Dec 26.   Up very early and follow Sash to the US Embassy where we can’t walk on the same side of the street (reminds me of the Lefortovo prison in Moscow in 1974 and this is not a good comparison). We have coffee nearby and Read More

        December 25, Tuesday.   We land in an almost empty Narita airport on Christmas midafternoon where Sash greets us with his uniquely impish smile and we venture into Tokyo by Skyliner and subway arriving at rush hour (no holiday here) at Akasaka station and in just Read More

        December 24, 2012.   Flying northwest on Japan Air from sunny snowless Boston, it takes just a few minutes until snow dots the Vermont hills. Then more snow and suddenly it’s all white somewhere beyond Ottawa where civilization slips away and the great north begins – Read More