13 August A low pressure day
Checking
out of the hotel at 8.15, we walked over to Kyoto station and,
just as yesterday, breakfasted in the Café du Monde. We
caught the 9.34 Shinkansen to Tokyo which set off and arrived, as
we had now come to expect, exactly on time.
Taking
the Tozai line we arrived at Myoden station and walked over to
Stephen’s apartment. Once we had emptied our bags and
suitcases, we decided to see what we could do the rest of the
afternoon. We looked on the Internet to see what was
showing at the nearby Warner cinema complex.
The
only film that seemed at all watchable was Jurassic Park III.
This is not perhaps the place for a thorough-going critique, but
I have to say the plot is extremely thin, the acting no more than
adequate, and as to shock and fear from sudden assaults by
dinosaurs ... well, I have had greater frights when buzzed by a
stray moth in the bathroom. Or one of those cicadas. And
what about the notorious Japanese Killer Bee? The film was
the American version with Japanese subtitles. I cannot say
how good the subtitles were, but the Japanese in the audience
never laughed at the few jokes. Perhaps like the rest of
the film, they were too feeble to be worth the effort. The
soundtrack was terribly loud, and actually painful from time to
time. Perhaps it’s too much karaoke that makes the
Japanese deaf.
On
leaving the theatre, we wandered round an amusement arcade, where
Stephen showed his prowess in clearing Gotham City of crooks,
gangsters and ne’er-do-wells by dint of accurate fire from
his assault rifle. He also decisively beat me in a car
race. Three of Stephen’s former pupils had a holiday
job in the arcade and came up and spoke with him. There had
been a deal of tee-heeing from them with hands decorously masking
their laughter as they saw him shooting the baddies. They
seemed pleasant and polite young women who plainly respected
their sensei.
Once
home, we waited for Yasuko to return from her work at the
language school and went out for a meal. We went to an
Italian restaurant round the corner from Stephen’s apartment
and enjoyed ourselves immensely.
Once home, we crashed
out and slept soundly ‘til the morrow.