Ever seen a statue move? Matsuo Basho

Have you ever seen a statue move?

Just along the river from my little apartment is the Basho Heritage Garden, a raised tiny oasis of beauty dedicated to the memory of Matsuo Basho, one of Japan's greatest poets, especially of the Edo period. 

Here, in this little corner where the Sumida River and Onagigawa River converge and not far from where Matsuo Basho is said to have lived for a number of years. Local legend has it that during the day he faces towards Mt. Fuji and then in the early evening he moves to face down the Sumida River. 

The statue is a life-size Basho sitting on a cushion and seems to cultivate a sense of stillness and calmness that soothes the soul and quietens the mind. There are examples of his work in the garden and along the side of the river on the terrace, which tourists from overseas and closer to home often stop to take photos of to enjoy at their leisure. There is also a little pond in this heritage garden; some say there are small fish swimming in the clear water, but \i'm not so sure. I can, however, say that on the six or seven times I've been there, I've not seen any. 

There is also, quite often, a gentle breeze up here that kisses the cheek like the softest feather, which itself encourages a peacefulness and reflection. Of course, the view is vastly different from the three-hundred-plus years since Matsuo's days; you can get an idea of what it might have been like days long gone. The modern bridges of Shin-Ohashi and Mannen Bridge are in the same places as many previous river crossings that his feet may have used.

 

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Shopping, fire sailors and autumn dawns.

It has been a rather lazy couple of days down here in Koto City with lovely weather. Wait a minute, the cogs in your brain are whirring at full speed. You thought I was in Tokyo, but here I am telling you I'm in a city called Koto. I wasn't telling you a big fat porkie, promise. Koto is actually part of Tokyo. It is just off the central part of metropolitan Tokyo, between the two rivers, Sumida and Arakawa, and slotted between Tokyo Bay and Sumida and Edogawa. 

You might not know this, or if you've done a little bit of research, you probably would, but Tokyo is actually made up of a large number of other cities, or more accurately 'Special Wards' as most of them are officially called, despite being more widely known as cities. I think there are around 49 of those and another 10 or so towns and villages that go to make up the Tokyo Metropolis, which is home to some 14,264,798 people. And that, my little cherubs, is rather a lot of folks! In fact, it is more than the entire population of, say, Sweden, or Czechia, or Tunisia, or Portugal, or Greece, or Norway, Finland, Cyprus, and Estonia combined.

So, anyway, I've had an enjoyable couple of days doing normal things, like going to the supermarkets, getting shopping, walking along the terraces of the river, having a picnic and watching firemen on a boat, although, as they are on a boat, would that make them sailors? I'll just call them fire sailors, sorry if that's wrong. But I occasionally see them, as the two boats are based just a little way down the river from my apartment on the Chuo City side.

The days have been warm, 26 or 27 degrees with sunshine and blue skies, which isn't too darn bad for late October and the start of autumn. That's only here in Tokyo, though, because other parts of Japan have autumn at slightly different times, given how big the nation is. For example, in Hokkaido they've already had lots of snow settling; indeed, a few blizzards have been reported. In Kyushu, autumn doesn't start till the middle of November and lasts well into December. And back here in Tokyo, it is basically from now until the middle of December, yet the leaves are already turning golden, with some trees shedding as the breezes ripple through their branches. 

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A blast from the past at 4:40am

I was woken by my phone blasting out a version of Harpo's Movie Star, my current ringtone, at 04:40 this morning. My bleary eyes blinked open as the sound got louder; it took a few seconds to first locate my phone and then turn it around to read the illuminated screen. It was a UK number; for some reason that I've yet to discover, the caller ID doesn't display here, so I answered with a sleepy, croaky voice. "Hello," a voice I knew boomed out of the speaker, although it took a few moments for my sleep-addled brain to fire the neurons in my right inferior parietal lobe and recognise the dulcet tones of Simon, an old friend and beau of mine from times long ago. 

