Local stuff

Next day I could hear banging in the street - this procession was hoping to drum up some rain.

It worked because next day it pissed down.

This is my mate,Grae's, house - it was famous, to me, because it was in Shinjuku and had lawn. But sadly the lawn is no more. The landlady, who lives on the other side of the once-was-lawn, was stung by 70% death duties on the demise of her husband and so she 'put up a parking lot'
But a lot of Shinjuku is actually these quiet little streets, houses only 2 stories high.
Aah - this was Saturday - the Japanese seem very earthquake conscious. Grae had shown me how to operate the grill to make my toast - and afterwards to always turn the gas off at the wall. Then on Sunday night, eating out near the subway station, things started shaking. No one else seemed to notice so I figured it was just an underground train. But when it persisted and shook even harder we all looked at each other - I was waiting to see who moved to the nearest doorway - but no one did and eventually it subsided.
The earthquake was around 7, I think, but centred offshore, so not too much damage. We had several aftershocks over the next few days. I don't think it was as bad as the recent one in Central Otago.