Memory lies

It's time for me to leave Japan and as I close the first chapter of my world tour the time has come for a quick look back. Hardly in melancholy, much like the way you look in the rear view mirror as you prepare to overtake. It has been seven years since I had been to Japan and I am flabbergasted at the changes between then and now. Japan will remain this place like no other, yet somehow it is becoming very much unlike its former self: people get more individualistic, subcultures wilt and their replacement bloom.

I realized have the ability to put my relationships on hold, like pressing the pause button on a remote control. Meeting someone again after a long time, feels much like pressing play: I resume where I left. Countless times, I have found myself having a drink with people looking at their shoes wondering how they could fill the gap. Because of this, I once made the mistake of trusting someone that over the course of a decade imperceptibly drifted out of trustworthiness.

Memory lies. All the same, I realize you should not fear the warning you heed. If the seemingly immutable Japan is able to embrace change, then so are we.

So Japan will change even more, and I expect that it will be for the better. It will remain as puzzling as ever to the inquirer, a treasure for the curious mind in its quest for the odd. 改めておめでとう。