Iga-san,
It’s gotten chilly and I’m coming down with a cold, so I ate some katsudon, stocked up on pork minerals, and now I’m writing. I’m often asked how I can eat katsudon of all things when I’m ill, but that’s exactly when I feel like eating heavy things: when I have a cold. What do you eat when you have a cold?
Seeing people smiling when they’re on the phone is nice, isn’t it? It makes you smile too. But don’t you think there are a lot of angry people around these days as well? The other day when I was out walking near Suidobashi, a fashionable young guy suddenly shouted at me aggressively. He was wearing a shirt that said in English in big letters “LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL”. He shouted at me for reading it. But it’s not like I laughed or anything; I was just thinking what a peaceful message it was. I think the young guy was a bit crazy, because after we’d passed each other he was shouting at different people. It was a bit scary. You never know where danger is lurking in the city, do you? Anyway I want to ask you as a stylist what you think of graphics on shirts. I wish people would remember the messages they have written on their clothes. I felt deceived by the words “LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL”. Something like “SCREAMING” would have been better. But maybe that would have been too scary.
So you do your thinking in your Skyline. You’ve given me a ride in that several times. When we drove to Sangenjaya to go out, you arranged a designated driver service because you were going to drink. I thought that was a cool thing to do in the city. Do you still use designated drivers?
I’ve hung around Nishi Shinjuku several times recently, and I remembered that you’re from that area. Let me know if you have any recommendations for places to go around there. Actually my father was born in in Shinjuku-ku as well, in Yochomachi. I like the jumble of Shinjuku, and its disorderly feel.
I myself don’t drink at home. It’s not a set rule, but several years ago when I was putting a second-hand stereo set together, I decided to listen to some records while I was drinking whisky and what have you, but there’s still some of that whisky left. That’s why I don’t drink and write: when I drink at home I get sleepy really quickly.
I’ve had the gyoza in Joyful Minowa! When I lived in Asakusa I used to go buy them on my bicycle. They’re good, aren’t they?
I watched Bakumatsutaiyoden [Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate] yet again the other day and also thought how good Frankie Sakai was. I’m a great fan of Shoichi Ozawa. Somehow I’ve ended up cramming a lot into this letter so I’ll stop about here. When I’m writing a letter to you I end up wanting to chat about this and that, so let’s definitely meet up next time.