My recent jaunt to Japan

In May I was fortunate enough to be able to return to the country I love most in the world after England, and since I’d been learning Japanese all through lockdown I especially wanted to see if I could hold a proper conversation now! I’d also had an idea to set a new story in Japan, and I wanted to do some research and test the water a little.

I stayed for the whole two weeks with a lovely couple in their eighties, who rented me the upstairs of their house in Oiso, a small town on the coast about an hour away from Tokyo. My room had tatami mats on the floor and a view over the neighbour’s greenhouses, and they even made me a traditional Japanese breakfast every morning before I walked over to the local library to work.

Of course I also did some exploring, met some interesting people, swam in the Pacific and got to see some astonishing views of Mount Fuji on clear days. Little did I know before my visit, but Oiso is somewhere many writers and poets have lived over the years, including Haruki Murakami who still lives there. All round it was a very special, very nourishing trip!