Lonely Japan: Tonkatsu

This is part 5 of Lonely Japan, a series written by a friend of mine who used to live in Japan. Read the previous parts here.

Slept a lot for the next two days and stayed away from alcohol. Didn't leave my room much, except when they were serving food downstairs. Tried cleaning up the clothes that were all over the place, but only ending up consolidating them into a large pile in the corner. Changed the blade on the boxcutter with some of the replacement blades that came with it because it was starting to rust. Found some little bottles of liquid antabuse that I had forgotten about. Thought about taking it, noticed it needed to be refrigerated and put it in a drawer.

By the third day I was feeling well enough to leave the dorm, which was good because the kitchen was closed and I was on my own for food. Got on my bicycle sometime in the afternoon and rode off in the direction of the nearby supermarket. Streets were mostly empty. Saw an elderly woman leaning on a concrete wall near an empty playground on the way. Her back was bent and she was carrying a few bags. Not sure what was in them. She must have been waiting for something, though I don't remember there being a bus stop there. Her eyes were fixated on the sidewalk in front of her. She didn't look up as I passed.

Locked my bike to a pole in front of the store and walked inside. They usually had good prepared food that wasn't too expensive. If you waited till the store was almost closed you could usually get it for a significant discount. It wasn't near closing, but I needed to eat. Was trying to decide between some tonkatsu and a hanbagu bento when I noticed a man and an older women shopping not far from me. The man was speaking in a voice that was louder than I was used to hearing from Japanese people, and he moved in awkward jerky motions. He turned towards me and it became apparent that he must have had down syndrome. The woman noticed I was watching them and looked over at me. She smiled and said something to me. I think it was “good afternoon” or something about the weather. I don't remember exactly. I bowed my head, forced a smile and quickly left the aisle. The mans eyes followed me as I walked past. Not sure if he continued to watch me as I grabbed three tall cans of beer and checked out. I didn't look back.

Took my time heading home. Drank two of the beers near the empty playground while watching the shadows from the equipment grow. Drank the third near a park with large sign that said “no sports”. By the time I got back to the dorm the sun had almost set. Sat on my bicycle behind the building where the locks were and watched it go down the rest of the way.