Today is Respect For The Aged Day in Japan, so cut me a bit of slack, please.
This is going to be brief, as I’ve resolved not to spend too much time in front of a computer on this holiday. I’ve got 30 minutes before my rendezvous with M, so here goes.
First a couple of lip-service running notes. The Windsor Half (Sept 30) has been cancelled due to the royal park being shut — a foot and mouth casualty. I’m secretly pleased. Damn, I’ve gone and admitted it in public…
I may as well state the obvious. I can feel my cheeks reddening as I type this, but it has to be done. Dublin looks extremely unlikely now. I was hoping to get a few decent runs in in Japan but the temperature’s in the 90s (around 34/35 Celsius I think), and extremely humid. Impossible. For me, anyway. It was pretty much my last hope to prepare for a late-October marathon. I may just have to start again. I feel bad about it, but that’s life. I’d rather focus on what I can learn from this rather than beat myself up too much. Maybe I should just accept that summer running isn’t for me — and therefore, autumn marathons aren’t for me. So, barring a miracle, no Dublin for me. I’ve been down this humiliating route before, at least twice, and here I am again. Sorry guys, but there we are. I hate typing those words — yet again.
At least when I get back to the UK I should be greeted with the sort of perfect running weather you get in autumn and spring. If that doesn’t work, nothing will.
We’re having a great time in Japan. What a country this is. It isn’t the cheapest holiday out there, but it’s been fascinating and nearly all fun from start to finish. I’ll write something a little more considered later, or when I return, but just to fill in a few blanks:
Spent 4 days in Tokyo, mooching round the shops and visiting a few of the main tourist sites. Tokyo Tower, the Imperial Palace, a couple of Shinto shrines and a temple or two. At Meji Shrine, I was moved by the custom of noting your prayers on a slice of wood, and hanging it alongside those of others. Made me think about the global community, and how we all yearn for the same things. Uncharacteristically for me, I was deeply affected by the spirituality of the place. It made me focus on the things that deep down, really matter to me, and I felt compelled to add my own fervent prayer. (See pic.)
Then onto Kyoto via the Bullet Train, where we’ve been based for the past 5 or 6 days. Another fine city, filled with antiquities — including ourselves. Again, we’ve shamelessly played the tourist, which after all, is what we are. Crossed off the main sights, and managed to squeeze in some traditional Japanese theatre which is something of an acquired taste, I’d say. Not one I’ve yet acquired, anyway. Highlight of that day was geisha-spotting in the backstreets around the town centre. Extraordinary-looking women who emerge at night and flutter down the street to their place of work. I was one of the many who assumed that geishas were little more than high class call girls. Not at all, it seems. They entertain men by merely singing, dancing, playing musical instruments and reciting poetry. (It says here…)
Managed to squeeze in a trip to Tadg’s Irish bar to see (according to the chalkboard outside) the “All Bracks” play Portugal. The English football was on just a bit too late for an early bird like me (though back in the hotel room I did enjoy Chelsea’s humiliating draw with Blackburn).
The last three days have seen us outside the city, making use of our Japan Rail passes: one of the great bargains available to the traveller here.
— A day in Himeji to look round the spectacular castle, stopping off at Kobe on the way home for a plateful of their celebrated beef.
— Today, Nara, the ancient capital of Japan. Interesting, but we’re templed-out now.
— Yesterday, Hiroshima. This was significantly more affecting than anything I’ve seen on this trip so far, and I’d like to take more time before writing about it.
Whoever it was who said “travel broadens the mind”, was on to something.
