The Meterological Agency has had the makings of its Anno Horribile so far in 2007 with nine months left to go, at least half of those promising to be full of monsoon rains or autumn typhoons.
They really blew their luck on sakura season as the evidence below will demonstrate. OK, so they only check a handful of blossoms in their own Agency garden and were able to find a couple that stood in a sunny, warm, protected nook of the garden to be able to announce they were within their plus minus 2 day reference zone - having had to set their early dire predictions back by at least a week.
But let this forecaster boldly state: It is STIL EARLY DAYS for the sakura, for the future, and for the supine voters of Tokyo. There is a certain - pick the one that does not belong in this series - IQ test mentality to this set of photos, but don't mind that. It is Springtime in jolly Tokyo and the man at the helm of this great sprawling metroscopolis wants to serve another term so that he can jet-set around the planet with his troublesome brood of boys. The voters don't seem to mind, and the Opposition parties don't seem to know their way out of a paper bag. Credible opposition? Robert Mugabe has more on a bad hair day.
But our Guv'na has lived up to at least a handful of his promises - those that he made in person to the Foreign Correspondents Club a few years back when a comedian for governor was already passe and a well-selling author and provocateur with rightwing leanings seemed a better bet. As governor, Shintara Ishihara has delivered on his pledge to reduce the noxious soot and smoke from previously unregulated diesel trucks. Dandy indeed, there is MUCH less soot in the air and on the ground, and I raise my cap in honest thanks.
The other promises - to make life better for foreigners and to reduce the infestation of crows I would have to say are somewhat moot. Foreigners who enjoy the blessings of good fortune and well-stocked expense accounts have definitely found the massive investment in new hotels, offics, mueums and restaurants a plus. For the less wealthy, not much has happened though one could say the new subways do help people get to work faster and home sooner. But the reality is that most Tokyoites are like most Moscowites - they prefer stability to transparency, efficiency to honesty, and a loaf of bread and a slab of bacon for the soup. The political clubs will have their way anyway, so why not the one who can keep the entire mechanism of governance cllicking over smoothly like a well-oiled 12-cylinder Maybach. Enjoy your Hanami folks.
