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There's not a lot of good news about just now, what with the imminent rolling back of Roe vs. Wade in the States, atrocities in Ukraine, and various anti-trans bigotries given free rein in the UK (the latest, touted by the Health Secretary, is that people who accept trans children's identities are essentially groomers). So, here's my attempt at something more positive - albeit the positivity doesn't really extend beyond myself, which makes it a rather selfish variety. But hey, I'm inviting you along for the ride!
I've not said much here for fear of tempting Fate (I know Fate is subscribed to this journal), but it's looking increasingly as if, at the fourth time of trying, I'll be able to go to Japan next month.
The country's still not open for tourism, but trips for work and education are allowed, and mine ticks both boxes, since I'll be staying (as I did five years ago) at Tokyo Joshidai and using the time to put the finishing touches to my forthcoming book, tentatively titled British Children's Literature in Japanese Culture: Wonderlands and Looking-Glasses. I already have a draft, but there are some materials I can only consult in Japan, a few places I'd like to visit (e.g. Kushiro in Hokkaido, setting of Ghibli's adaptation of When Marnie Was There) and several people - academics and otherwise - whom I need to meet. Getting the visa was no simple process, but both visa and a ticket are now in my possession. It will be my longest ever trip, to Japan or indeed out of the UK, just shy of seven weeks.
I'm nervous and excited. Most of the nerves are about the necessity of not catching COVID in the next few weeks, especially I suppose the last two before departure, because that could put the kibosh on the whole thing. Basically I'll be going into Howard Hughes style germaphobe mode for that period.
Meanwhile, I'm planning and booking things. Yesterday, for example, I reserved a seat on a tourist bus (the 'Acorn and Mountain Cat' bus) that goes round Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture, visiting the various places immortalised by Kenji Miyazawa in his poems and stories. I strongly suspect that I will not only be the sole non-Japanese passenger but the only one less than 70 years old. I'll let you know if that premonition checks out. I'll also be staying in Kobe University for a few days with my friend Sarah, and meeting up with various Kansai bods (including my former tenant Ayako and Moe, who both featured in these pages when they lived in Bristol), and trying to snag a sumo ticket at the Summer basho in Nagoya. (They're hard to come by, but if I fail I can cry into my miso katsu.)
At the end of it all, I'll catch a plane in Tokyo in the morning and be in time for my daughter's graduation ceremony in Bristol the same afternoon, all being well - such is the magic of time differences.
Will these audacious plans succeed? Stay tuned to find out.
I've not said much here for fear of tempting Fate (I know Fate is subscribed to this journal), but it's looking increasingly as if, at the fourth time of trying, I'll be able to go to Japan next month.
The country's still not open for tourism, but trips for work and education are allowed, and mine ticks both boxes, since I'll be staying (as I did five years ago) at Tokyo Joshidai and using the time to put the finishing touches to my forthcoming book, tentatively titled British Children's Literature in Japanese Culture: Wonderlands and Looking-Glasses. I already have a draft, but there are some materials I can only consult in Japan, a few places I'd like to visit (e.g. Kushiro in Hokkaido, setting of Ghibli's adaptation of When Marnie Was There) and several people - academics and otherwise - whom I need to meet. Getting the visa was no simple process, but both visa and a ticket are now in my possession. It will be my longest ever trip, to Japan or indeed out of the UK, just shy of seven weeks.
I'm nervous and excited. Most of the nerves are about the necessity of not catching COVID in the next few weeks, especially I suppose the last two before departure, because that could put the kibosh on the whole thing. Basically I'll be going into Howard Hughes style germaphobe mode for that period.
Meanwhile, I'm planning and booking things. Yesterday, for example, I reserved a seat on a tourist bus (the 'Acorn and Mountain Cat' bus) that goes round Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture, visiting the various places immortalised by Kenji Miyazawa in his poems and stories. I strongly suspect that I will not only be the sole non-Japanese passenger but the only one less than 70 years old. I'll let you know if that premonition checks out. I'll also be staying in Kobe University for a few days with my friend Sarah, and meeting up with various Kansai bods (including my former tenant Ayako and Moe, who both featured in these pages when they lived in Bristol), and trying to snag a sumo ticket at the Summer basho in Nagoya. (They're hard to come by, but if I fail I can cry into my miso katsu.)
At the end of it all, I'll catch a plane in Tokyo in the morning and be in time for my daughter's graduation ceremony in Bristol the same afternoon, all being well - such is the magic of time differences.
Will these audacious plans succeed? Stay tuned to find out.