I’m having a precious coffee moment at my favorite moment in the afternoon and listening to soft volume bebop jazz by Clifford Brown over their sound system. I notice a young woman who looks like she works for a company. She is with a young man but not dating. They rarely talk to each other, and he keeps putting more cream in his iced coffee. He seems nervous or shy with her. She took out her business card, photographed it with her phone, and sent it to him. It wasn’t too long ago when people in Japan would give each other a business card, but young people these days photograph the card and email it to the other person for recycling purposes only. She also has a sizable suitcase and purse on top of her case. She’s dressed in a blue sweater and tight skirt. An office lady, yes, but what business? I think she is advising him and is more talkative than him, but compared to a Westerner, there is very little verbal conversation between them. It strikes me that they appear to be the same age; he comes off as younger for some reason. If I were sitting there instead of him, I would take her advice seriously.
I had sushi here for lunch after the coffee. I do things backward, I know. Still, this is one of my favorite sushi places because it is nothing but sushi on a conveyor belt. All you have to do is sit down and wait for the sushi of your choice to come by, and you pick the plate from the belt. But alas, it’s a different system now. Each seat by the conveyor belt has a screen. You order the dish only through the screen, and they no longer make sushi for the conveyor belt that goes around the restaurant. This means I need to use some sort of skill in communicating what I want. I made some mistakes by ordering three orders of tuna sushi instead of one. I didn’t complain; I ate all three dishes and more.
There are mysterious staircases, and as mentioned, I have a fear of most staircases. But the Japanese staircase is not designed to overwhelm one’s senses, but more of practicality. The one above I like because it is compact, and the concrete material for the stairs does not have a pattern, and it is very close to the two walls. It’s narrow and long, and I haven’t the foggiest idea what is up there.
What looks like a real estate office on the bottom floor; I don’t know if these are offices or private residences. I would love to think they are apartments because I wouldn’t mind moving in here. Or, if it is a workspace, I would set up a writer’s office with nothing but a table, a wine bar made for me, and my laptop, and that is it. I love the windows, and I also love that every window here is covered by the same fabric. Is it possible that it can be one large room?
Today is Sunday the 15th (Japan time), and we will start our tour. I’m nervous about traveling, and I’m thoughtful about my body entering such a trip. I feel at this point that I’m in the hands of fate. Usually, I’m a good surfer on the wave.