Another Friday night

My eyes slowly closed as a gentle wash of satisfaction ebbed and receded with the memories of the evening.  The muted sounds of late night traffic and freight trains floated into the room through the half open sliding glass door next to my head.  A warm soft breeze crept over me as I half lay [...]

That first step...

“Look at that store” my girlfriend said stopping and pointing to a shop to my right, “isn’t it interesting?”  My head turned following her finger to reveal a rather typical Japanese storefront set slightly back into the block.  A dark green overhang shaded the door and a few wooden signs with writing carved in them [...]

It happened again...

“It’s you!  Hello! Hello!” a loud and boisterous voice called from a brightly lit sidewalk restaurant as we passed by.  It was 11:30pm on Thursday in a small Osaka suburb and my girlfriend and I were headed home for the evening.  At first we looked around to see if they were calling to us, after [...]