Letter from Japan: The search for tranquility is a fool's errand

We've been in Japan for three weeks and yet the cheek-by-jowl nature of this country continues to slap you in the face. It hits you in a multitude of big and little ways. Suffice to say the expectation that some sense of space would settle in as we made our way out of the Tokyo Metropolitan area of 38 million people has not been met.

This last five days has undone any remaining illusions on that score after the stint in Shizuoka. It was apparent in Kobe on Tuesday on a visit to the venerable Ikuta Shrine amid the hustle and bustle of the modern city.