Going on a Bear Hunt

#16 Not every lesson has to be profound…

Posted on 27/04/2011 by Nell

The band Orbital took their name from the newly built M25 that enabled party goers to easily get to impromptu raves around the home counties in the early to mid ’80s.

Posted in General Meanderings | 1 Comment

#15 Sometimes not volunteering is the toughest choice

Posted on 25/04/2011 by Nell

I said in my post of a few days ago that society is stronger than we think, and that when a disaster like The Great Tohoku Earthquake occurs people of all backgrounds come together to help, and I stand by that, but I think that it comes with a caveat.

Of course people want to help, and they want to relieve suffering where they find it, but so often they want to help on their own terms and for reasons that are not as altruistic as they would have you to believe. They want to go rushing into disaster areas and carry small children out on their backs to the adulation of those watching; they want glory and they want adoration.

I have strong doubts as to whether true altruism exists[1], and I am pretty sure that all of the volunteers in Tohoku are getting something out of what they are doing even if all they are getting is a boost to their self-regard. But if you asked volunteers to only help if they were doing it from the purest of altruistic reasons, no one would go. Sometimes people do good things for less than perfect reasons, but they are still good things.

For the most part, the volunteers conducting relief efforts in Tohoku are acting with care and consideration. Perhaps they are getting something out of it, but they are being careful to ensure that the needs of those they are helping are in the forefront of their minds at all times.

I have been in contact with Peace Boat, an NGO based in Japan but with operations around the world. When the earthquake struck on March 11th, the Peace Boat left Christchurch in New Zealand and by March 14th relief efforts were up and running in Tohoku. I have been very impressed with the organisation. Rather than swinging in like Tarzan and doing what they think the people should want, they put emphasis on working with the locals to find out what they need and to supply what they are asking for. It is a humble form of volunteering.

As one of their overarching remits is to build international relationships, they also actively encourage the participation of foreign nationals. It is for this reason I was attracted to them: I want to go to Tohoku and volunteer, but the last thing I wanted was to get in the way with my horrible Japanese and require someone to look after me at all times; it struck me as a criminal waste of resources. Peace Boat have convinced me that there is a way for me to help and a solid argument for doing so, they have bilingual team leaders and they encourage foreign participation. They are well aware that shovelling foul piles of stinking mud doesn’t require any Japanese language ability, but that being out in the community helping can build links that last generations.

I attended a meeting last night where I learned a lot about Peace Boat and their activities, and one of the things I learned was that they are overrun with volunteers. They have so many that they wish to expand their operations to cover three more towns. But there is a problem: man power isn’t enough: you also need equipment. There are a lot of things volunteers are expected to take themselves, from tents to dust masks, but there are things they cannot supply. Trivial sounding things, like not having enough bin bags, can rapidly become serious problems. There are enough volunteers to expand, and Peace Boat have the infrastructure to do so, but they just don’t have the money for the supplies that such an army of willing helpers requires.

And this brings me back round to altruism, because as soon as they said this, it was obvious that the atmosphere in the room sank. Shoulders slumped and a few people got up and left. You could practically hear them thinking “they just want fundraisers? Well I’m not doing that, I want to make a difference!”. It would be dishonest of me to imply something similar didn’t flit across my mind, but, like almost everyone else, I stayed for the event brainstorming session afterwards. It was a good session and a lot of good ideas came out of it, the goodwill recovered and you could feel people getting excited again.

Ever since the earthquake we have been asked not to rush to Tohoku alone. Don’t go without the support of an organisation, don’t go unprepared and with no idea what you will find or what to do when you get there, don’t get in the way and don’t put yourself at risk and need rescuing yourself – you will take resources away from those that need it and the people will end up worse off than if you’d stayed at home and done nothing.

There have been some food and supplies drives but, again, the message is mostly “don’t”. The NGOs have the infrastructure and contacts to buy huge quantities of the right supplies at greatly discounted rates. If you donate a tin of food, it will probably not be the food that is needed and, if it is, it will cost them money to send to the affected area. If you donate what it cost you to buy that tin, they can use that money to buy 10 more at wholesale rates, including delivery.

The rules are simple: if you want to donate – give money; if you want to volunteer – go with an NGO, arrive well-equipped and self-sufficient and do as you are told. Be humble. Don’t get in the way.

Yet, stories continue to stream in of “heroic” foreigners going it alone to do what they can. The press reinforce these ideas by lauding these irresponsible individuals.

