November 28
Final proofreading of the newest issue of "Shincho" (out on 12/7). In the after noon I have an appointment with a Yomiuri Shimbun reporter who interviews me at my Kagurazaka office. I show him the color proof of the contents page and give him a CD. That’s because this issue is the first to come with a free CD containing a selection of Japanese contemporary poems. Not that a magazine with a CD is a groundbreaking novelty, but the participation (selection and recitation) of writer Furukawa Hideo convinced me that this CD is worth making and giving away with our magazine. After dinner I return to the office to do some more proofreading, and around 1 a.m. I call a friend and invite him for a drink. My sense of accomplishment turns into a sinking feeling, and eventually, complete drunkenness.
November 29
Another Yomiuri reporter keeps asking me to give him an interview about the reason why we closed the Critical Essay division of the Shincho Newcomer Award. Unable to fix a time and place since too busy, we decide to do the interview by email. A deadline for reading the nominees for the Mishima Yukio Award is approaching, so I grab the books and head for my house in Misakiko. I really enjoy the time without phone and email, or even a pencil for doing some checking, so I can devote myself entirely to reading. Dinner I have at my favorite fish restaurant, "Maruichi". I go for sardine and mackerel sashimi, raw oysters, cooked yellowtail, boiled prawns, a bowl of rice with the remaining sardines, salt broth and hijiki. After dinner I return to my books with a snack of locally grown sea cucumber. I finish around four in the morning.
November 30
After finishing a meeting for the Mishima Award I get miscellaneous things done, and meet editor/photographer T. at "Nekome", a bar in Shinjuku where some of Ohtake Shinro’s works are on display, in the evening. T. is a splendid collaborator of Ohtake, so this bar is definitely the best place to meet him. As always, the conversation with him is electrifying, and when I flick a quick glance at my watch I realize that it’s already after four.
December 1
A poetry reading starts in the evening at the "Kazahana" bar in Shinjuku, hosted by one of the greatest writers of our time, Furui Yoshikichi. Guest is critic Karatani Kojin, and the awkward moderator is yours truly. Karatani reads a review of Takeda Taijun he wrote in the '70s, and thanks to the brusque style of his performance, it’s great fun to listen to him and feel stimulating thoughts race through my mind. There are countless writers and critics in the audience, and there are hundreds of things I'd like to talk about with some of them, but shortly after 11 p.m. I find myself rushing into Shinjuku station to catch the last train via Yokohama to Miurakaigan. From there I take a taxi to Misakiguchi, where my scooter is waiting to take me to my final destination in Misakiko.
December 2
I'm reading a proof of a new translation of Capote’s "Breakfast at Tiffany’s" that is going to be published soon. Once again dinner at "Maruichi", with some more exotic fish dishes, as well as boiled spinach grown on the Miura peninsula , rice and broth. Then it’s again time for the sea cucumber snack, which I take this time with a proof of a soon-to-be-published translation of a book about the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds". While reading I listen to Brian Wilson’s "Smile" and, obviously, "Pet Sounds". In the alphabetically ordered 10,000+ song list in my iPod, which is filled with 10,000 songs ranging from Ikeda Ryoji to Japanese folk ballads, the Beach Boys come right before the Beatles. It’s a funny world. Oh, and Brian Wilson come right after Brian Jones… It’s definitely a funny world.
December 3
Back in Tokyo, I find the catalogue of Ohtake Shinro’s retrospective "Zen-kei" exhibition in the mail. The pages of photographs are dotted with Ohtake’s texts, which are taken from his regular column in "Shincho". The catalogue of the Ohtake exhibition in Sagacho that definitely changed my life (back in 1987) had 44 pages. This new one has 1,152 and weighs a proud 6 kilograms. So what’s my "sense of accomplishment" (with all that followed) after finishing a magazine of just a few pages?! I'm highly excited and unable to concentrate on my work…
