Happy New Year

Yeah, I got nothing else.

Truth is I’m only posting this here to break up a run of more literary posts, because while I may be adamant that this blog isn’t just about Japan I’m in no great rush to see it become a solely book-focused affair either, for all it’s increasingly feeling like that’s inevitable.

It is, as I’ve mentioned before, a question of inputs. And of time, of course, of which I’ve had bugger all of over the past couple of weeks. It’s one of adulthood’s sad ironies that any increase in your familial responsibilities results in an inversely proportional decrease in how relaxing your holidays are. As I write this we’re mopping up the aftermath of my in-laws’ visit for the unfathomable yet traditional mid-winter cold buffet:

“Whad’ya reckon Taro? How should we best celebrate the very centre of the most chilling and glacial time of year? What should we consume to bring warmth to our hearts and a glow to out loins?”

“Cold finger-food Haruki. Maybe some cold fish as well. Also cold rice.”

“Brilliant Taro, just brilliant.”

Not that I’m in a position to get sniffy about Osechi, I had relatives visiting as well, and while it was nice to have an excuse to pull out all the stops and celebrate perhaps the most christmassy christmas I’ve had in Japan, I’d managed to forget just how much angst, neuroses, and ill-concealed annoyance it’s possible to experience in the presence of people whose foibles you’ve had to spend a lifetime tolerating. My own fault, really: I’m the one who wanted an ‘authentic’ christmas experience, and you don’t get much more authentic than necking sherries before midday and making clipped passive aggressive comments over the mince pies.

I exaggerate, of course (though not by all that much). It was good to see people and the kids had a great time, which I guess is what’s most important, but it does leave me slightly bereft of anything exciting to report here, or time to make up any suitably convincing bullshit to cover for that. There’s always Yasukuni, I suppose, but all that tells us is that Abe is as much of an ideologically driven cockmuppet as we all thought he was, so nothing new there.

Let’s end this on a positive though, shall we? It’s a decade since this happened, which remains one of the most hilarious things I’ve witnessed in this wonderful country. And it happened TEN YEARS AGO. Passage of time, onwards and upwards, moving forward not back yadda yadda and so on.

  

Despite the show of cynicism, I’m actually having a great time. I sincerely hope you all are too, and here’s hoping your 2014 turns out to be all you want it to be.

Lang may yer lum reek.

Credit where it's due.