Look at this gorgeous picture and weep, all you 6 mat-confined Japanites! This is my new home (well, it will be in about 3 weeks) . It's the bottom floor of a house in Mitakadai - just 2 stops out of Kichijoji, and a bike ride to the park, and the school. 1 x 10 mat tatami bedroom with extra timber bits, 1 x 13 mat timber floored bedroom, 1 x timber floored sunroom/living room, a HUGE kitchen with ample bench space and dozens of cupboards, a store room, and... a garden! With GRASS we can lounge on!

Our new landlady is a gorgeous 40-something with a big smile and a sweet teenage son. Hubby lives in Okinawa for business reasons. They both speak a little English and are really warm and friendly.

And best of all? My new flatmate, the very lovely Charlene, from Canada. We knew we had a special bond when, sitting down to watch some movie at the cinema with friends, we heard the opening strains of a The Magnetic Fields song and both raised our hands and said "Magnetic Fields" out loud at the same time. She turned and said "I can't believe you know who The Magnetic Fields are". I replied, proudly (...erm...boastfully?), actually, I promoted their Brisbane show, ate dinner with the band, then went on to drink old scotch with Mr Merritt. She is the only other person I know in Tokyo who has a music collection that includes such delicious obscurities as Papa M, Bonnie Prince Billy, Arab Strap, Beta Band, Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service Dirty Three, Do Make Say Think, Fourtet, Hayden, Ida, Interpol, Iron and Wine, Low, Reindeer Section and so on and so forth.... And, she is also a vegetarian so for the first time in years I will actually be cooking with someone else on a regular-ish basis. Sharing food and meals. What a novelty.

We are signing a 2 year lease, so I guess that means that I finally have a plan. 2 more years in Tokyo. Such a fabulous place.