Pic 4: 三軒茶屋 - Sangenjaya, Tokyo

Neighbourhood Sounds

carw, carwk, rhyrr, rhyrr, caw, 

kaarrr, karr, the crow, 

rhyrr, drill, rhyrr, grooomr, in the distance,

rrrumble, rrrumbleekr, 

delivery, eeekr, eeekr, sparrows, 

trryh, chyrrl, trryh,

ventilator, nest-building, shcryllkr, schcryllkr, 

cankroping, cankripank, huge bag,

bottles, cans, clinkary, doinprinkle, rrhusssh, 

rysshict, zrhumpch, skrinkch,

drooom, branmr, men taking paper,

neighbour, krinchyk, kychnikr,

droomz, wheermz, washing machine,

bamboo laundry pole, buy, buy, saodake, cheap,

reizoko nado, kowaretemo, recycling van,

pytht, scrypth, creekch, eerkz, bicycle,

wobble, crinkle, earthquake, swafth, creelth,

hunphcruck, treelth,

the air is dry, clankr, klenksh, 

be careful, no fire, clank, wood clappers,

dykr, dytkryl, prrrhumn, air conditioner, shweersh,

traffic, heewoo, owhee, police car, 

thank you, thank you, election white gloves,

chwooshoo, evening breeze, shwee,

wind bell, clink, clinketeenk.

Pic 3: 高円寺 - Koenji, Tokyo

The Last Minute

Getting up at the last minute
Leaving at the last minute

Why do it now? There’s always the last minute

Pushing through at the last minute

Getting on the train at the last minute

Why do it now? There’s always the last minute

Catching the news at the last minute

Doing what was supposed to be done yesterday at the last minute

Why do it now? There’s always the last minute

Arriving at the place of appointment at the last minute

Imagining exotic lands and a flying herd of peacocks at the last minute

Why do it now? There’s always the last minute

Understanding what’s going on at the last minute

Telling your lover how you feel at the last minute

Why do it now? There’s always the last minute

Greeting old age at the last minute

Dying at the last minute

Why do it now? There’s always the last minute

Pic 2: 銀座 - Ginza, Tokyo

Radiation Rap

Down in Hazy Checkpoint people still demonstrating, no time for waiting

Still the minority, most don’t care, don’t know what’s priority

Don’t that air and water scare you, fire comes later

You’ll see it all turn blue, when you hide in that crater

Look back to the past, it wasn’t so long ago,

And if it ain’t the last, some will say I told you so

Misinformation, cover up across the nation

Caught in the Prometheus trap, as we dance to the radiation rap

That blade of grass is crying, the trees are sighing and dying

What they’ve created is manipulated,

Sensitivity melting down quicker than reactors, bring on the tractors

And helicopters pouring water, lock up your sons and daughters

Kenji Miyazawa, Rachel Carson, raging in their graves

About a mentality still emerging from the caves

Time to take a stand, save our one and only land

Before we’re wiped off the map, as we dance to the radiation rap

Ten-year plans hit for six, twenty-year-old plants, okay, they’re in the sticks

Away from the city, not on their genkan, but they’ll give you their pity,

Strontium 90, absorb it nightly, you won’t get off lightly, half-life very likely

Keep counting those becquerels, don’t count on anything else

Like the nuclear village, we all know where it’s been

Turn this item round and you’ll see what I mean

They’ll tell you they’re pragmatic, while they’re fixed on automatic

When we’re on the last lap, who’s gonna take the radiation rap?

Pic 1: 中央線周辺 - Chuo Line vicinity, Tokyo

The Kizunas (part 1)

It was almost preordained that Mr. and Mrs. Kizuna (not their real names) would meet and become a couple. Both hailed from a long pedigree of entertainers, including The Omoiyaris, jugglers extraordinary; The Mame Twins, with their troupe of ball-balancing otters; as well as the illustrious careers of The Kikubari Family, singers and reciters of ancient poetry who, it is said, performed regularly at the royal court for more than a decade. They formed their double act, The Kizunas, after their marriage; their repertoire consisted of smooth romantic ballads, both traditional and recently penned, adapted to be sung in harmony, which often reached sublime heights. They were not like the brash, irreverent entertainers of their day, but could be described as being traditional, some would even say old-fashioned. They were more likely to induce feelings of warm emotion, of nostalgic togetherness, of neighbourly love, rather than screams of excitement or dancing in the aisles. The Kizunas almost always started off their performances with We’re Together, with its catchy chorus:

You’re my darling, yes you are,

my cute little angel, prettier than sakura

You’re my beau, yes you are,

my shining warrior, my movie star

But then, as if ushering in a new turn in their career, they changed their opening number to Kinship, which contained the emotional chorus that was to define their appeal form now on:

We are all together near and far

We will comfort you wherever you are

No matter what, no matter where

We will be with you, we will be there

It was fertile time for The Kizunas to shed their journeyman-act label and become the duo that everyone loves: the citizens needed something to comfort them in those times of suffering, discontent, and poverty. Things began to change little by little for The Kizunas; they were about to become household names, at least for a time.