One appointment after another on Sunday, completion of “Out,” a dark novel by Natsuo Kirino, and yakitori to end the night in Ginza with L.

Learning a lot is pro forma in Japan, which is why I love being here.  New words, new expressions, new ways of seeing.  It’s not all good, not at all, but it is new, and there is an intensity to the culture, even for those born to it, and that restlessness has historically led to turmoil as well as precise focus.

Today it’s short train ride directly to Mount Tanigawa in Gunma prefecture, and a night at Bettei Senjuan.  A ryokan near Fuji-san.  Interviews, onsen, kaiseki.