3 April 08

It was a smashing day - sunny with a gentle breeze. I did a spot of sunbathing on the balcony, which catches the sun for several hours a day. I'm sure our neighbours wouldn't approve; most Japanese go to great lengths to avoid the sun as they strive to keep their skin as pale as possible. Women often carry umbrellas to keep off the sun's rays, and some wear long gloves in summer to protect their forearms. Unlike the UK, where moisturisers these days contain artificial tan, here they all include whitening agents. Given their seeming love of all things western, let's hope that they don't adopt our tanning habit and start contracting skin cancer.

After lunch I walked to Minato City Hall to collect my Alien Registration card, which I'm supposed to carry with me at all times. The card shows my nationality as Pandy: I did explain that it is only a village but the clerk assured me it was OK.

It was far too nice to go straight home so we went to the quiet little park beneath Tokyo Tower, and what is becoming our regular bench for alfresco breastfeeding.

As well as the cherry blossom we now have the delightful new leaves of the maple trees to enjoy, which really have just suddenly appeared in the last few days.

Near the bench a troop of sparrows was taking a dust bath in the children's sand pit. The only other people there were a handful of assorted vagrants, who seem harmless enough as they are mostly asleep. Mind you, it is a particularly Japanese habit: public napping seems the national pastime. In any given road you will find one or more cars pulled over and the driver taking a quick snooze. Given the hours they work it's not surprising that they try to get 40 winks whenever they can though.

On the way home I bumped into Sharon, who was taking Taylor out for a stroll. She lives quite near Nick's office. I'm pleased that she invited us for the party tomorrow, but worried that she lives somewhere really swanky. She's actually got caterers to do this bash. Mind you, I wouldn't want to cook for a party, however small and informal, with a baby to look after either.

I think that Britain should pass on the mantle of 'a nation of shopkeepers' to Japan, as there are so many small ventures here. There's a huge number of tiny restaurants and food outlets, and I've also noticed lots of barber shops. You wonder how on earth they manage to break even with so much competition. Handily, there are also many convenience stores (or 'kombini').