The previous post is A Tokyo Arrival (April 14).
The next post is Harajuku and Shibuya (April 16).

Shinjuku (April 15) · Apr 17, 05:31 PM

I’m still nauseated and cramped when I wake up, but in a spirit of optimism I head out to slurp tomato stew at the Shinjuku station and ride up for a view of the skyline from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Number 1, South tower. I have to collect myself for ten minutes before I go to stand at the windows. The view is disappointing. Maybe it’s the low-hanging weather. Maybe it’s the nausea. I head back east to Shinjuku station and wander more. Inside Lumine Est, on the restaurant level (7F), I have lunch at Kitchen Shunju.

I pass the afternoon rehydrating, and walk over to Shinjuku Gyoen. Some of the cherry blossoms are still out, and so are the crowds. I take an early dinner — a large bowl of steaming noodles downstairs off one of the narrow streets outside the station. I feel like myself again.

In the evening I met Rob at Shinjuku station and we are both late for the Aunkai class. The training is tough work, and completely different from anything I’ve done. Akuzawa is open and friendly. He’s also soft and more powerful than his slim physique suggests, by an order of magnitude. After class we go out to eat and drink.

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