In January my buddy Justin from Chico, his sister, and our friend Jun spent a weekend at Jun's place in Saitama. Saitama is a prefecture bordering Tokyo and is quite rural.
The train rides there were confusing and we ended up getting lost. Once we arrived at his station, Jun took us to his place by car. His neighborhood was somewhat suburban with neat little community gardens.
Train
Neighborhood
We all decided to go out for dinner and ended up at an izakaya (a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks and often hosts parties). We had some good food and drink and even ventured to eat whale. I think this picture of us is when we had the whale but I can't quite remember as it was over a month ago.
A small child kept looking at us through the table divider and saying "obake!" (ghosts!)
We Went Next Door and Got Dessert
We then walked to a DVD rental shop and I will never forget how massive the adult video section was. If you too had seen it you would understand how it, in an odd way, stayed lodged in my mind and made it to my blog over a month later. I forget what movie we rented, however it wasn't pornography and I ended up falling asleep.
We all slept in the living room using just one tokatsu (A low, wooden table frame covered by a heavy blanket, upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source, often built into the table itself.) I woke up sore and, rightfully so, feeling like I had slept on the floor. We then went to Jun's high school which is affiliated with my (Waseda) university. I am assuming this is one of the nicest high schools in the nation and it was beautiful with its tree-covered landscape.
Okuma: Waseda's Founding Scholar
A quick note about Waseda University's prestigiousness, I have seen pictures of two of the last three presidents here on campus. The current president has yet to visit.
Oh ya, Justin, his sister and I went to an Indian restaurant in the Ueno district and saw this girl sleeping at a table for two. There were people waiting to be seated so she was in the way. Isn't it like magic how she manages to hold her phone as she sleeps? You wouldn't believe how young Japanese women are able to use their phones. I need to get video of it someday.
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