When I review my pictures of Japan, I find a lot of them are pictures of people in small rooms taken without a flash. Despite the physical intimacy imposed by a constant lack of space I find Japan to be one of the least intimate countries in the world. In my experience, one must carve out a sense of belonging and home in Japan—especially as a foreigner.

For this reason it makes me happy to think that I've got people I can instantly pick up a conversation and feel comfortable with on the other side of the Pacific. Jesse (pictured right) I have already briefly introduced you to in one of his poorer moments. Akiko (pictured left) I have known now going on six years.

She and I had met when I was barely 20 years old and had been sent to Japan by my employer to help salvage a potentially large engineering project that wasn't going well. Akiko and I spent 18 hours of every day for more than two months trying to make things go right. I felt as though I was on board the International Space Station and we were orbiting the moon. I think in all the time that I spent in Japan, I had two weekends off and a vacation back to the United States for the forth of July. Our relationship being forged and in tempered in the hellfires of unreasonable computer engineering project expectations, she has become one of my closest friends living abroad today.

Since college, Jesse has been one of my closest friends living anywhere. When the three of us get together in Japan there is a tendency to have such a ridiculously good time together that we tend to feel depressed the next day. The depression could have something to do with all the booze and the multiple-days worth of sleep deprivation too, I suppose.