Rice and Ramen

Talking about purges. Talking about trials. Talking about all our trials: to work, to eat. Talking about food. Talking about food. Talking about food, food, food, food, food, food, food, food - In whispers. In screams. In whispers. In screams - If you’ve never been defeated, never lost - If you’ve never been beaten before - Then you don’t know the pain - The pain of surrender - Of occupation … In whispers, in screams, this is how the Losers talk - Their chests constricted and their fists balled - Their knees bleeding and backs broken - By the fall … This is how the Losers talk - To whisper, to scream - ‘We are the survivors. We are the lucky ones.’ “Tokyo Year Zero” is a sensationalized telling of the investigation surrounding real-life serial killer Yoshio Kodaira, who is believed to have raped and killed 10 women between 1945 and 1946. Detective Minami, of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, is one of the men assigned to solve the murder of several unidentif...

I've come full circle to my life in Tokyo: when I moved here last June the ajisai  (hydrangeas) were already blooming, and here they are again...reminding me that Japanese rainy season is about to metaphorically punch us in the kidneys with endless rain and humidity. At least they look pretty.  Hakusan Shrine  is known in Tokyo for having lovely hydrangeas. It's even one of the stops for the Bunkyo Ward Hydrangea Festival. The official festival, timed to coincide with peak blooming, isn't for another week or so but I was wisely advised to go as early in the season as I could, in order to avoid the worst of the crowds and camera-wielding middle-aged men.  Japan has so man varieties of hydrangea; many more than the typical pale blue spherical flowers I tend to associate the name with. Hydrangea fun fact: the pH of the soil affects the color of the flowers! So you could have two plants right next to each other with drastically different shades of pink, purple,...