So I have a little summer pad in the Nagano Prefecture of Japan, and on this day (December 30 2005) I added a winter home-away-from-home to my assets, down on the island of Shikoku. It's actually the home of my friend C., and we had gone there together to spend Japanese New Year with her family. The previous day (December 29 2005) we had spent 16 hours crossing Japan by train, about 11 or 12 local trains in fact, passing through snow and golden sunshine. Upon my arrival at C.'s house, in Tokushima Prefecture near Aratano, I was amazed by how rural and undeveloped it was. The first thing that greeted me when I got out of the train, was the smell of genuine fresh air. That is something you don't often experience in Japan, especially in the big cities where I usually hang out. The second thing that struck me, when I got into the car driven by C.'s father, and listened to him speaking to C., was the strange and curiously accented version of Japanese they used down there. I also noticed the endless expanse of black darkness outside -- very rural and unJapanese, according to my experience. When I got to C.'s house at Katayama, Aratano, I was comforted and impressed. It was a typical Japanese country house, with plenty of tatami mats, sliding doors, a snuggly kotatsu (table covered by a quilt with a heat source underneath), a spotless bathroom promising warm inviting pleasures. There seemed to be plenty of sake bottles lying around, and beer in the refrigerator. I knew I was in heaven!