I was in the Japanese bookshop the other day, looking for a couple of books for Lime’s friend who majored in Japanese lit. That was a pretty odd experience… the girls who helped me spoke very little English, and I ended up saying, “New? Woman or man? Award? Okay!” and getting two books that way.
While I was there, I checked out their extremely decent little SF-section, when I noted that there was no William Gibson in the SF section. I found myself surprised, but only for a moment. I guess a lot of the allure of his Nipponese sf-fantasies is probably lost on people living in the real, actual Japan.
But here I am in a Japanese airport, connecting to what we really do call cyberspace nowadays, and I can’t help but think of old William Gibson.
And whoops, I am a dingle-head; I ought to have gotten my friend Marvin some of those comic books while I was in the shop… but the manga section was outright bewildering and I didn’t seem able to get much help. Something I’ve learned is that shopping for Japanese stuff is much easier online than in person.
Anyway, the boarding call seems to have been made since all the impatient Koreans are lined up. Guess I should fold up this little machine and get ready to board.