Day and night

 This is Suisen Dori, Daffodil Road, the pedestrian walkway that I often take when going to Izumi Chuo. Notice the business man. It is so hot that he is carrying his suit coat on a hanger. A few years ago the government tried to popularize something called "Cool Biz", but it did not work and men are back to summer suits. Cool Biz was a strange looking style that included short sleeves, both shirt and coat, and no necktie. Air conditioners were supposed to be put at 28 degrees Celsius, which is actually quite warm.

 This is the store at the corner where the road from my condo meets the main east/west road. This place has had a very hard time. When we first moved here, it was garage. After a few years the garage closed. Since then, various stores have been here but none  has lasted more than a year. After the Japanese doll store that was here closed, it was empty for a long time, maybe a year, I am not sure. Now according to the signs, it has become a piano store. I would bet that this does not last long either.

 At Izumi Chuo, I found another band playing. They were quite good and the show was apparently being broadcast live on a local FM radio station.

 I went down the stairs from the second floor balcony and move in closer. I stood and listen for a while before going about my business.

 I went out for an evening walk, which is unusual for me. Actually I was returning from a soccer match and took a 'long' cut home. The gardens in front of people's homes are quite interesting at night.

 On source of light at night is the advertising in front of the many bars. Most many, and many women, stop at a bar after work to socialize with their fellow workers. They eat and drink before going home to bed. Many wives barely see their husbands, who get up and leave early in the morning and return late at night. On weekends the husbands often spend Saturdays and Sundays playing golf or doing other things that keep them away from  home.

 This is a barber shop, or as the signs often say in Japan, a Bar Ber Shop. Haircuts are 1600 yen, about US$20 at today's exchange rate. This will be a minimal cut and probably a quick shampoo. A full haircut, shampoo, head and shoulder massage, face and neck shaved, etc, will be about double this. I go to a barber shop that only cuts your hair, using a vacuum to remove the cuttings. It charges 1000 yen.

 This is the bell tower on the grounds of Jomanji, a local Buddhist temple.

Almost home. The lights in the upper left corner are my apartment complex and the river flows from the right edge to the center. When I first moved here there were almost no houses between the bridge and my building and there were far fewer lights on the other side. This area has been expanding rapidly so walking along here at night no longer elicits the feeling of being alone in the world.