The kids and I arrived to blue skies and warm weather here in Tokyo yesterday afternoon.  After getting our weary bodies and wearier suitcases to our hotel rooms in the western suburbs, perhaps 200 yards from where we lived 2005-2007, we managed to drag ourselves out to a neighborhood ramen shop for dinner.  We were all in bed by 9:00.

   Today was another beautiful day.  We walked through Nogawa Park, where we found a few lingering plum blossoms.  From there, we crossed over to the campus of International Christian University, where we stopped in to say hi to my old colleagues at the University of California Tokyo Study Center. 

    After that we took the train two stops to Kichijoji and to visit some of our favorite old haunts:  the back lanes of "Harmonica Alley" (an old postwar black market that still retains some of that flavor today), the Loft department store with its basement game arcade, and Inogashira Park.  At the park, Sonia and I rented a pedal boat and wove our way between ducks and other boats.  After that we stood on the bridge over the pond and watched the koi beg for snacks.  They used to sell crackers to throw to the fish, but now they have signs up asking you not to feed them.  Progress, I suppose. 

   The kids are now out playing with their old Tokyo classmates while I sit in the hotel room, doing a bit of work and waiting for the sumo to come on.  Tonight we're off to dinner with former neighbors.  It's lovely to be back in Tokyo.