Vikram’s blog.
Hello everyone! My turn to do a short blog. I can’t hope to match the poise and eloquenceof the previous blog by Enzo, so I’m not going to try. If Enzo’s was like hand-made sushi,
mine’s just like a fat ramen - probably a bad idea to look inside.
Since the last blog was quite Waseda-oriented, I’ll steer clear, except to say I’m having asolid time there, even if the work is as relentless as a Yamanote line rush hour train, andonly slightly less certain.

An almighty cop-out omiyage.
One of my favourite things about Japan is the omiyage system (essentially gifts given tofriends, family and anyone else you want to suck up to, e.g. local soba chef for extraservings). Apparently, you’re meant to give an omiyage of greater value than the one you
receive, but you can game the system by giving m&s shortbread, because the Japanese can’t
get their head round its worth.

One of ten thousand identical salarymen simultaneously contemplating theirinsignificance in a meaningless universe. Or, just deciding what karaoke song will mostplease the shachou at tonight’s nomikai.
I am never sure whether to laugh or cry when I see the infamous salarymen roaming thestreets at 3am. Are they coming back from a night out? are they coming back from a long
day at the office? Are they going to work? It’s probably all three.

Did you know Daiwa do taxis as well? Unfortunately, Jason James managed to get ourplatinum member passes lost in the post, so we’re still on the metro for now.
Tokyo can be a little overwhelming, so Alba and I went to Nikko for a long weekend. We
visited shrines, climbed mountains and melted in onsens. I was particularly looking forward
to the latter, as I was already hooked on sentou (public baths). If you can learn to appreciate
the Orc-like, guttural exclamations of ojiisan slowly poaching in 45C water, there’s really nobetter way to relax with the boys after a hard day’s work.

Not sure if the light-headed feeling is due to the climb or the piping-hot umeshu (plumwine). It was Alba’s idea.

Sulphur onsen in Nikko. Only suitable picture allowed.

Breathtakingly beautiful autumn leaves in Nikko.

Staying in a Nikko ryokan and feeling like a happy jappie chappie with yukata on andumeshu in hand. Does it get more Japanese than this?

I even got some time to try Ikebana, flower arranging. Being the only boy there and withhalf of my head shaved due to a language barrier with the hairdresser, the sensei must havethought I got the wrong room and was too polite to leave.

My first, and heavily sensei-adjusted, crack at ikebana. Extremely calming and peaceful,apart from the slow disintegration of my knee cartilage from sitting Japanese-style.

Halloween is as absurd as I thought it would be.

Senso-ji is a nice spot for a solo walk at night, it’s much less crowded and the lighting isvery well done.

Sampling ‘Placenta Juice’ (プラセンタジュース). It sounded better than it tasted.

gAs Confucius used to say, you’ll never catch a Japanese more than one metre away fromsoba. (そば)You’ll find that the big daddy is never far away in Tokyo city.

Tokyo isn’t small.

One of my favourite authentic joints.

A typically insightful, if slightly ominous, Japanese sign.

In short, Tokyo is a blast, and I feel so lucky to have been given a genuinely unique
opportunity by the Daiwa Foundation. To all those applying this year, best of luck!!
Vikram.