the air temperature. It's definitely a two-shower day today. I decided to be kind to student and staff alike by taking that morning shower and liberally spraying myself with AXE.

In fact, the biggest story on the news in Japan has been the weather. All around the country, temperatures ranging into the high 30s have become commonplace. Basically the only point in Japan that has anything reasonable is the easternmost point of Hokkaido which got a frigid 25 C. And the worst topping on the cake is that at least in The Big Sushi, we've got 60%~80% humidity. We are broiling here. And apparently enough people were broiling and pulling off cascade fainting spells in Yokohama that a male tarento had to stop his own outdoor show prematurely when about 3,000 fans crammed together outside in the hot sun to watch him perform. Once the first fan collapsed, the domino effect kicked in. Even the tarento had to grab someone from falling. On his blog, he wrote a very deep apology for having to even do the show in the first place, although I'm sure that his managers had that yen sign very much in mind when pushing for the show to go ahead. In any case, we are hoping that we may get some sort of respite over the weekend.

I may have mentioned that I had bought a Yumi Arai CD, "Misslim", with the remaining gift coupons. She has been known as Yumi Matsutoya for over 35 years but way back in the early 70s, she was known as this young lyrical songwriting genius and one of the tentpoles for the New Music movement in this country. "Misslim" was her 2nd album after "Hikoki Gumo", and has quite a few songs that I recognized such as the one used over the end credits of the Miyazaki movie "Kiki's Delivery Service". It's a wonderful album in which Yuming and her co-horts go into folk and City Pop. And her backing crew are no slouches either. Taeko Ohnuki, Tatsuro Yamashita (Sugar Babe), Harry Hosono and soul & funk queen Minako Yoshida, all of whom were and have become legends on their own, help her out here. For all of the hits on this album, arguably the best that Arai/Matsutoya has ever made, I was struck by one song that I'd never heard before called "Watashi no Francoise" (My Francoise), a really lovely ballad. Listening to it and the other songs almost helped me forget that my apartment was probably measuring about 32 C, even with the fan on.

Wednesday August 10, 9:30 p.m.

Finished off 001 and Kirk today. Was starting to get rather tired by the end of Kirk's lesson...not that he was boring me; Kirk has always been one of my more engaging students. But I guess I am beginning to become a victim of that phenomenon in Japan known as natsu bate....summer lethargy. You just end up having the stuffing knocked out of you by the suffocating heat and humidity. How does one fight it? Well, knocking back the drinks: alcoholic, vitamin and otherwise certainly doesn't hurt. And the so-called stamina dishes such as eel-on-rice and Korean BBQ can bring some of that energy back.

Well, it looks like some of that energy into my lesson schedule is coming back. I've gotten those extra classes thanks to Speedy's corporate client. And even The Businesswoman, whom I haven't seen in some months, is gonna be coming back next Wednesday. I also got word from The Godfather; he'll be scheduled for next Tuesday. And finally, the juku boss has sent me e-mail stating that she will be moving into her new apartment next week. Perhaps once things have settled down for her in her new life, she'll have me and Cozy over for tea. She's apparently gonna be moving over to Maihama which is just across from Tokyo Disneyland. I think things are definitely gonna be getting noisier for her.

Wednesday August 10, 6:02 p.m.

Nope, that is not a picture of one of my relatives after one too many Asahi Beers. This 68-year-old fellow is none other than one of the members of the legendary comedy team, The Drifters, by the name of Cha Kato. And he has become the latest celebrity to get married recently....to a 23-year-old woman. Yup, he has decided to go for someone 45 years his junior. Definitely got the gossips' tongues wagging. I'm sure his tongue has been wagging...uh, sorry.

And then, some days later, it was reported that another of his contemporaries, TV personality Masaaki Sakai, just got married to a woman 20 years his junior. I'm sure a lot of folks in the izakaya, especially the men, are just nudging each other lasciviously at these acts of cradle-robbing. Or especially in the case of Cha Kato, uterine malfeasance.

Wednesday August 10, 5:51 p.m.

Nothing says more like a Japanese summer than the buzzing of a cicada. Yup, with the efficiency and dedication of the swallows (sparrows?) of San Capistrano, millions of these insectoid noisemakers, known as semi in Japanese, have returned to the trees of Japan. Well, I shouldn't say "returned" since last year's batch have all died. This year's population is the next generation to burrow themselves out of 17 years of life underground. And when they crack out of their old shells and then fly to the nearest tree, they start vibrating like mad and create this near-deafening chorus which reminds everyone of the heat and humidity that is swamping us right now. As usual, there are quite a few dead, upturned cicadas on my street and on my floor just outside my door. Luckily, there are plenty of crows in my neighbourhood that love to feast on the dead things.

Wednesday August 10, 4:53 p.m.

I could've been excused for initially mistaking the riots in London for one of the battle scenes in "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2". I think the only good thing that has come out of that is that there have miraculously been no fatalities there so far. That whole situation there in the UK makes me rather grateful that I live in Japan where there has been no serious incidence of riots and looting in decades...perhaps even a century. It's just not in the Japanese nature to go into anarchy mode. I mean, even Toronto has seen its share of strife in the streets when the G8 came to town last year. And to think that a few short weeks ago, everyone's eyes had been been on Oslo. The sad thing about all this is that this has probably been brewing for years, and Whitehall and Scotland Yard couldn't do anything about this. And on top of that, London is now less than a year away from its Olympic Games. Do you think anyone will want to go there right now? I've got my old friends, The Ballerina and Paddy living there. I'm not too worried about Paddy since he lives just a few blocks from Buckingham Palace (not that I'm intimating that he regularly goes over there to borrow a bowl of sugar). But The Ballerina has put an entry on her Mixi page stating that she has a friend who is living in one of the areas that got beat up and that she has been hearing sirens nonstop for the last few days.

