We shan’t talk about last night. I’m sure my compatriots will have already spilled the beans, but the behaviour of men deprived of sleep for 36 hours and put through the sausage machine of international air flight should be looked upon in a favourable context. Like the naughty boy in class whose Mum just died. “There, there, we understand. Just don’t do it again.”
We necked some melatonin before bed, the label of which promises to fix all sleep and jet-lag related woes. It doesn’t mention getting you jailed in Dubai, but it doesn’t matter. The star at the end of the label points you to a disclaimer which might as well say, “Everything we just said was a lie.” It seemed to work regardless; we slept for nearly 12 hours and woke up just past 9. If we can manage the same tonight, I think we’re onto a pharmacological winner.
Today was spent in nearby Akihabara which is as close to hell as it’s possible to get in Tokyo. A giant thoroughfare crammed solid with shops selling all manner of goods, the only requirement for stocking being that it appeals to legions of wildly obsessive fans of games, comics, porn or electronics. The shops are uniquely spaceless and stuffed to the gills with people. Despite all this, it’s a remarkably fun place to visit; the eye is never short of things to look at and the mind is never short of marvelling at things like, who on earth collects perfect scale models of construction cranes? Much of our time here is spent wondering how much we could resell anime-related tat for back in Britain and will it offset the postage costs to get it back. Usually the answer is no.
My major problem today was that my wallet seems to set off the flavour of electronic anti theft gates that shops have in their doorways here. Any shop I walked into, I was greeted with a screaming siren and one or more shopkeepers interested in knowing why. It wasn’t long before I was having heart palpitations over walking into stores hoping I wasn’t going to be dragged into another difficult situation. To preempt a heart attack, I took to leaving the wallet – emptied of its contents – in a hiding place outside each shop. It somehow worked; something I’m sure would be impossible in London.
Tonight we intend to perform some authentic and detailed reproductions of Japanese and English-language popular music in the local Karaoke venue. It’ll be a cultured affair, as usual. Outside the influence of some of our esteemed Karaoke company in London, we hope to avoid renditions of Celine Dion, Elton John and, jesus, Gackt.
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