I loved the privileged experience I had, living in Tokyo. Not for long enough, however. Lived there first in an apartment close to Ayoma dori, then in a house, in a compound with other Western-style houses. There was a large water tower in the compound and huge crows called "jungle crows" always roosted around the water tower, cawing hoarsely. The house roofs were metal, and when the crows walked about on the roof, and you happened to be on the second floor, it sounded like a man walking about up there.

No fixed-wing planes were used within the country itself, helicopters being flown instead, because of the mountainous terrain. Japanese use every bit of land they can to farm. The country is a tight little group of three islands, the main island, the northern one and the southern one. The southern island is warm, the middle one temperate and the northern one reflects the north; its winters are cold and snow is abundant. We used to go hiking on a regular basis, with a hiking club; once hiked through a bamboo forest and it was eerily strange. Hiked once up a mountain which had an immense ginkgo tree close to the top and it was said to be two thousand years old.

The temples in Tokyo and the other cities on Honshu island are wonderful, and their gardens sublime. The Japanese gardener's attention to detail is outstanding. Simplicity with the beauty of nature. The immense old carp, gold, silver, orange, that swim about in the garden ponds are beautiful creatures. They are carp, but named koi by the Japanese. The prized bonsai that many of the temple gardens set out on trestles are other wonders of nature, pruned carefully over generations as heritage objects.

On the streets in Tokyo people will place their valuable bonsai out in front of their homes. Knowing that no one will pilfer them. Bicycles are left without locks because there is an instinctive prohibition against taking or damaging other peoples' property. There is crime in Japan, but it is organized crime, the Yakuzi. They are readily recognized for they drive black cars. All other cars on the road are variations of white. It is rare to see grass in Tokyo, rarer still to view private gardens for they are small, discreet, and generally sheltered from public view. The fruit of fruit trees are often bagged while growing; Japanese have a dread of using pesticides.

Living in Tokyo was also an adventure in day-to-day shopping. Japanese live in little villages or neighbourhoods, with family-operated shops selling tea, fish, vegetables, rice, flowers, with the occasional Western-style supermarket, interpreted for the Japanese market. Japanese housewives shop daily, they live in cramped quarters and haven't the room or the modern conveniences to store food for a week. Everything one buys is amazingly fresh. Not merely fresh but consummately good-tasting. Fish-mongers wash down their stalls every night; there is never a fishy odour from their stalls.