Foreword – Moving Out (and Moving in Again)
When we moved into our fantastic apartment, we were warned by the owner that they’d be destroying the building in two years. As he’s an 80-something year old guy, I assume he wants to sell the probably crazy valuable land and move on with his life, so I get it. But I also hate it.
I really like this place. It’s extremely close to downtown Shibuya, has direct access to the Yamanote Line (which provides truly unparalleled access to downtown Tokyo in general), it’s a sub one minute walk to the nearest station, and it’s also only about a fifteen minute walk from my wife’s job. This has the amazing knock-on effect of making it really easy to hang out with her coworkers after a shift since we always know they’ll be in Shibuya and our place is so easy to leave from to get to anywhere else in downtown Tokyo. Given its impending destruction and undesirable old age, the price was also unbeatable.
Sadly, the time has come, and it’s being destroyed now. It sucks! I’ve been lucky enough throughout my life to have moved many times and to have always considered it an upgrade- this is the first time ever that I’m wondering if it even qualifies as a “sidegrade”, if not just a downgrade overall. The new place isn’t some nightmare or anything… it’ll just take a bit for me to come around, I think.
Mostly in service to my “I have to move back to Canada eventually I’ll be painfully nostalgic about living in Japan for the rest of my life” feeling, but also in part because I’m sure some people out there are curious, I recently took some photos of our apartment while it was relatively clean. It’s a bright and airy fourth floor spot with some form of view of the back of downtown Shibuya. Enough of a view that I can look out the window and know I’ll miss it, anyways.
The main dining room area, which opens into all other rooms of the apartment. It’s so nice to have such a wide and sunny room as the central spoke. Also pictured is the combination living room/bedroom, which features a full tatami floor. God I’ll miss tatami when we eventually go back to Canada. We’ve hosted a few 10+ people parties here and we were incredibly lucky to have such a great space to use. If you squint you can see the various figures we’ve amassed, only two of which came with us from Canada. I fear we’ll have to sell a bunch when we eventually leave, haha.
Our truly amazing kitchen space. It might not look like much compared to North American or European kitchens, but having been on the apartment hunt for months now, let me tell you, they sure just don’t make ’em the same here. Having this much counter space is a luxury all on its own, but the massive array of cabinets across from it? I have never again seen that in any place remotely affordable to us. Despite our realtor showing us that the built in dishwasher worked, I never actually figured out how to operate the thing. Thankfully I do find doing dishes to be quite the relaxing morning activity, so no big deal. Since we’re on the fourth floor, there’s a cute little view out front too.
My tiny office, featuring a screen that is frankly comically oversized for the space and paper doors that I have absolutely shoved my elbow through (you can see a big tear in that first picture). Though I like the cute space I have, I will admittedly be happy to be able to slide my chair a biiiit farther from the desk in our next place.
Our huge balcony that we sadly underutilized outside of the first few months. It’s the type of thing you think back on with a bit of regret. We really ought to have spent more time out there! Also pictured is our front hall and shower, which is more for my future nostalgia than anything actually fun to show off. Peep my yellow Tigers and Dyson, I guess.
Finally, that back view of Shibuya I mentioned. Though it’s mostly obscured, that one tall blue-ish building near the center is Shibuya Scramble Square, located right at the scramble crossing. I don’t think we’ll ever live so close to such a crazy place ever again, and it already makes me sad to think about it. I feel like I’m often a bit of a downer in these monthly blog posts since I often use it as a bit of a journal, and I do think it’s an accurate reflection of my feelings this time. Our new place is fine. A few square meters bigger than our current place and I’ll even have a bigger office! But it’s less cute, and farther away. The idea of living there, quite simply, sparks less joy. We only have a few days left at this apartment, and it feels very painful already. Leaving our current place serves to also remind me that within the next two years or so, we’ll be headed back to Canada as well. As happy as we are together wherever we live, I don’t feel like it’s a stretch to say that right now, in this time, I just wish I could live the way we currently are for the rest of our days. Treasure what you have, and try to make the most of it. Time sure flies.
-Liam
APRIL 21ST EDIT: Boy, this sure ended on a sad note! We’re at our new place and I’m still a bit bummed but I’m getting used to it. Life is going on!
April 2025 Articles
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
tl;dr: The finale of Igarashi’s DS trilogy offers a creative take on the series that unfortunately misses more times than it lands when it comes to its wide array of fresh ideas.
The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- (DEMO)
tl;dr: A blindingly sharp TRPG coupled with the best Danganronpa-successor vibes that have ever existed. Any fan of either should not let the demo pass them by.
REVIEW: The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-
tl;dr: A sprawling 100 day long groundhog day scenario, blindingly sharp TRPG gameplay, and the best Danganronpa-successor vibes come together brilliantly.
9/10
April 2025 Recommendations
Super Bunnyhop – Kriegsspiel! How Napoleon Accidentally Invented Strategy Games
My buddy George has been away from YouTube for a little while due to some WILD circumstances, but he recently came back with an exhaustive research on the history of war games vis a vis video games based on war. It’s truly fascinating to see just how long ago things were codified for things like Fire Emblem’s grid, and such. A meaty watch at about 100 minutes of runtime, and well worth it!
One response to “APRIL 2025”
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I didn’t see that you’d posted this, but reading it gives me a sadness for your losing the space and for my never knowing one like it. I’ve long been in a life state that’s meant moving anywhere has been out of reach since university, and the current states of the UK games industry and global politics have been perpetuating that crisis (both mentally and in career prospects).
A recent visit to friends in London has shown me what I’m missing from the city, with the cultural density of metropolitan life and the long-lost feeling of people to talk to being within an arm’s reach (as opposed to over a headset). I’ve tried to change some things to get back on track, with the short-term aim of getting to London myself, but I keep getting jogged by minor setbacks. The long-term aim, though, has been learning Japanese and seeing whether I like it over there, with a sense in the back of my mind that I don’t really belong here in England (but then, will I ever feel like I belong anywhere?). Such goals are often feeling impossible, mind you.
Anyway, your old place looks cosy in the photos, and the general awe and atmosphere of Tokyo are bleeding from those shots into my brain. It’s crazy to think of how many other lives are packed behind neighbouring windows, with their own fridge magnets, vacuum cleaners and busted paper doors. I’m glad you managed to get a new place (I don’t know how hard it is over there, but I know friends have struggled to find places in cities over here), and I hope you love it with time. I’m really glad you’re still generally loving it over there, too. Have a good one, anyway.
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