After the meeting, I got chatting to a lady: it was a depressing conversation. I was appalled when she told me that she was frustrated that she couldn’t go with Peace Boat because they were fully booked for the only dates she was available, and so she thought she’d go alone.

She sat through the whole evening, she nodded along when they said don’t go without an organisation, she heard them appeal for help fundraising in Tokyo – a job that can be done at weekends and fitted around work – and STILL she planned to ignore all of that and go by herself. It is hard to interpret that as an altruistic act. That is a selfish irresponsible act of attention-seeking self aggrandisement. There are large numbers of good people doing genuinely heroic things, and yet always there is a substantial minority who insist on ignoring the advice and making things worse.

I have registered as a volunteer and in a few weeks time I will board the Peace Boat transport to Ishinomaki: I want to jump on my white charger, I want to claw through rubbish with my bare hands, I want to clear vast areas and rebuild people’s homes. I want to shyly smile while the locals thank me for my near super-human efforts. I know full well it won’t be like that, and yet staying at home feels less important; fundraising isn’t exciting and trying to wring money out of people is unglamorous and demoralising. For now, though, perhaps staying in Tokyo and doing the jobs no one else wants is the better thing to do?

Donate to Peace Boat in Tohoku here.

1. This is not the place for the debate.

Posted in Personal, Tohoku Earthquake | Leave a comment

#14: Mothballing your blog will make you think of things to write about.

Posted on 22/04/2011 by Nell

It turns out I do have something to get strident about on the internet, and I should have known really, this close to only the second referendum to cover the whole UK in the history of our parliament, that AV would be a topic I would have something to say about.

It is mostly settled that the majority of citizens of the UK view our society as a democracy, and wish for it to remain as one. If we want to be a democracy, it seems likely that we want to be the best democracy we can be, so the question up for debate here is which out of AV and FPTP is the most democratic? Before we can get into that, it seems we have to define “democracy” as both campaigns[1] have warped it almost to breaking point to fit their rhetoric, so here’s the answer from Google’s dictionary:

de·moc·ra·cy
noun /diˈmäkrəsē/
democracies, plural

1. A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives

2. A state governed in such a way

3. Control of an organization or group by the majority of its members

4. The practice or principles of social equality

I’ll refine that for this discussion into “control of the state by the majority of its members, via elected representatives”.

But now we need another definition, because it seems that, although both camps largely agree over my definition of “democracy”, we have a problem when it comes to the word “majority”. Again, from Google:

ma·jor·i·ty
noun /məˈjôrətē/ /-ˈjär-/
majorities, plural

1. The greater number

2. The number by which votes for one candidate in an election are more than those for all other candidates combined

3. The number by which the votes for one party or candidate exceed those of the next in rank

4. A party or group receiving the greater number of votes

5. The age when a person is legally considered a full adult, in most contexts either 18 or 21

6. The rank or office of a major

The problem here lies with which definition you take; proponents of AV choose definition 2, but those who favour FPTP choose 1. This seems like a semantic debate, but it is fundamental to the whole question. All the other nitpicking, all the lies and misinformation, the rhetoric and the hyperbole, all of it is irrelevant until you have figured out which of these is the best definition for majority.

For me, the answer is definition 2. Going back to our Google definitions for democracy, social equality and giving a voice to the whole population are important factors. A voting system isn’t democratic if you pick a definition for “majority” that actually leaves most people with a representative they don’t want.

If you have two similar choices then, under FPTP, the vote can be split, allowing a third quite different and less favoured option to win. Think Kittens vs Cadbury’s vs Galaxy with the score 44% vs 37% vs 19% – it looks like a stonking victory for Kittens (as indeed it was when Maggie Thatcher got in with those numbers in 1979), but actually, the votes for chocolate (or, in our real world example, left leaning parties), are greater and the majority of voters are left disenfranchised. In 1979, given the extreme nature of many of her policies, it’s quite likely that majority (definition 1) of voters were actually quite strongly opposed to having Thatcher as PM, but because of the greater choice, they split and were silenced.

There is, and has been for a long time, a strong liberal/left lean in the British political landscape but, because of FPTP, the power has stayed mostly with conservatives. This is compounded because liberal policies tend to encourage free thought and rebellion, where conservative ones tend toward uniformity – the clue is in the name. It is demonstrable that innovative free thinking and choice are better for society in the long term, but by their very nature they are fluid and fall into factions, leaving them vulnerable to the more disciplined right. The solution to this problem is to let people transfer their vote to a lower choice party for whom they have some sympathy if their first choice is knocked out.

