A cold snap in Tokyo doesn't stop our intrepid Storytellers from getting outside

Edited BY

G P Kennedy

Ian & Minako – Tokyo

 Hello again from Tokyo, we are both well. The weather has suddenly switched to more like late November, which is a bit of a shock to the system. We've had to quickly dig out warm clothing and bedding but we haven't had to resort to heating yet! Another typhoon threatened to hit the mainland but drifted away south so we've just got the 3 days of persistent heavy rain.

 The virus is still here in Japan but it barely makes the news now, very little changes and we just hope it doesn't suddenly take off again. The daily average for new coronavirus cases is quite level now, this week at 164 in Tokyo, still, mostly younger people in their 20s and 30s, 27,320 in total and there have been 421 deaths. Nationally the daily average is up a bit to 492 with 88,267 in total and 1623 deaths. As we write this we hear that there have been over 200 new cases in Tokyo on each of the last 3 days and the neighboring prefecture of Saitama has a cluster of 62 cases that were all in a group of 91 people rehearsing in a theatre group.

 There are still no international tourists but the 14-day quarantine rule for business travelers and returnees will no longer apply provided they submit details of their movements for the 14 days. This should assist with restarting economic activity. Airline companies are really suffering and starting to reduce salaries and shed staff.

 A Tokyo-based think-tank has published a report concluding that the government’s response to the virus was haphazard and belated but ultimately effective. Fortunately, the Japanese people being generally sensible and compliant were ahead of the authorities - mask-wearing, hand-washing, social distancing has been almost 100% right from the beginning without any enforcement.

 Apart from our regular day and evening walks we haven't been out much this past week but we did go into central Tokyo one day to check out the Tokyo Toilet Project! This is a new project in the Shibuya area that commissioned 16 top architects such as Tadao Ando, Shigeru Ban, and Fumihiko Maki to redesign public toilets in 17 locations. They haven't all been completed yet and we only visited 3 so far but there are some really amazing designs. It was a strange way to spend an afternoon but fun and interesting, we look forward to seeing the rest. One of the great things about Japan is the availability of public toilets, all free, clean, airy, well-maintained. It makes such a difference. The capacity was reduced for a while in the early Covid-19 days but back to normal now.

 One day we extended our early morning walk up to a local Buddhist temple that we've only visited a couple of times. It's a lovely place, so peaceful on a warm, sunny, blue sky morning with a small bamboo grove, waterfall, gardens, and beautiful architecture. Well worth the extra few minutes' walk. Also on the way, we passed a farm produce vending locker! Another Japanese oddity, there are several small farms in our area, they're just a small field really, that grow various fruit and vegetables during the year. 

They put a bag of each thing in a locker and charge 100 or 200 yen, something might be 150 yen in which case you put in 200 yen and get the item with a 50 yen coin stuck to it. You have to get there early as the lockers soon empty though sometimes they get refilled. This time of year they typically have aubergine (which we bought), tomatoes, ginger, cucumber, lettuce, etc. Some farms just put the produce out on a table with an ‘honesty box’ for the money. People really are honest and trusting here!