Im still here. It is great and I love it. I was in Kyoto, which is laid back and nice, now Im in Tokyo, one of the biggest cities in the world, and I happen to be staying in the busiest part. Pretty neat.

Ill give a more complete account when I get back; I only paid for half an hour of internet time and it is tough typing on this Japanese keyboard. Ill kick out a couple of things here, though.

First, the lighthearted: Surprisingly, jazz is pretty big here, which I love, and Ive heard it a couple of times on the streets being played by kids with saxophones. I also sat in a jazz bar for a while, which is always fun. It got me thinking about one of the most exciting times in music for me. It is in the Song So What by Miles Davis on his Kind of Blue album. The beginning is this steady crescendo as the foundation for the melody is put down. Players come in one at a time, adding to the repetitive sound until, at almost exactly 1:30 Miles Davis jumps in and starts the show. It is like a baby being born and that 1:30 mark is its first inhale, a scream, as it announces to the world its life. The analogy ends there though because Ive never wanted to shake or gag So What. Ive heard the song many hundreds of times, but that bass/trumpet combo always sends a quick shiver down my spine and back up again, forcing at least a few rhythmic headbobs.

Now for the heavy: Yesterday was my first day in my capsule hotel here in Tokyo. Look them up, they are different. I put my stuff down at about 3 and walked around all day. When I went back to my place at night, I discovered that the red-light districtness of Shinjuku (my area of Tokyo) goes right up to the hotels front door. There were groups of Japanese men in suits, solo women in their 30s and 40s, even African men (random to me) all coming up to peddle poon. Now by God I love women; the way they look, the way they smell, and the texture and touch of their skin and hair all put a smile inside me. But I appreciate and love women, so everytime I was approached with the words “Japanese girls!” or “blowjob!” or “sex ok!” the words “exploitation” and “sex trade” were all I heard. I got disgusted. After the fifth offer in 50 meters of walking, I was sickened by my maleness, my very gender, so decided to call it a night.

Thats all for now.