The weather has been damnably humid and hot. Heat I can take up to a point, humidity I can't. It feels like we are immersed in an endless sauna bath. The effect at night is little better. We are spending more time downstairs at night and running the air-con to get things a little cooler and dryer. Such is the climate in a maritime country.

Our old friend Satoshi popped around today and was much taken with Tom's progress. We see very little of him nowadays. Not since he started work in Moriyama. He is already beholden to the company, working long hours and backing up on Saturdays every fortnight. His holiday next month will be 5 days with a weekend at either end. Its just the way things are here in Japan. Workers never consider their entitlements as real, and neither does management. The unions are too weak and too conciliatory to make a difference.

And everyone is just so busy, so scheduled up.