Week 16 - Daily Diaries - Monday, Ian and Minako in Tokyo, Japan

Edited BY 

G P Kennedy

Hello and welcome to a the first in our week of daily diaries. Over the past fifteen weeks we have got some insight to the lives our Storytellers around the world. This week we delve a little deeper as each Storyteller captures a typical day in their week.

We start the week with Ian and Minako. Though, as you will soon discover it is mostly Ian who opens the door to their lives in Japan.

Ian - Tokyo, Japan

A day in the life of a retired English gentleman in a Tokyo suburb, during coronavirus times.

 

 It's a bit complicated to write a one-day diary as a couple so this is just me, Ian, though Minako may make an occasional guest appearance.

 

 Monday morning, I wake at 7am as usual. Usual for the summer months anyway, it tends be about an hour later in the cold, dark winter months. The rainy season continues so it’s wet but quite a gentle rain so I open the windows wide and take deep breaths of the fresh air from the park that surrounds us. I shower the plants on the balcony with water then take a shower myself.

 

Red shiso leaves

 I always start the day with a big drink to re-hydrate; currently we have loads of homemade red shiso juice. Red shiso leaves (also known as perilla) are added to the pickled plums (Umeboshi) that we make every year to turn them a vibrant purple-red color. We always get extra to make a juice, which includes lots of vinegar and sugar.

 

 I have a quick scan of the news headlines whilst getting breakfast ready. Being so many hours ahead of the UK and USA means my morning news feed is always full of more awful idiocy from their politicians. Trump actually wore a mask! US COVID cases reach another record high, Johnson and his gang are giving totally mixed messages (again) about masks whilst wasting another billion on post-Brexit border controls, someone won a car race and football teams won and lost.

 

 Breakfast is homemade chocolatey granola with bananas and soy yogurt followed by a mug of black tea.

 

 Instagram time – I very rarely look at twitter and facebook but I still like instagram because it's just a stream of nice, interesting, even beautiful images. I follow many people I know from Liverpool and Tokyo of course but also many others I don’t know because they post great pictures.

 

 Now the UK ones include images of Liverpool starting to open up businesses, a lot of outdoor furniture being installed on pavements and newly-closed roads to create parklets outside the restaurants and bars. It’s good to see, this is how it should be – I know those roads used to be crammed with parked cars on both sides and more traffic slowly edging it’s way down the middle. They look much better now but I hope people keep safe.

 

 Monday is plastics recycling day, we do try and avoid single use plastic but this is Japan where nearly everything is double or triple wrapped in the stuff so I take a bag full downstairs to the refuse area, it's also glass bottle day. Japan has had well organized recycling systems for many years, different types of waste are collected nearly every day of the week, all households have a booklet showing the schedules for the year and details of what items can be thrown out. We have to pay for electrical appliances and large items to be collected.

 

 Then, more mundane housework like tidying and vacuuming before a break for coffee and a snack. As I drink I can hear the sounds of excited schoolchildren and their teachers de-installing the ‘troll’ artworks in the park, I'll miss those brightly painted crazy figures but there'll be more next spring.

 

 Now it's time for Minako and I to finish writing up our weekly coronavirus story for the past week. We check all the stats and news stories and put it together with a couple photographs and send it in.

 

The Black Toad - socially distanced beer garden

 I retired many years ago but still mess about with computers. I created a website for the micro pub - The black Toad - my son and his partner opened last year near Liverpool. With the lockdowns and other restrictions they've been running as a takeaway and delivering. So I've been adding an online shop to the website, I spent some time this morning sorting more features as it's about to go live.

 

 It can be very difficult sometimes to get things to work just the way you want but it’s good brain exercise and ultimately rewarding.

 

Lunch, and it's shiso again but the green variety this time which looks very similar to nettles but is used in salads and with sushi, it has antibacterial qualities so is often wrapped around the raw fish. We grow it on the balcony so when we have plenty at this time of year Minako likes to make Shiso and tomato vegan pesto with spaghetti – so good.

 

 In the afternoon I have an appointment with a doctor in another town about 35 minutes bus ride away. Still nervous about using public transport but the buses are well ventilated and everyone on board wears a mask. It's only a minor old-age thing but I have to go in to get my prescription every 2 months. 

 During the state of emergency I was able to get it sent through the post but now that has stopped. There is a new appointment system though, I register online and get a number in the queue, and I don't need to go into the waiting room until I'm 5^th in line. That way the place doesn't get too crowded.

 As I still can't speak much Japanese, Minako comes with me; we're always together anyway so that's normal. As we have a while to wait before my no. 5 alert we take a look at the line of sculptures of anime characters by the railway station. This town, Oizumi Gakuen, is one of many that are known for having animation or manga studios including that of the legendary Osamu Tezuka of ‘Astro Boy’.  It’s common to see some public artwork for fans or tourists to check out.

 

Astro Boy

 Inevitably we have some discussion with the doctor about COVID-19, he mentions he felt quite panicked at first and it was difficult to obtain protective equipment. He actually made his own clear visor, which he's still wearing today, using his 3D printer. Now we're all getting used to dealing with it and living with it, it's not going away anytime soon and there's sure to be another wave.

 

 He was surprised at how sensible and cautious the Japanese people have been and we laugh, ruefully, at the lack of sense and leadership in one or two other countries. Later on we read that the number of cases in Japan is rising quite steeply again, maybe we laughed too soon, we must not get complacent.

 

 On the way back we get off the bus early so we can walk through the park, it's still raining but it's nice and refreshing, we see the usual cormorants and herons perching on the island but nothing out of the ordinary.

 

 As soon as I get home, I dispose of the mask, wash my hands and face thoroughly, get changed, and enjoy a cold green tea and a snack.

 

A heron spotted on the bus ride home

 Dinner is more of a Japanese style than the earlier meals: stir fried summer vegetables in a miso sauce, age (thin fried tofu product) and gomae, which is spinach in a sesame dressing, I love sesame and Japan loves sesame fortunately.

 

 The rest of the evening I read my e-book and spend about an hour with another Japanese language learning application, I've tried a few over the years, this one is working quite well, I'm finally making progress!

 

 So that's a fairly typical day, not greatly affected personally by the pandemic, a visit to the doctor is a bit of excitement but otherwise very quiet.

 

 That's fine with me and as someone once said, “do not despise this day of small things”.