"Hi ho Silver! The Fire Element ignites a pilot light of leadership in the Horse Sign to make the Fire Horse the absolute and undisputed champion of the herd. You are more than willing to fight everyone and anyone, metaphorically or literally. You lead by doing, and never look back to see if anyone may be following you -- you never infer loyalty in others, as you generally don't require it -- you are an army of one.

Freedom is the most important thing for you, and woe betide the lover who wishes to hobble you, or, even worse, inadvertently bores you -- you'll have kicked them to the curb in no time on your way to fresh horizons and the inevitable greener pastures. It is important for you to cultivate your latent kindness, however, as otherwise you will be marked as unpleasant company by those who hover about you."

So in the spirit of cultivating kindness, I've uploaded the rest of my Tokyo videos...

A former student of mine invited myself and three other improvisers out to the Oasis last night, for a live show where you play poker, drink beer and tell disgusting stories. A debate on the proper definition of a "Dirty Sanchez" pretty much set the tone for the evening (if you really want to know what it is you can look it up for yourself -- don't say I didn't warn ya!). But the beer was free, the ante for each hand a mere twenty-five cents and you weren't allowed to reference the audience at any point -- to me, that spells "dream gig"!

I have to admit that I'm a bit overwhelmed by the mass of photos I took in Tokyo, so rather than sift through each and every one of them I'm just going to dump 'em all in front of you, starting with the ones from my rented DoCoMo phone.

So last night a friend dragged me down to the Horseshoe to see Kiwi singer Bic Runga. The show itself was great -- not a single man-bashing song in the lot! -- but I was quite saddened by the amount of digital cameras going off throughout. It seemed like folks were more interested in owning a record of the evening than actually experiencing it. A sign of the times, I guess...

There's been a couple of changes over at SecondCine.com, and for most of this week I'll be editing a video for Camaro, who have shows this week and next at the Tim Sims Playhouse. You can get details on the show by downloading an PDF version of their postcard right here!

If I get an idle moment I'll do my damnedest to post some more Tokyo photos and/or videos. Patience, grasshopper...

A friend at Air Canada tried to get me upgraded to business class for my flight home, but the section was full. As an apology I was offered an invitation to the ANA lounge -- free beer! -- and was escorted onto to the plane by the Air Canada manager for Japan... Classy!

It was a different story when I touched down on Canada's west coast. If you're visiting our fair country, try not to enter it through Vancouver. This was my second time through customs there, and the welcome ain't exactly warm. Officers are downright nasty with Asian visitors, demanding passports right as they deplane, and asking them rather inelegantly "why did you come here?"

When my number came up at the customs window, the query put to me was: "Why do you travel so much?" I bit my tongue to prevent a knee-jerk response -- to get away from people like you, witch...

Monday, January 13th, 2002: Wow, this place is crowded!

Yesterday Sean and I followed thousands of Tokyo-jins to the Big Sight Convention Centre for a Manga show. We arrived shortly after the opening hour, and were shocked to find huge crowds of people already waiting. So many in fact that they were sectioned off into grids of a couple of hundred each, then marched in a grid at a time. And it turns out that this wasn't even a manga convention proper, but a showcase for fan-produced comics!

Afterwards we headed over to the Decks Shopping Mall, home of the new District 1 Shopping Area, full of 60s-era Japanese memorabilia... And another couple of thousand Japanese folks. We tried to escape the crowds by walking all the way over to Mega Web, a Toyota-themed theme park, for a serene ride in an automated electric car. But when we got there, folks were lining up for said serene ride for over an hour.

We tried to take refuge in nearby Palette Town. Packed. Road the subway home. Packed. Even after 9pm when we popped out for a quick dinner, Shibuya square was as busy as it has been since we got here.

This almost complete lack of personal space might help explain the popularity of manga books, which the reader can lose themselves in while on a crowded subway, or the unusual video games we saw at Sega Joypolis, including one where the player does nothing more than walk a virtual dog down an empty street!

Sometimes it's all just a little overwhelming!	Lining up for Manga...	No room for a soccer field? How about on the roof?	Virtual walkies...

Saturday, January 11th, 2002: If you've read my 2001 Tokyo travelogue then you'll know Harajuki as the place where new fashion trends are born. As Sean and I walked through its crowded streets, it was as easy to spot the camera-equipped fashion scouts as it was the new looks. So imagine how happy I was to be the centre of attention for a few brief moments when a design student asked me to model his thesis project for him!

Friday, January 10th, 2002: They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's a five grand, courtesy of my rented DoCoMo camera phone!

How do ya work this damn thing?	Shibuya Square at night...	Shibuya skyline at dawn...	Rush hour subway ride...	See? The lens is there.

Since it's going to be a late night at the old Second City, and I have to leave for the airport early tomorrow morning, and I haven't started packing yet, I'm going to attempt to stay up all night so I can sleep en route to Tokyo. Once there my iBook should work as it last time with my hotel's high-speed Internet connection. But if you want to reach me right away, here's how you can do it:

• i-mode email address: jcr382.tyo@docomo.ne.jp (up to 500 characters)
• direct dial from North America: 011-81-906-986-2231 (remember, this'll cost ya!)

My next entry will be from high above Shibuya Square, unless of course I sleep in and miss my flight...

On a less bitchy and moany note, preparations are continuing smoothly for my second trip to Tokyo; today I got confirmation on the DoCoMo camera phone I'll be renting!