Slightly jet lagged, I’m writing this post back home in Auckland in the bright morning sun.

I went to bed at 9:00PM last night, and I got up by 7:00AM this morning. Not bad for Day 1 back in this time zone, isn’t it?

It had been still warm when I left here, but now I have to use the heater. It is definitely autumn now.

I’d just gone through the opposite transition from winter to spring in Japan, so this feels like time is going backwards somehow. After 20 years, I’m still not used to having two homes in different hemispheres.

It was my first visit to Japan in over 4 years, thanks to the pandemic. We normally visit Japan every 2 years or so, so it was a very long gap for us all- especially for my aging parents.

The main aim of this trip was to catch up with my family and pay respect to those who have departed, but I managed to fit in a little sightseeing and do some research on local folklores to get ideas for my rakugo work.

As in the previous entry, I am still suffering from a frozen shoulder, so I will be sharing about my trip in bite-sized posts in the following days. As usual, it will be from the perspective of an insider with the eyes of an outsider.

The photo above is from Fukagawa Edo Museum, in which dwells my soul. I’ll explain what I mean another time!

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