Rick Kennedy loves Tokyo. He has been here for years, yet still can't get over the kindness of its citizens, the flawless attention to detail, the sensory feast to be partaken of at every twist and turn -- much of which can be eaten and drunk! So great is his enthusiasm that we missed our stop, Hamamatsucho, where a small French restaurant does an excellent 1,000 yen lunch. Still concentrated on appraising the virtues of the city, we then boarded the wrong train (a semi-express) to sail past our destination in the opposite direction, to Tokyo Station.
Reaching Hamamatsucho 30 minutes since meeting, the restaurant proved closed (for O-Bon). Almost the last straw, you might think. But Kennedy took it in his usual ebulliently gallant stride. "Bentos," he boomed (but gently, in deference to the social norm), and plunged into the depths of the World Trade Center in search of boxed lunches and beer.
"Did you know Tokyo has 6,000 parks? Compare THAT to New York!" he triumphed, settling onto a grassy knoll in Shiba Rikyu Garden after passing freely through the gate ("one of the joys of reaching 60") with a gracious bow and buddy-buddy nod to staffers in the ticket booth. "Look around -- we're the only people here on a Tuesday lunchtime. Isn't that amazing?" And he beamed, to all intents and purposes oblivious of the tall buildings encroaching on all sides, and the intrusive sounds of traffic and passing trains. All part of the city's rich puzzle, no doubt.