Day 224: Another day in the library...

Such a contrast with December
at 6.12am

Day 224 (18 Jul) Thursday. Pretty hard to beat yesterday I reckon: great day on the hustings, Queensland won and I got to chat with Rebecca Levingston on the ABC across the waves. How do I top that? Go to the library of course. But before that...

The garden, at 6.12am

Jinko has made arrangements for us to have lunch with some colleagues from our university, people I've known now for nearly three decades. Enthusiasts for politics, naturally the lunch time conversation turns to the forthcoming election. They are not surprised I have come to Tokyo for yet another election, strange perhaps, but not surprised. 

Political posters, the JCP on the left,
Komeito on the right

Again, conversation turns to themes I'm hearing about people's views on the election but that don't seem to be getting picked up by the media. It was the same with the issues raised yesterday by Yamamoto that seemed to be getting the most interest and support from the crowd. 'People on the street' it seems, don't have the same level of confidence in the economy under 'Abenomics' that mainstream media seems to believe and radiation and nuclear power remain key concerns.

The subway, at 6.12pm

Early lunch done and it's off to the library. Another afternoon of finding some very interesting materials, including a new book on Australia-Japan relations that to purchase would cost 7800 yen, if I could find it in the shops...but it seems a bit hard to get. I must follow up. 

I leave the library about 6.00pm. I won't have another chance to visit this time since the next two days will be taken up with being out on the hustings in the lead up to Sunday's election.

At 6.12pm, it's resume the usual place on the subway. This is the Yurakucho-sen which takes me directly from the library to Ikebukuro, then on to home. Everyone sleeps, or at least shuts their eyes... 

So far, I've picked up much on the the election...it's been a valuable trip thusfar.