I’m going to tackle the lies and misinformation coming from both campaigns in a later post, but let’s get this straight once and for all, right here right now: this is NOT a second vote.

If you order Heineken and it’s off and so you choose Carling instead, you don’t have two pints in front of you at the end and you aren’t delighted that you got to have two goes at picking; nor are those around you who got their first choice jealous of your success. You will be happier than if you hadn’t got a beer at all, but that’s as far as it goes.

The only people for whom voting no on May 5th is the rational choice are Conservative voters who, and this is important, will vote Conservative at every opportunity for the rest of their lives, and parties with minority view-points who can scrape in with a very small proportion of the vote under FPTP[2].

Here’s this post in easily digestible form:

A lot more than half of the people of the UK wish to live in a democracy
It is highly likely that more than half of those people wish their democracy to be the best possible
Democracy is “control of the state by the majority of its members, via elected representatives”
Equality and a voice for every member are important factors in a functioning democracy
Majority can mean either “the greater number” or “the number by which votes for one candidate in an election are more than those for all other candidates combined”.
If the former definition is chosen, this often suppresses the voice of more than half the population
Any voting system that suppresses the voice of its voters is less democratic than one that does not
Therefor, FPTP is less democratic than AV

Here’s a chart to help you decide how to vote. This is all you really need to think about, the rest is peripheral noise:

If you are a Conservative voter, and you want to vote No, then that is your choice and it is a rational one, but be honest with yourself about your motivation; you aren’t doing it because FPTP is fairer, you’re doing it because you want to keep your party in power.

PS I think the blog may be out of the mothballs again for at least a little while. It seems there may be a significant Bearhunt around the corner and, if so, there will be stuff to share for at least a few more weeks.

1. I am no fan of the Yes campaign either.

2. Some Labour voters seem to think FPTP is benefiting their party, but that is a short-sighted view that only takes into account the last 15 years or so. If you look further back, it vastly favours Conservatives and is likely to do so again for the foreseeable future. Labour voters voting no really are turkeys voting for Christmas.

Posted in Politics | Leave a comment

Don’t say goodbye, say au revoir

Posted on 12/04/2011 by Nell

I have mentioned a couple of times that I felt I was running out of blogging steam and, since March 11th, getting all strident on the internet hasn’t seemed so important. I’m not so foolish as to say “never” but, for now, I’m mothballing Bearhunt*.

The whole premise of this blog was that you would travel along with me as I tackled some big and scary changes in my life, but it seems the scary bit has been and gone and now I am into the rather more mundane phase of just getting on with my life in Japan. I’m not the mundane type though, and I’m already starting to feel the need for adventure creeping up on me so, should I embark on another expedition after bear, I will unwrap the dust sheet and bring you along with me.

*Team Lost in Train-Station did successfully complete the Yamathon on Saturday in a time of 11 hours and 1 minute (goddammit!) and I will probably post some pictures up here once I get my mits on them, so there will be one more post before I pack my keyboard away for good.

Posted in Personal | 2 Comments

#13 Society is stronger than we think

Posted on 05/04/2011 by Nell

When something like the earthquake (it’s already being called “the great earthquake”) of March 11th happens, politicians and the press are always quick to tell us people are panicking, we must be afraid of looters and that they can’t tell us the truth because if we find it out, we’ll panic and more will die.

I simply do not believe that to be true. Sure, desperate and hungry people in Haiti broke into derelict shops to get at the food inside that would otherwise have been wasted, but is that really “looting”? And, yes, occasional scuffles break out by the sides of supply trucks over the meagre quantities of food and water available whenever something like this occurs, but is that really “rioting”? Meanwhile, we hear stories of people in shelters with one rice ball and a quater of a sausage per day, while they wait for more food to arrive, but they aren’t fighting over the small supply – they are pulling together to get everyone through to when more supplies will arrive. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of people sitting quietly and patiently in shelters waiting for help to arrive isn’t as newsworthy as the small minority who have let their understandably strong emotions briefly get the better of them, and so that is the story we hear.

