Saturday, March 8, 2003

What I did today Today, I... Spent most of the day getting my apartment looking spotless; Biked to Konan for beer and snacks; Went to Seinen-no-ie for a performance with Furutakadaiko; Spent the evening (indeed, until nearly 4 o'clock in the morning!) drinking at my house with Komaki-kun and his friend Sato-kun.

Japan A-Z Koryo Koryo is a gift of money sent to the family of someone who has died. The term koryo is written with characters that mean 'money for incense'. The amount varies depending on one's relationship to the family, but for general acquaintances, the amount tends to be 3000 yen. The money is placed in a special envelope (called a noshibukuro) decorated with mizuhiki (paper cords) in black and white.

After the performance with Furutakadaiko in Seinen-no-ie, I got Kawanoue-san to take me home, and Komaki-kun and his friend Sato-kun came round at 9 o'clock for a drink. We started with Guinness, and then went on to sake, whisky and even Pimms. One of the bottles of sake we drank was from Chiba (a prefecture that doesn't spring to mind- my mind, anyway- as a sake-making area) called 'Tamajiman'; it was very good indeed. In the end we were talking until nearly four o'clock in the morning- the time went past in a whirl, so interesting was the conversation. The subjects ranged from the serious to the frivolous, and what struck me more than anything was Komaki-kun's level of knowledge and curiousity about the world, and his desire to go abroad and experience it for himself. I hope in the future he gets the chance to do all he intends. I think that evenings like this are generally only possible with people from the JMSDF. I'm never quite sure, though, whether the education they get turns them into interesting- and interested- people like Komaki-kun, or whether this sort of person just happens to be the sort of person who joins the Navy. I suspect that there's something to be said for both explanations- but whatever the reason, evenings like this are one of the best parts of having friends from the JMSDF.