At last my internal clock has reset itself correctly! Hurrah! I feel as close to human as possible. And it’s gorgeous out, the Hanazono Shrine is really cool and the meeting with Ichijinsha went really well.

The scoop is, Yuri Shimai will be back, hopefully in July. So, yay for yuri fans everywhere! The editors, Nakamura-san and Umezawa-san, were exceedingly nice people, and the meeting couldn’t have gone better, really. I look forward to developing a relationship with Ichijinsha to bring good yuri manga to the English-speaking world. :-)

I feel like we turned a major corner today. Maybe it’s the weather, maybe that the meeting went so well, but for a short moment, I am no longer nervous about Yuricon on Saturday. The translation issue may be awkward, but we’ll be okay. I believe that. (Partially because I finally gave the Hanazono Shrine the money I promised it.)

There are so many things I haven’t written about at all, because I’ve been so tired and unmotivated. The hotel is packed with a variety of people…everyday the lobby looks like the UN is convening. This is a little strange for Tokyo, although at home I’d hardly notice. (Actually, this time I’ve seen alot more foreigners in Tokyo, everywhere. So obviously, last time it was the holiday – everyone was gone home, wherever that was.) The other morning, two fabric salesmen had emptied their sample cases in the lobby and were re-arranging them. Yesterday, there was a ton of luggage in that space, and this morning it was two tables, with old guys sitting and answering questions. You just never know what you’re going to find.

Pattie and the gang are off hunting kitsune (fox) shrines and taking in Harajuku (goth lolita capital of the world) so I’m just sitting around in the room waiting for them, listening to what sounds awfully like a muezzin calling the faithful to prayer from my window. It’s probably the yakiimo (baked sweet potato) truck outside. LOL Yes…definitely the yakiimo guy. The wind shifted and I can hear the words now.

In Ikebukuro there are two trucks the ride around with sirens and voices yelling at us. One has a man’s voice – I’m sure it’s some right-wing group exhorting us to expel foreigners or something. The woman’s voice truck keeps repeating a phone number over and over. They are both really annoying. (In fact, as I am typing this, the woman’s voice truck just went by….)

One thing I keep wanting to mention is how REALLY nice and helpful people have been so far. The maps rarely have landmarks I can use (or even *find* half the time) and there’s so little orientation that I’ve been asking alot of metro station guards and koban box policemen for directions – and they’ve all been really nice and helpful. It sounds like a stupid thing, but everytime I’ve ever asked a NYC cop for directions, they’ve acted like I was wasting their time – and then they gave me bad directions to boot, because none of them actually live in the city. So yay for the Metro guys and the Koban policemen! (And no – they don’t speak English, but I can say “Which way is whatever-it-is?” and I know right from left. LOL

And on the way to the Takarazuka theater, some random man stopped and asked in English if we needed help. It just proves once again that that old chestnut about cities being unfriendly is wrong. I know plenty of people are helpful in NYC – I know I help people who are lost there all the time. So, pfft on people who think cities are unfriendly.

Okay…I have a Nero Wolfe novel waiting for me. I’ll catch up again later!