I am perhaps a wee tad less precise in my daily routines and tasks than Doctor C-S.  However in The Land of the Cherry 🌸 Blossom, it would seem that a person as organised and neat as Linda has been outdone on a regular basis – even by the hotel housekeepers. Every day we return to our lodgings after exploring this city and we are both weary – me especially, as I spend most days valiantly attempting to teach Tokyo shopkeepers English. There is always a set of matching Japanese pyjamas laid neatly, precisely, placed in exactly, and I mean exactly the same location on our bed. They are made from a shiny, heavy polyester cloth and would be hot as hell to wear.  Besides, they look like they are so loose fitting they could accidentally strangle you in your sleep. We have never worn them. M’lady tried refusing them from a housemaid explaining they were not needed – within the hour they were back on our bed. We have tried hiding them, but ended up with two matching sets. It would appear that for these workers their day is not done until every guest has a set of dark blue hotel pyjamas laid on their bed, with absolute precision.

Japanese trains are of course renowned for their punctuality. The railway platform attendants will proceed through the required set of hand and whistle signals after each train has departed, even if the platform is empty.  And they dutifully repeat that same routine about every five minutes or so for their entire shift. Somehow I can’t see that happening in Roma Street or Rosewood. On our first visit to Japan the transport minister was on TV apologising because Japan Rail had accumulated 15 minutes of unexplained accumulated delays across the entire Tokyo network. We are happy enough in Rosewood if the scheduled train actually arrives.

Japanese gardens we have mentioned. On regular pilgrimages to Kappabashi, the district famous for its knives and household tools, I have noticed the vast range of scissors available. It was explained to me that just as the chef needs a collection of different knives for food preparation, the gardener must have a wide variety of scissors –  just for cutting the flower stem, let alone pruning and all the other tasks that require scissors. A different style of scissor is even used for the same species, but at different times of the year. You must never cut your spring roses with your summer scissors – apparently. It’s truly surprising that Bunnings haven’t caught onto that little earner yet.

The cleanliness of the streetscape has also been commented on by my good self in a number of previous blogs. On our morning walk to Bluebottle for coffee this morning, we saw a policeman with tongs picking up any occasional cigarette butt that could be found on the sidewalk outside his station. We also saw two shopkeepers vacuuming the footpath outside their shop frontages with cordless vacuum cleaners. There is no litter, no graffiti and almost no disrepair. Not bad for a city of 25 million people that has the occasional/regular natural disaster.

It would be difficult for me to run a place like Tokyo. I aim to be punctual, but punctual usually has a fifteen or so minute window of acceptability. I love my garden, but my one pair of Felco #4 garden shears does every piece of cutting in the yard that doesn’t need a saw. I once used a vacuum cleaner inside the Prado, but can’t see myself ever vacuuming the footpath or front lawn with it. And if any guest that was staying the night at our place ever told me they didn’t want to wear my PJ’s to bed, I reckon I’d just let it go. I wouldn’t sneak back into their room and leave them on their bed.  Just saying……

Farley