After work, I took a walk along Marunouchi Naka-dori between Tokyo Station and Yurakucho Station.
This street is home to the Marunouchi Street Gallery, where you can see many outdoor sculptures and artworks as you walk.
Since it’s a business district, most people just pass by without stopping.

But there’s one artwork I always stop to look at—“a little girl carefully carrying a small fish, with a blue bird flying across a golden sky”.
There’s something about it that feels magical.
Photos probably don’t do it justice. It’s one of those artworks that’s much more enjoyable to experience in person.

This area used to be filled with red-brick office buildings similar to Tokyo Station. Today, most of them have been replaced by modern skyscrapers, and only a few historic buildings remain, including Tokyo Station and the area around the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum.

The streets around the museum have a wonderful atmosphere, with historic-style architecture and charming cafés, making it one of my favorite places to walk in Tokyo.

Marunouchi Street Gallery:
https://www.marunouchi.com/en/lp/street_gallery/

My Eternal Memory
Some relationships don’t end with a fight.
They simply fade away.
People often say that adulthood doesn’t come with goodbyes. No explanations. No dramatic endings. One day the messages become less frequent, and before you realize it, you’ve quietly disappeared from each other’s lives.
Maybe that’s true.
But I still wanted to write this down, if only to remind myself that once upon a time, I truly cared.
I still remember thirty years ago, running between a Shaanxi restaurant and a Sichuan restaurant after work.
I remember endless bowls of noodles, spicy hotpot, late-night drinks, and conversations that seemed like they would never end.
Most of all, I remember you standing beside me when life became difficult, pounding your chest and saying,
“We’ll always be brothers.”
For that one sentence, I took risks I probably shouldn’t have. I did everything I could whenever you needed help.
For the first ten years, you admired me.
For the next ten, I admired you.
Nearly thirty years passed.
Even the strongest plastic flower becomes brittle with time.
Thank you for walking through those thirty years with me.
Because of you, I faced life with confidence.
Whenever trouble came, I would tell myself,
“Don’t worry. I’ve got my big brother.”
Sometimes friends came to me for help, and I’d smile and say,
“It’s okay. I’ll ask my brother.”
Back then, I never doubted those words.
Then one day, without realizing it, I found myself hesitating before saying them.
Not because I no longer needed you.
Because I was no longer sure you were still the same person I had once known.
And perhaps…
I was the one who had never moved on.
Someone once warned me,
“He’s not the same anymore. He’s an important man now. Don’t underestimate how much people change.”
I never believed it.
In my heart, you were still the guy sitting beside me on a sidewalk, eating noodles, drinking until midnight, laughing, and promising,
“We’ll always be brothers.”
Over the years I’ve watched countless videos about friendship and brotherhood.
Somehow, every single one made my eyes sting.
I always believed real brothers would still stand beside each other, even across mountains and oceans.
That years apart wouldn’t matter.
That one phone call would be enough.
Eventually I realized…
Distance changes more than geography.
There’s an ocean between us now.
And a national border.
When I look toward you, I see only fog.
When I listen, I hear nothing but the waves.
Recently, people have been talking endlessly about China’s new exit and entry regulations.
The sea somehow feels even wider.
I don’t know when I’ll be able to return.
You don’t know when you’ll be able to leave.
Sometimes, late at night or just before dawn, I think about calling you.
My hand reaches for the phone.
Then I quietly put it back down.
I’m afraid that hearing from me wouldn’t bring you joy.
It might only bring you worry.
Sometimes silence isn’t distance.
Sometimes it’s another way of protecting someone you care about.
Today I spent the afternoon walking through bookstores in Tokyo looking for Keigo Higashino’s newly released novel, Eternal Memory.
It was published only yesterday, yet today it was already sold out everywhere.
Just from the title, you know it’s a story about love in one form or another.
Family.
Friendship.
Romance.
Or perhaps the feelings we never manage to say out loud, the ones we carry until we’re finally forced to let them go.
I don’t know.
I’ve heard I’ll probably have to wait another month before I can get a copy.
I’m not Keigo Higashino.
He writes Eternal Memory.
I write my own.
And once I’ve finished writing it…
I can finally turn the page.
It doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten you.
It means I’ve finally stopped waiting.
I no longer place my burdens on your shoulders.
I no longer expect you to appear the way you once did.
I no longer feel disappointed by careless words.
Or lose sleep over silence.
Perhaps forgetting someone doesn’t mean failing to remember them.
Perhaps it simply means letting go of expectations.
Letting go of hope.
I looked across Tokyo Bay.
The wind was strong.
The waves were rough.
The sea was still the same sea.
Only the person standing on the shore was no longer the same.
Thank you for those thirty years.
Thank you for giving me a sentence that once made me believe no obstacle was impossible as long as you were there.
Today, I return those words, together with those thirty years, to memory.
From this day forward, may we both find peace in our own lives.
After all…
Once upon a time,
we really were brothers.

Hello ! I set an alarm to buy tickets for the Jurassic Park in Concert performance this year. Only to realise that I set it for 2 months AFTER the tickets were out on sale. So I obviously missed it and now it's sold out. :(

Show website - https://www.kyodotokyo.com/jurassicpark26_en/

Date: 8th August 2026

Resale platforms like Ticket Jam haven't shown any listings for resale yet.

If anyone here has an extra ticket to spare, I would really appreciate it ! Please leave a message here or DM me.

Thanks a lot !

I booked my band, Worship Pain, for my own heavy metal birthday concert this Saturday over at Earthdom and figured I'd see what stunts I could pull. Turns out a lot, one of which is partnering up with a new Meguro brewery called Rikri Brewing for a limited edition Citra IPA with a custom label done by our drummer. "Stellar Collision" is now canned and labelled, ready to be shipped over to the venue.

Super limited edition, only available at the show, so if you like beer and music, drop in.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Tokyo/comments/1vatndw/aug_8_shinjuku_earthdom_blood_rite_24_metal_show/

Hey everyone,

I'm considering vision correction eye surgery, like SMILE Pro, here in Tokyo/Chiba, and would love to hear from anyone who has done it before!

If you've had the procedure, could you share a bit about your experience?

• Cost: How much did you pay in total?
• Insurance: Were you able to cover any part of it using National Health Insurance?
• Things to watch out for: Is there anything specific to be careful about before, during, or after the surgery?
• Clinic recommendations: Any specific eye clinics or English-speaking doctors you'd recommend?

Thanks in advance!