Well, I'm catching up now, as this photo was taken only 6 weeks ago. Satoko and I had the good fortune to be invited to a riverside BBQ with the Kiyosue family. My co-worker Hiroshi, his wife Terumi, and their kids Naoto-kun, Mai-chan, and Jumpei-kun picked us up from the station.
They live a good hour northwest of Ikebukuro, which puts them well into the "unfashionable" but actually rather nice (please refer to the colour 'green' in the photo) prefecture of Saitama. Although it's a mission to get into Tokyo from Saitama, you only really need to do that to work, party, or shop where the "fashionable" people shop. Perhaps you can tell where my sympathies lie. The upside to living in Saitama is that mere mortals can get themselves a decent place to live.
We popped by their spacious 2 level abode, and it was really a nice change to see a family living in a family sized house. Their kitchen and lounge are open-plan; something I've almost never seen in inner Tokyo, though I'm sure millionaires (x 100 = billionaires in Yen) might be able to afford such a luxury. The kids' room is great, with a loft bedspace and a high ceiling. In my place anyone taller than me (172cm) is at risk of banging their head on doorways, and smashing the light in the toilet.
Anyway, we set up camp by the river, and at a pace similar to that of the placid river's water, the beer and seafood flowed into our marquee in an unending stream of tasty goodness, gently sweeping us into a sea of satiety. It was a very warm day, and the stony riverbed didn't encourage the adults into much activity. So while the kids safely explored the shallow river, we sat and drank and ate and chatted till it was time to leave. For dessert we stopped at an ice-cream parlour whose produce derives from the local farms.
This was a truly relaxing day - a rare thing in Tokyo, and especially in our lives recently, so we owe Hiroshi and his family a debt ... one to be repaid in full, I'm sure, when they eventually visit us in New Zealand.
