Now I’ve got an inkling why everyone went so blossom crazy here last week.

In its way Japan can be as beautiful in the rain, of course. You get shades of green here I’ve never seen anywhere else.

But, just like when it happens in the UK, sometimes there’s nothing else you can do but load up on good stuff to read and wait it out.

Left and centre are by someone whose work I’m rapidly becoming obsessed with: Shigeru Mizuki. On the right is the gorgeous Japanese edition of Uzumaki, by Junji Ito, which I recommended on TBM here.

If you’re interested in suggestions about what to read next, I’ve just updated my LibraryThing review page with all my TBM book recommendations from the last six months or so – including the inspiration and image source for this…

…namely The Drifting Classroom by Kazuo Umezu. 😀

Click here for A Tale of Two T-Shirts: Shirt The Second.

The tickets are booked. We’re almost set. In a couple of weeks’ time I’ll be back in Japan.

I’ve had a lovely time in London – launching O, catching up with friends and family, doing fun stuff – but as the day of my return to Tokyo gets closer I can’t help but get very, very excited. My first trip to Japan left me fascinated, rabid to discover more. But as well as new experiences to look forward to, there are people I met there and things I saw that I can hardly wait to see again. Like these dudes…

In the Shibuya branch of Mandarake…

…by the cabinets of collectible figurines…

…there are big signs telling you not to take photos.

I didn’t use flash…

…and tried (and probably failed) to be subtle…

…but I couldn’t resist. I mean, look at this:

Here’s to new friends and new adventures.

On a related note, this week on Trapped By Monsters: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.