As for me, the only thing that we've been fighting here is the heat. The moushobi, or heat wave, is coming down on us like a hammer on anvil. Probably 35 degress C out there right now. There was no way I could stay in my apartment so I left it several hours before my two lessons here at Speedy's. I decided to get off at a couple of stops between Iidabashi Station (my main transfer station) and Nakano-Sakaue Station (my final destination) just to see what it was like. Well, not much to say except that I did visit a couple of libraries just to escape from the relentless heat and discovered where The Ministry of Internal Affairs is located. Plus, I've managed to take a lot of opportunities at the vending machines for copious amounts of drinks. I just have to remember not to overdo it on the cold stuff since I've had to race to the washroom...my intestines get a bit cranky if they only have to handle cold liquids.

Monday August 8, 8:28 p.m.

The intensity of the summer in Tokyo is directly proportional to the number of empty pop cans in my Non-Burnables garbage bag. In the non-summer months, it takes me weeks to fill up that bag, but I've managed to stuff one bag in about a few days. Yup, after a glorious 2-week respite of comfortably cooler weather, the typical blisteringly hot and humid Tokyo summer is back to torture us.

I did say that I did catch "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2" today. I'm not sure if Daniel Radcliffe or any of the other actors had shown up to do press in The Big Sushi earlier in July when the movie had debuted here. I can only say that if they had shown up today, they would've ended up like Lord Voldemort in the last few minutes of the movie....just disintegrate into ashes. I met up with Movie Buddy at the Wing Shopping Mall just across the street from JR Shinagawa Station this morning. Usually, our cinematic haunts are either in Roppongi or Shinjuku but the theatres there, though showing the movie, didn't have the right times for us so we ended up in Shinagawa...which made for a nice change of scenery. We first had lunch at the Anna Miller's above the McDonalds. In the past, that Anna Miller's had earned a reputation for waitresses wearing short skirts and frilly dresses which regularly drew the Akiba cosplay crowd. But since a lot of women wear pretty outrageous clothing nowadays, the waitresses employed there now no longer need fear the prying eyes of creepy otaku. Instead, the restaurant is now back for being famous for its pies.

I have yet to tell MB about my plans to return to Canada permanently. I just didn't feel it was the right time to land the bombshell. He and The Sylph will be away for the rest of the month to see the in-laws and then for a week's trip in New York City. So I'll let him know in September. After the movie, we just headed for some Mango Frappucinos at the local Starbucks in JR Shinagawa. Not much air conditioning inside but at least the drinks kept us hydrated.

Got back to Speedy's for my lone lesson today with Miss Genki. It looks like some of my financial distress may be alleviated with the news from the bossman that there will be some students coming in from one of his corporate client companies for some intense study before heading out to the States. So, I've got some 6 hours' worth of classes this Saturday for starters. Luckily, I've got neither Yajima nor The Jyuppies this coming Sunday. JT was there assisting the school once more. Boy, is she a cheerful one. As she was leaving the school today, she yelled her goodbyes to me all the way from the genkan.

It was just another gab session with Miss Genki. We spoke on the Potter movie and the phenomenon of geekdom before she segued into her experiences with "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Yep, she had actually seen a local stage production of it some years back and she was just shocked at the dress of some of the audience. But that was about it. I told her that she should go to one of the yearly revivals in the States and see how she feels about throwing toast at the screen. Then we started going back into our favorite decade, the 80s, and of course, the music. Pretty smooth and easy hour.

I'll be heading home. I've got my early with Cozy and then it'll be several hours before I teach The New Yorker at our regular haunt of the Shinjuku Starbucks. Just wondering how hot it's gonna be tonight. I'll probably have the fan right by my head all night. And I'll be filling up the Non-Burnables bag some more most likely.

Monday August 8, 6:42 p.m.

Japan has a very trend-conscious society. Almost 30 years ago when Boy George and Culture Club entered the national consciousness, tons of young men (and perhaps some young women, too) of this country dressed up and slapped on the face paint like a bunch of Japanized New Romantics. When the tamagotchi held sway 15 years ago, there were lineups at Tokyu Hands that would've rivaled those for the newest pachinko parlors. And then there has been the decade-long "Harry Potter" series. Countless kids and adults put on their Hogwarts uniforms whenever the latest movie had come out in Tokyo and other major cities. Well, I was never a true fan of the movie series (it had only been 50/50 at very best for me) and I've yet to pick up a Rowling book. The "Half-Blood Prince" and Part 1 of "The Deathly Hallows" were frankly just plain deadly to watch...I know, I know, some of you Harry Potter fans out there are now looking for your Elder Wands to aim at me. You could but you would fail...I'm somewhat larger than Tom Riddle so I can absorb more.

So be happy when I say that when I caught the very last movie this afternoon in Shinagawa, I was actually impressed with the final chapter in the saga...and this is before I read that Part 2 had been universally acclaimed critically and that it has become the 3rd -largest grossing movie in history. I could actually watch this movie without looking at my watch or just drop my head into my right hand. Basically, it had to have been a no-brainer....from what I've heard, the book of The Deathly Hallows was all warfare. And the director finally translated that well enough to the big screen with a rousing finale, plenty of death scenes, and a sweet passing of the baton to the next generation. The consummation of the attraction between Ron and Hermione was just a blip in comparison. And there was the redemption of Professor Snape and his role as probably one of cinema's tragic figures. I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to put this last movie on a pedestal as so many critics have, but I'm just happy that the series has ended on as satisfying note.