Now I’ve got an inkling why everyone went so blossom crazy here last week.

In its way Japan can be as beautiful in the rain, of course. You get shades of green here I’ve never seen anywhere else.

But, just like when it happens in the UK, sometimes there’s nothing else you can do but load up on good stuff to read and wait it out.

Left and centre are by someone whose work I’m rapidly becoming obsessed with: Shigeru Mizuki. On the right is the gorgeous Japanese edition of Uzumaki, by Junji Ito, which I recommended on TBM here.