The Wooden Train / 木製の電車
by joostay
IKIMASHO! | Daily life in Tokyo, Japan
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, daily life, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, short story, tokyo, travel, writing
by joostay
IKIMASHO! | Daily life in Tokyo, Japan
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, daily life, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, short story, tokyo, travel, writing
by joostay
“It sure is hot,” the Japanese lady beside me exclaims, talking to nobody in particular. Fanning herself with her hand, she removes a small towel from her bag and pats her forehead – the actions of a woman who is determined to prove a point. “Sheesh, it’s hot,” she continues. I share a knowing smile. I guess it is kind of hot, now that you mention it. The elevator arrives and we both step in. I push 17, she pushes 12. I enjoy the actions of people in […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, creative writing, japan, japanese, oji, short story, tokyo
by joostay
Back when I was 15 I skipped school for the day and went to Ueno Zoo. I was living in Tawaramachi at the time, not too far from Kappabashi. I remember waking up and just not wanting to go. There was no real reason for it, I guess I was just being lazy. My parents had just started making me go to juku, which meant that once my regular school finished I had to go all the way to Suidobashi […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: japan, short story, tokyo, ueno zoo
by joostay
Up until pretty recently I spent most of my life soldering speaker wire and crossover components. These days I solder cities. This is Tokyo, my latest creation. A living, breathing circuit board. Colour coded metro stations doubling as resistors. Cubic transformers as skyscrapers. Look down and what do you see? Semi conductors, diodes and transistors? Or convenience stores, ramen shops and pachinko parlours. I set the temperature of the iron to 675 degrees Fahrenheit and wait for the tip to heat up. […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: electronics, futuristic, japan, short story, story, tokyo
by joostay
Once upon a time there was a fly with no wings. Well, I say ‘once upon a time’ but this actually happened yesterday evening at around 6pm outside my house in Tokyo. My rubbish needs emptied twice a week, and unlike in the UK there are no trash cans in Japan. You simply leave your bags of rubbish at the end of the street for the binmen to collect. (There’s a big green net to put over it all to […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, buddhism, japan, short story, tokyo, travel, Zen