Being sick took all the wind out of my sails. Lots of things about my trip were interesting, but I just had no energy to write about them. (The few entries I did manage to post were fairly dull, although a few now have some updates.)
I did mention the food, which was important because I did eat every day, although on retrospect I realize I did not eat enough sushi. Kind of silly to go to Japan and not eat my fill of it, but I was busy trying out ramen and other culinary delights that I ran out of mealtimes.
I didn't mention the tissues either. On street corners and such people often hand out promotional materials. My Berkeley-honed reflexes are now well attuned to avoiding the offerings of such people, but in Japan I had to override these sensibilities. Why? Because what was most commonly handed out was tissues. And with my leaky sinuses, that was the best thing anyone could give me. In fact, even with my massive tissue consumption due to my extremely drippy nose I think I still netted more tissues than I used. It wasn't until several days back in the States – today in fact – when I finally ran out.
Meanwhile it was interesting to wander the streets and subways of Tokyo and be of average height for a change. The problem with the stereotype about Japanese people being short is that, as with any stereotype, there are many, many people for whom it doesn't apply. Still, I did seem to be relatively taller in proportion to the rest of the population. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to discover that it didn't make me taller than Koichi. It seems that if I was to be relatively taller in Japan, I should have been relatively taller than him too...