I have heard many people say that the extraordinarily calm response from the Japanese people is down to their unusual psyche. I actually find that a somewhat racist attitude. It is a sort of positive discrimination founded on the belief that “they” are different from “us” but promulgated in a PC world where to give that difference a negative slant is frowned upon. So we go out of our way to make it a positive difference, completely missing the point that it is still highlighting a perceived difference for which there is no evidence and born of our tribal and divisive instinct. We are getting the calm narrative this time because Japan is so well connected to the internet that there are videos and photos everywhere and the press can’t control the narrative the way they could with Haiti or China. The only thing extraordinary about the Japanese psyche is how similar it is to every other human psyche in the world.

During the second world war, people in London faced with the horrors of the blitz pulled together; the communities forged in the heat of those fires lasted long after the battles had stopped. Everywhere a group is threatened, the instinctive response is to come together and work for each other. Every time there is a major disaster, NGOs are tripping over well-meaning volunteers. Sadly, they usually end up hampering the recovery, but their instinct wasn’t to take advantage or to profit, it was to help in whatever way they could.

Japan isn’t unusual in this, it is in all of us everywhere.

And so, somehow, and without really being sure how it happened, I appear to have signed up to do the Yamathon this Saturday in order to raise money for Oxfam’s tsunami relief effort.

It’s short notice, and there’s no provision for setting up online sponsorship, but if you wanted to sponsor me, drop me a line and I’m sure we can figure out a way.

We have to take photos at every station along the way, so I’m sure a blog post detailing my adventure will appear at some point in the next few weeks.

Posted in Personal, Tohoku Earthquake, Travel | 1 Comment

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!*

Posted on 16/03/2011 by Nell

**UPDATE 17th March 12.00**

Outlets like the Guardian are reporting the FCO are recommending British residents leave Tokyo because of radiation fears. This irresponsible journalism is utterly incorrect fear mongering rubbish. Pay no attention. The truth is that the FCO have recommended we leave because of power, transport and food supply disruptions to Tokyo, there is NO RISK from radiation in the capital. I am now installed in Osaka and flying to London on Saturday under my own steam. I have no intention of staying in the UK for more than 2 weeks; this remains a business trip and I intend to be back in Tokyo on April 4th.

—-
Don’t listen to the press. Reports of zombies roaming the streets of Tokyo are exaggerated[1].

Here’s my understanding of the current situation:

Things at Fukushima are very bad indeed. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if at least one reactor, probably all three (and possibly even all six spent fuel pools as well) went into full melt down. I have no doubts whatsoever that the three reactors that were online at the time of the quake and the spent fuel in reactor 4, which wasn’t, have already partially melted and with all personel evacuated from the site, this is very far from under control and will probably continue to get worse for some time to come. That said, this is and will always be a comparatively local problem.

Increased radiation (about 40 times normal background levels) was detected in Tokyo yesterday and again this morning, but to put this into perspective, anyone hopping on a plane in panic probably got 30 times more radiation from the flight than they would have received staying put.

The British embassy sent out the minutes of a meeting last night were they talked for a long time and very frankly with some industry experts. It seems a 30 Km evac zone is enough even if all 6 reactors blow up, catch fire and belch smoke for weeks with the wind blowing hard straight for the nearest town – the half life of the radiation is short enough that harmful levels just can’t get that far. Apparently 30 Km would have been enough even at Chernobyl, and the reason so many people were made sick there was because they consumed contaminated food and water for months afterwards. So, basically, it’s a very bad situation, but there’s no need to worry about the radiation risk to Tokyo.

I have headed out of town and am now in a hotel in Osaka and I’m flying to London on Saturday. My reasons are largely practical – rolling blackouts make lab work impossible, so I’ve brought forward a visit to a collaborator who has some lab space I can borrow at UCL, so I can at least carry on with some work while things stabilise – and with continued aftershocks and travel disruptions in Tokyo it made sense to fly out of Osaka rather than Narita. I also feel that, as I have somewhere to go, I should absent myself and my power consumption for a week or two so it can go to those that need it.

That said, I did panic a little yesterday when the first radiation reports came through and headed to Osaka sooner than planned. As all the non-smoking rooms were taken and I’m now sucking up other peoples stale carcinogens for 48 hours, I doubt there’s been any health benefit, but the constant aftershocks in Tokyo do get on your nerves after a while and they have been working their way closer as the stresses equalise along the fault line. We had a couple of quite big ones yesterday and, although nothing close to Friday’s, all in all, I do feel a bit happier in Osaka, even if that is mostly superstition.

