March 13, 2017 (Tosh's Diary) Japan

March 13, 2017 (Tosh's Diary) Japan

I have been receiving a lot of messages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google blogger asking what my daily life is like in Tokyo Japan.   Well, for one, it is not that different from your everyday life in your town, home, or country.  I usually wake up around Noon, because more likely I was out drinking in either in Shinjuku or the nearby bar near my place called Homesic, open from 5 PM to 5 AM.  The bar also serves drip coffee and tea.  There is room here for only a small table and two seats.  Anyone coming in would have to stand at the bar counter which is not a counter, but just a stand to separate the worker there from the rest of the customer's space.  Alcohol is a good pal of the Japanese lifestyle.  

The central shopping area around where I live here is on Heiwa Dori (Avenue).  There are at least two liquor shops that specialize in wines from Chile as well as various local brews of Sake.  You can get a cup of sake here for 150¥ or a bottle between 900¥ and 1,110¥.  Of course, there are more expensive bottles, but I tend to shy away from them.  

After a drink of wine or sake, I go to my local used bookstore, which like all the stores here, is tiny.  They stock a lot of books on art, as well as a focus on Suji Terayama.   He's a combination of Antonin Artaud, Jean Cocteau, with a touch of Fellini.   A writer, playwright, essayist, filmmaker - a jack of all trades and a master of all.   The shop owner often displays his sizable inventory of art and other issues in book form outside the store.

There's a superb music store near the station that has a strong focus on the culture of The Beach Boys.   If Budha is a God, so is Brian Wilson.  In the past, I was able to find hard-to-find Van Dyke Parks recordings as well as the entire catalog of the Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra on CD.  On this particular visit, I purchased four 7" EP Kinks releases, as well as a Dave Davies solo EP, and the Honeycombs second album on CD, "All Systems Go."   Which includes 12 extra or bonus songs.  I haven't the foggiest idea what the bonus songs are, due that the titles are written in the Japanese language.

After my purchase, I go back to Heiwa Dori to go to my favorite Vegan cafe, which again, is tiny.   What are the chances of having a vegan restaurant within walking distance from my home?  Veganism is not exactly a huge fad here in Japan.   Usually when you mention you are a vegetarian to a fellow citizen of this country that means you don't eat a cow.  But of course, you can't be stating chicken, fish, or any other meat under the vegetarian bandwagon.   My favorite meal at this place is the coconut curry set lunch, which is superb.    The cafe looks like someone's personal kitchen.  It doesn't feel like a public space at all.  My reaction at first is to knock on the door then just walk in, like a regular restaurant.   There is probably a handful of vegan or vegetarian restaurants in Tokyo.   I pity the poor soul who has a strict diet.

I'm reminded that I need to mark my presence here in Tokyo.  The best thing to do is go to a photographer's studio and have an official portrait of myself.   I'm thinking of using the white background for my picture.