It was a surprise phone call, and Simon had no idea I was not in the UK and currently on the other side of the world and living in a time zone that was so vastly different to that back home. Now, I haven't had a conversation with Simon for ever such a long time, more than a year and a half, I'd wager. Therefore, it was jolly good to catch up and have a natter; indeed, whenever we do converse, we do so at length. This morning was no exception, and whilst he woke me up, I kept him up late as we gabbed away as if we'd chatted only the week before.  Our discourse lasted just over four hours this very morning, although it passed by in a fraction of that duration, I thought.

After a shower and a second cup of tea, I ventured to the local Supermarket for all sorts of goodies and supplies. After unpacking, I put a load of washing in the machine and went for a walk along the river. Only 7075 steps were completed before my little tootsies crossed the threshold of my eighth-floor apartment and I relaxed.

I may have felt a little tired all day long due to such an early start, but I was jolly grateful for the call. It is always great to have a conversation with an old friend, especially one that you have such a long history with. Simon and I first met way back in the early 1990s, and when I say early, I mean 1990; it might even have been 1989 — I'm not completely sure, but I'm sure you'll agree that is rather a long time down the long and winding road that is called the past!

All the way through my walk, fragments of our conversation came flooding back, as did memories of a lovely weekend in Oslo, staying in the Oslo Plaza Hotel, a massive mirror-fronted tower block hotel that was considered (at least at the time) one of the best the city had to offer. As memories of Scandinavia faded as the steps mounted, recollections of another overseas trip tumbled out; Malta was a dusty place, filled with old people with wrinkled faces, dark hair, and never without a cigarette. I can remember the two of was walking along the front of St Julians Bay, Valleta and buying comilation cassettes for a fractio  of the cost back home. Oh, the memories! So odd how some things from more than thirty years ago can seem clearer than what I did a week ago last Monday! 

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River walks....

When you consider that I live in an apartment that overlooks a bridge over the Sumida River, it probably wouldn't surprise you to learn that one of my favourite pastimes is to stroll up and down the banks of the aforementioned river. There are a few reasons why I like it so much; not least the exercise value, its calming nature is also a boon. Watching fellow walkers, joggers, dog walkers, promenaders, anglers, or other such activities is very enjoyable for a person such as myself, who some might say is nosy whilst I'd contend I'm just inquiring. Experiencing the weather is jolly nice, especially in this autumn season which seems so very changeable at the moment. As an example, there had been a long period of rain every day just recently; the day before yesterday it was bright sunshine with temperatures knocking on 29 degrees. Yesterday, mostly cloudy with the afternoon sun chasing that cloud away like a naughty minx in the wood. Of course, sometimes the humidity is a factor; sometimes it is quite low at 40%, other times it's up to 92% and above, which means you'll either have to walk thirty minutes to get a sweat on or do half a dozen steps before the moisture starts leaking from your pores. Apologies if that's given you mental images of things you'd rather not have floating around your hippocampal formation

Yesterday I went for a walk along a river, but not the one that I can see from my window. I arose early, well, ok early for me, and headed off down the road. I strolled all the way along Tokyo Prefecture Route 50, otherwise known as Shin-ohashi-dori Avenue, or to me, the road outside, until a jolly long bridge/flyover construction, Funabori Bridge. Now, I'm not sure where officially the bridge starts, but the whole thing is pretty long, about 1.9 kilometres, and transports vehicles and people over the Kyunaka River, Arakawa River, and Naka River. 

Pccari Sweat and an egg sandwich picnic refueled me after the 6.2 kilometres or 3.9 miles walk, and I enjoyed the view for a while. There is a cycle and jogging track, a separate footpath, and a lush, overgrown, marshy-type section right by the water, which all vie for attention.  There is an almost wild, wide-open charm about the area, despite the busy road, the industrial aspect, and the overcast skies. It was moody; it was, at least for a little while, a brief scene from a music video or a promotional film, maybe of a dystopian drama with the distant Tower Hall Funabori, the evil overlords' watchtower. A scene made all the more believable by the tower's square, almost brutalist architectural style. I can only wonder what this place would look like on a cold, snowy winter's day with a sky of battleship grey and as bleak as bleak could be. 