I’ll keep my eye out for zombies and I’m toting my trusty baseball bat[4], but I don’t anticipate meeting more than usual.

1. Zeiga counters show rates to be 40 times above background levels, but this is not enough to cause immediate harm to human health[2].

2. That term always increases my anxiety rather than decreasing it, implying, as it does, that whatever the threat is poses an immediate risk to organisms other than humans[3] and poses a long-term risk to humans.

3. ZOMBIE DOGS!

4. Go for the head, you have to destroy the brain.

* too soon?

Posted in Personal, Tohoku Earthquake | Leave a comment

#12 Life goes on for those that can: there isn’t really an alternative.

Posted on 13/03/2011 by Nell

13/03 8.30 pm

There is now no doubt that there has been at least a partial meltdown of Fukushima Daiichi reactor 1 and probably reactor 3 as well. A hydrogen explosion in reactor 3 similar to that seen in reactor 1 is very likely. So far, reactor 2 seems to be under control, although there are reactors in trouble at Fukushima Daini plant as well making a total of 5 in trouble to varying degrees. The situation remains grave, however, there are signs it may be stabilising and efforts to cover the overheating reactors with sea water seem to be helping and radiation levels are reported to be falling. Fukushima is a long way from Tokyo and, while we’re monitoring the situation closely, we aren’t worried yet.

I have the news on in the background while I’m at home and every so often the earthquake early warning system blongs again, but so far nothing bigger than a bit of a wobble. We have been warned that there is a 70% probability of an aftershock of M7 or greater in the next 3 days though. We’re as prepared as possible, and that’s all we can be.

For some reason, the shelves of the convenience stores are empty of bento. This is odd, because bento has to be eaten on the day – it doesn’t keep. Fruit and veg are remaining stubbornly on the shelves in the supermarkets though and they remain well stocked with other essentials and long shelf-life supplies. I’ve heard rumours of petrol shortages but it’s unclear how much of it is genuine shortage and how much is panic buying.

The tsunami warnings were rescinded for the first time since Friday about 2 hours ago.

Rolling blackouts to cope with the dramatically lowered electricity output are scheduled to start in Tokyo tomorrow and could continue for days, if not weeks. It is unlikely it will be possible to repair the damaged reactors at Daiichi and it will certainly be a long time before either Fukushima plant is online while several other power stations across the region remain offline also. I have my torch, my extra blankets and a good book to keep me occupied, so I shall be fine.

Reports of the increasing death toll continue, interspersed with a few remarkable survival stories. Somehow I can never take comfort from such stories; while obviously happy for the individuals involved, all they serve to do is highlight the vast majority who did not get such lucky escapes. Why thank God for miraculously saving 5 when he allowed 10000 to perish in what must have been a tremendously violent death? I don’t believe for an instant many of those caught in the tsunami “drowned”; it isn’t suffocation that kills you when you are caught in a churning maelstrom of smashed buildings, cars and other wreckage powerful enough to rip a ship in half in seconds.

I went to a lovely park in an area of Tokyo called Kitchijoji today to get away from the 24 hour rolling news for a while. It was a blissful island of normalcy, and the number of people enjoying the warm spring sunshine along with me suggested I was not the only person needing such head space.

It was both strange and somehow comforting to be handed a leaflet outside the convenience store as I walked past on my way home. Life goes on in Tokyo, even as it has been torn apart for so many in the North. It feels odd to be getting on with living as though nothing has happened, but it doesn’t help those who have lost their lives to stop living our own.

Posted in Tohoku Earthquake | Leave a comment

#11 Earthquakes are a bit scary: who knew?!

Posted on 11/03/2011 by Nell

**Update 4 (13/03 11.00 am)** The first rumours of a confirmed meltdown at Fukushima are coming through.

**Update 3 (13/03 09.30 am)** Things continue to be fine in Tokyo, although rolling blackouts are scheduled from tomorrow as there are so many power stations off line. We’re getting an uptick in the number of quakes we feel here and I think it’s because they’re moving South towards Tokyo (and equally North towards Hokkaido of course) as the stress equalises along the fault. The absolute magnitude continues to reduce though. [Correction: apparently that's not how earthquakes work, frequency goes down but not magnitude.]

