Benri desu

I’ve just started my second week in my new job and, with Simon back in his London office too, it’s very clear that, for the time being at least, our Japanese adventure has come to an end. What an amazing adventure it was too – nine months of new sights, sounds, smells and tastes that have given me a whole different outlook on many things.

A while ago I wrote a post on one of the overriding senses that I got from Tokyo – that of politeness. The other one, perhaps even more so (or perhaps they feed into each other) is how benri the place is. This is a word I learned quite early on in my Japanese course, and from then on, "benri desu" became a phrase that Simon and I used on a daily basis. It means convenient or efficient, something that makes life a little bit easier. We obviously used it a lot in Tokyo as at least three of the people who came to visit us out there have retained it and used it to me since I’ve been back.

A few photos of some of the benri things in Japan, and back at home. Seriously just a few – had I taken a photo of everything that made life that little bit more benri this post would never end!

I think you all know how much these loo devices fascinated me.
Totally benri - a loo, a bidet and flushing noises all in one!

3 hours to do 300 miles? That's pretty benri

Benri squirty butter in a tube

Can't decide whether to have green tea or an
ice cream? Have both together!

Portable loos for emergency use. If only they had the
flushing noises too...

My new and benriest acquisition - welcome to the 21st century Abi...

It may seem simple but it's newly
installed and it is very benri

Stairs that count calories for you in Kyoto

Erasable pens in a multitude of colours. My life is complete

Without this wonderful book I never would have
made it home on several occasions.
The benriest of benri things.

Since returning to London I’ve been surprised by how benri things are here. It’s not like I was expecting something from the dark ages, but I did remember this place as being slightly less efficient than the Japanese metropolis. In all honesty, it is less efficient, but actually stuff works (sort of…I did just have to complete a paper form and send it to our other office by snail mail in order to get internet access on my work PC…) By happy coincidence we live in the middle of a large Japanese community so I hear the language every day, and two of our nearest shops are Japanese so I can practise every now and then. I’ve also gleefully pole-vaulted onto the bandwagon of benriness and equipped myself with a new smartphone. As we continue to do our DIY on the flat we try to add more and more benri aspects too, and I think we’re generally much more on the lookout for gadgets and other useful little things. We may not be in Japan any more but the benriness doesn’t need to end, nor for that matter does the politeness. As the next adventure starts, these are two things I’m going to keep hold of and see what positive impact they can have on my life. For now though, it’s sayonara dudes, and thanks for reading.

さよなら!