Child's play

On the second Sunday I was in Japan I moved to my second home stay. It is near 北千住駅(Kitasenju station) in the north-east part of Tokyo. The husband Tetsu Yoshimura picked me up at the station and together we went to their house. Both Kitasenju and Musashi-Koyama is so-called 下町(Shitamachi) which literally means downtown areas. Shitamachi in Tokyo are labyrinth like areas with tightly packed houses and extremely small roads with only room for one narrow car. There are rarely any skyscrapers and they have a cozy kind of feeling to them if you like that kind of thing.
At home I was welcomed by the wife Rieko Yoshimura and their two dogs. It wasn't the first time the Yoshimuras had foreigners visit their home and I felt very welcome. Where my first home stay family owned a very new, clean and minimalistic decorated house the Yoshimuras have an older darker house filled with all sorts of stuff they have collected over the years. It reminds me very much of my old high school friend Lars' house in Nordrup, so I feel very much at home.


Tetsu and Reiko Yoshimura

The quick-eyed may already have noticed from the picture that the Yoshimuras has an additional family member I haven't mentioned yet: Chucky. Yes, they are the proud owners of a real size Chucky doll who lives in their living room - and I mean LIVES. He comes complete with facial scars, a knife and some mean comments if you push his buttons. 怖い～(Scaaaary). Fortunately I was able to get my hands on a Pi-po-kun doll, which is the mascot of the Japanese police and I have given it to the Yoshimuras to keep a leash on Chucky.