I did some light reading with Zen, Drugs and Mysticism by RC Zaehner. The main takeaway from this book so far seems to be that drugs should never be viewed as a short cut to religious or philosophical enlightenment. You must put in the hard yards with lots of meditation and pain. Or something like that. In any case, the book casts doubt whether hallucinogenic drug experiences can equate to authentic mystical, religious or spiritual experiences. An interesting line of argument. I’m a sucker for any book that has Zen in the title.
My next reading adventure is A Geek In Japan by Hector Garcia. The subtitle is ‘discovering the land of manga, anime, zen, and the tea ceremony’. The title caught my eye because it could very well have been written for, if not about, me when I was there last November. Skimming through the text I can tell it’s what I call a mid-knowledge read, namely there will be a lot of stuff I already know about mixed with stuff I don’t. A good mid-level comfort read for the aspiring Japanophile. I like it when books contain facts I already know, and pictures of places I’ve already been to. This will only feed my passion and set me up for a return trip, which is the plan.
I read more of the A Geek In Japan book. Suicide rates are high – highest in the ‘advanced’ world. Some reasons are the Samurai code of honor is still strong in Japan, and the pressure to pass exams, and the shame of failing them. A popular suicide method is to throw yourself in front of a train. One train line, the Chuo line, is especially popular with them because it’s harder for drivers to stop in time. Crime is low in Japan, due to tight gun control laws, severe punishments, and the general Asian code of communities and families first, individuals second. The factoids keep coming.
I read some more of A Geek In Japan. There was a fantastic chart titled Japanese Popular Culture: A Chronology. It begins in 1947 with ‘Osamu Tezuka publishes his first manga’, and end in 2016 with ‘Kimi No No Wa (Your Name) by Makoto Shinkai becomes an internationally acclaimed anime movie’. In between there’s Godzilla, Kurasawa, Dragonball, Visual Kai and so many other major references. It’s keyed to the categories of Manga, Anime, Cinema, Television, Landmarks and something called Tendencies. I’ve already noticed some omissions, like no films by Yasujiro Ozu, but some that are there pique my interest. I must check out Kumi Koda, ‘the best-selling J-pop star of 2007’. A good conversation starter for Nippon geeks.
Read some more of A Geek In Japan. It was the chapters on manga and music, two of my favourite subjects. The manga chapter was mostly about Osamu Tezuka, and rightly so. ‘The God of Manga’. I visited the Osamu Tezuka museum in Takarazuka when I was in Japan. It was quite charming, but I thought someone of Tezuka’s stature deserved at least a theme park. I would definitely go on the Astroboy ride! It was good to see my women, Perfume, mentioned in the music section. I was 
intrigued by the section on Enka music. It’s described as traditional popular ballad using western instruments and scales. The author mentioned a famous enka singer and actress, Misora Hibari, whose song, Kawa No Nagare No Yo Ni, is ‘considered by many to be the best Japanese song ever written’. Oh really, the best? Song ever written? In Japan? What would the equivalent be in our western world, or just say, Australia? I must check it out.