In the North, however, the situation is far rom ok. The death toll is listed as ~1700, but another ~8000 are listed as missing. Meanwhile, the situation at the Fukushima power plants is worsening and engineers are now using their solution of last resort, which is pumping in sea water to cool the most critical reactor. At least two other reactors are in states of emergency (a technical term which isn’t as scary as it sounds) and a melt down is starting to look very difficult to avoid and may in fact already be underway (not that that has been even mentioned in the press of course). However, this plant is a very different design to Chernobyl and a fire and leak of that scale is very unlikely indeed while prevailing winds are blowing any contaminated air offshore.

I still think it’s important that we remember countries like Haiti and Libya in a situation like this because while Japan does have the resources and external support to cope, their suffering is obscured by the latest news. However, as the scale of the destruction becomes clearer, there are people here who need urgent help and if you would like to donate, the link to do so is here: http://www.redcross.org.uk/japantsunami/?approachcode=68861_blogjapan

**Update 2 (12/03 1 pm)** Home safe. No damage to my apartment. The news reports are harrowing: the tsunami has washed whole towns away, but life in Tokyo is rapidly returning to normal. A few shops are shut, several train lines are still out of action, there’s not much food on the shelves (I’m fine, I have emergency supplies against this eventuality, so I shan’t starve) and we may have rolling power cuts later so as to send spare power to the North where their power stations are offline. We are expecting further aftershocks and there was another major quake 80 miles North of here overnight that may or may not have been connected to the first one, but Japan is well prepared for this sort of thing and rescue and cleanup operations are well underway.

If you want to help financially – don’t. Japan is a first world country with a lot of international help, if you want to send money, send it to a country that needs it more, like Libya.

**Update (11/03 7.30 pm)** JR have announced that they will not be resuming service today, so it looks as though I’m stuck here for tonight. I have accommodation though, and someone to cook for me, so just a minor inconvenience all things considered. Things are much worse elsewhere and the current death toll is around 250.

(11/03 ~5.00 pm) Here’s the gen for those of you who are worried: there was a very large Earthquake but it was about 250 miles away and so, although a bit disturbing, the damage in Tokyo is minor. There are a few fires and the phones and transport links are down and we’re still getting aftershocks every few minutes but there’s no damage where I am. The Tsunami is due to reach us in about 20 mins, but it’s not going to be very big in Tokyo – probably not even detectable. I am a long way inshore and out of danger.

Stand down, AOK

Posted in Tohoku Earthquake | 2 Comments

#10 Activism is a lonely road

Posted on 10/03/2011 by Nell

The biggest challenge facing any campaigner comes not from the people who think you’re wrong, but from the people who’d rather you shut up so they don’t have to think at all.

Here’s an interesting post from John Pilger on why it isn’t the clandestine world of USA “justice” that’s the biggest threat facing Julian Assange right now; it’s the liberals who were prepared to support him only until things got a bit messy and who then couldn’t back away fast enough. The clandestine world of USA justice is scary though…

Personally, I suspect Julian Assange of deliberately making himself a target to deflect attention from others more crucial to the running of the site. I don’t know whether he constructed his unusual persona to assist with that or merely accepted that it made him the best person for the job, but it’s what I would have done if I were in his position. I doubt he expected many of those who pledged undying allegiance in the good times to stick by him when the going got rough, but I bet it’s crossed his mind that it would have been nice if just a few more of them had.

If you want to create real change, it helps to be a bit of a masochist!

Posted in Politics | Leave a comment

#9 Even restaurants should be judged by more than their appearances

Posted on 03/03/2011 by Nell

Today I visited Ganko Ramen, a shop just 10 mins walk from my new apt[1]. It’s an ugly little shop, and by little, I mean tiny. It’s the ground floor of a wedge shaped building “so sharp you could cut your finger on it”, as my dinner companion observed. At the thick end the room is maybe 2.5 metres wide, at the narrow, 60 cms. A bar runs along the length with room for six diners, space is so tight there is a door behind each seat, so you can get out without having to squeeze past anyone.

Ramen comes in one flavour (salt) with a choice of toppings (pork, egg, seaweed, pork and egg, pork and seaweed, seaweed and egg, or all three[2]) and if you ask nicely the chef will give you a bowl of crispy deep fried onion to sprinkle over the top.

The outside looks like a derelict building and the bone hanging on the chain is there to tell you whether they are open or not. Sometimes they don’t open simply because “today the soup is not perfect”.

Ganko means grumpy in Japanese, or taciturn. And it was taciturn… taciturn and perfect.