the park and the record store.

I was killing my usual 17 hours in between classes today at work when I decided that it would probably be a good idea to get the hell out of this cramped little employee area that I spend the vast majority of my life in these days.

So, I looked up some parks in Kawasaki and headed out. I really should have done this a couple of weeks ago, but it didn't even occur to me that there might be public green spaces in Tokyo outside of Yoyogi Park. Well, live and learn.

The park was cool. Really cool. The endless miles of gray brick and concrete in this city will, I think, eventually grind down this Iowa/Oregon boy's spirit if I don't make a point of seeking out some form of nature on a very regular basis.

Unfortunately, while Japanese corporate spaces are very tidy, public spaces are often not. Small parks and public spaces are apparently often the site of significant garbage dumping and littering, thanks at least in part to the many homeless congregating in them. The homeless, while fairly rare here (at least compared to Portland), are still lurking about. Unlike the US, though, the Japanese seem perfectly content to leave them alone to do their thing, which often involves building shanties along the rivers and lying about drunkenly in public parks. On the plus side, I have yet to be approached by a single pushy homeless 20 year old asking me to subsidize his lazy drunkenness, drug abuse, and home piercings..

So, anyway...the park had garbage in it. They don't all, but this one did. I'll take it, garbage and all, much like a starving man snapping into an ancient, dirty Twinkie with gusto.

Tomorrow, maybe some pictures. In the meantime, enjoy Google Street View of my work:

I walk up this staircase to work every day.