Sorry, rivers often make me dream, or perhaps that should be daydream, or just let my mind wander down rabbit holes of gargantuan proportions and create mental images of the movies in my mind. I'll try to resist those temptations in the future, but the mind does what the mind wants.

I didn't walk home; I took the metro, the super efficient Shinjuku Line, back to Morishita Station, just down the road from the apartment for a bit of a rest. Of course, you'll never know what I did a couple of hours later, after a long rest and a nice cuppa.  Yep,  went for a walk by the river! 

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Back in Japan with a typhoon sent to greet me!

I've completed the Australian leg of my travels, have returned to Japan, and am back in the Tokyo apartment. I had a wondrous time 'down-under,' and it was great to experience so many places. In the days to come, I'll tell you more about my activities and my innermost impressions of the Australian cities I visited.

Now, I'm back in Tokyo, and my soul feels contented, although the weather is a bit damp. In fact, today is the 35th consecutive day of rain in central Tokyo, a new record, and tomorrow is very likely to be the 36th. In the last 24 hours, there has been 36mm of rain.  Typhoon / Tropical Storm Surigae is off the coast and may bring more wind and rain tomorrow if it doesn't weaken and change course, which is quite likely. 

I arrived back on 25th September on a lovely Japan Airlines flight from Sydney in Business Class, thanks to a successful low upgrade bid. I was flying on a Boeing 777-300, which was very comfortable, with a lie-flat seat, massive entertainment screen, and lots of space. As it was a day flight, almost 10 hours' worth, I didn't turn it into a bed and only had a post-meal nap, as I didn't want to create that jet lag phenomenon. I'm glad I did, as I slept through the night, waking up around five in the morning on Saturday.

I've wandered around the local area, up and down the river and to the local parks, to reacquaint myself with things and see what has changed in the nearly three months I've been away. In short, not a lot has changed; the major noticeable difference is that the two trees out the front of the apartment block have been well and truly pruned. Everything else looks and feels the same, including shopping in the local supermarket.

On Sunday I took the long walk to Tokyo Station, which is always a great place to visit, almost always very busy and packed with all kinds of life going about their business. I often find it strange that if you ever want to feel completely alone whilst being in a big crowd, go to the station. Yet, if you feel lonely, you can also head to the underground shopping streets and feel the warmth of humanity, which chases the birds of loneliness away. 

I didn't buy anything down there, but I headed down the street to the massive flagship GU, Uniqlo, and Daiso stores at Marronnier Gate, Ginza, which, despite the number of people, is always a nice place to shop. I got some domestic supplies, such as fluffy towels, vases, flowers, containers, and a super large mug. Now I can have a cuppa, British style, whilst looking over the river from my balcony.

I was awoken at 4:47am yesterday morning by a 4.9 magnitude earthquake, and as the epicentre was only in the next-door prefecture, the warnings only arrived as the quake had already roused me from my slumber. Now, it may sound scary, up here on the 8th floor, the wobbling wasn't aggressive or excessive. Indeed, dare I say, I actually find it almost comforting. No point getting scared, as such tremors from the ground up are a fact of life here in Tokyo. Thus, after a brief look outside, a drink, wee, and then back to sleep, I went for an hour. 

In the last few days, I've gone by the lovely statue of Matsuo Basho, which is a five-minute walk away from the apartment, at various times of the afternoon to see if I can spot it moving. Yes, legend has it that the statue faces Mount Fuji during the day and shifts position to gaze down the river to Tokyo Bay of a night. As of now, I've yet to see the big bronze sitting poet move, but I'll keep you informed. 

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