INTOUCH Magazine

From the Ashes

“The fire trucks are here,” my wife said as she shook me awake.

“We have to go!” I could tell it was serious by the alarm in her voice. It was 1 o’clock in the morning on August 8.

COMMUNITY | VOICE

Jet-lagged and barely an hour into my first visit to Tokyo, I wandered into the HMV record store in Ginza. It was 1997.

I found myself flicking through jazz CDs. It was a sort of antidote to the time-difference delirium and a connection to home in England, where I was a frequent visitor to music shops.

COMMUNITY | VOICE

Drawing a Blank

What do you mean leave it blank?” I incredulously asked my art teacher as we sat in the grounds of a tranquil temple outside Tokyo.

I was sketching a garden of spider lilies and stone statues. Having finished the main subjects, I wanted to fill the rest of the page with clouds, birds, trees and more. Why stop when I had so many colors with which to work?

COMMUNITY | VOICE

Savored Moments

It was January 2019 when I lit up my first cigar at the Club.

I was following that time-honored tradition of smoking a cigar to celebrate the birth of a child. In my case, it was the arrival of my grandson, Leo.

COMMUNITY | VOICE

My Beachfront Canvas

The kids grimaced as we pushed open the peeling door and brushed aside the overgrown plants enveloping the small side yard.

Inside, the house was dusty, stale, dark and empty, other than a couple of skittering funamushi sea roaches. But even with the prospect of creatures inside, I was excited. My teenagers less so.

COMMUNITY | VOICE

The Power of Community

As my office shook and swayed around me, I huddled under my desk.

It was 2:46 on the afternoon of March 11, 2011, and the strongest recorded earthquake in Japanese history had just erupted off the northeast coast of Honshu.