Japanese people will go out of their way to point you in the wrong direction. On Monday I was within 30 metres of my interview destination but I stopped to ask a woman the way. She took my map, asked a window cleaner and a bank manager and then spoke at me as fast as she possibly could before directing me way off track.
It was raining too.

I got there in the end though.

I've been trying to think up some cartoons to insult nature worshipping Shintoists. So far I have a mountain complaining about the wind and the rocks saying "That river's really rounding my edges off". Not very offensive I'm afraid.

My book says there are 106 million Shintoists and 95 million Buddhists in this country of 127 million. Either they're playing silly buggers with the census or some people are doubling up. Over the years Buddhism has merged with Shintoism in a manner that one might compare to Christianity merging with pagan religions in Britain.

Meanwhile, in a surprising development, H has started to read the Koran!

It’s Valentines Day today which means choco-crazy day! Young women buy chocolates for their loved ones while older women (over 19) buy “obligation chocolates” for their bosses and co-workers. This was masterminded by some choco-marketing-genius who would put Willy Wonka to shame. They sell masses of chocs and the shops are full of all sorts of things from choccie animals, tiny little works of choccie art, imports from all over the world, salt chocolate (v good actually. I’ve been at the samples) and all sorts. My new students are married to their jobs and are hacked off with “obligation-chocolates”. They prefer to buy for themselves and scoff them at home without sharing.
I got a really nice creamy thing from H’s mum as well as some green tea concoctions from H which are all great. Next month is “white day” when the boys have to buy choccies for the girls and so I am doing strategic sharing to build up my karma.

I just applied for three jobs, English Teacher, TV announcer and copywriter for someone interested in the "idea of life in Mother Nature which is transcending all the human religions". The pay is huge for this last one. I hope my interest in non-human religions doesn't count against me.

Friday was an interesting day. First I dressed up as the incarnation of "evil"



and then H repelled me with a soy bean attack. Then, once I had been purged of my evil ways, we threw soy beans out of the front door and the back window to ward off any further evil. To complete whatever was going on I ate 35 beans - one for every year of my life.

Then at lunch we ate sushi rolls in the exact direction of south-south-east (this year's lucky direction) and prayed for happiness. It's all because Spring is coming!



What's your lucky direction this year?

Controversially I visited the Yasukuni war shrine which is in the news every day here (some war criminals are enshrined here which means they are on a list of war dead. In order to annoy the Chinese and Koreans, the current PM is the first one to visit regularly but the emperor doesn't visit) Not much controversy. No nationalists. Nice gardens. Quite a few old veteran looking types.

The most interesting bit was the museum of war which is more like the museum of "it wasn't our fault, at all" which has a fairly warped view of history as far as I could see.