This is an old entry of my log on 21 July 2008.
One day in 2002, I was on my way back to the city where I stay, stopping over in Tokyo. I took the Airport Limousine to Shinagawa Prince, and on the way, the bus stopped by Laforet in Shinagawa, before stopping at the Prince. I had been to Japan for so many times that I thought I should get used to the scenary of this country and should not have profound feeling when encountering something new. I had this thought many times but each time I was proven to be wrong. Every time I met with something of my taste in Japan, be it a new thing or a familiar experience, I had that refreshing feeling. Laforet, again, gave me the refreshment I longed for. Probably I was awaken after a brief nap which I always did whenever I sat inside a limousine bus to downtown Tokyo. I saw a couple of bellboys, welders and disciplined, picking up luggages for their clients at Laforet. What a beautiful moment! The yellowish light at the entrance that appeared to glow exceptionally bright, accompanied by the darkening sky with the fiery purplish hue, presented the best picture of the working bellboys. I was not sure what this hotel was, but not long after this moment, my memory put this picture away. All I had perhaps was a faint memory of the word Laforet. Time flies, and 6 years later, I again planned my trip to Japan of this year. I haven't gone to Japan this year because of the honeymoon for which I chose France. The autumnal temperament made a sojourn to Japan inevitable and irresistible. Except one in the early 1990s in which I was a college student, my trips to Japan were never budget ones. I am never thrifty when coming to enjoying the best of Japan. I am not particularly financially better off, but I think that whenever affordable, I should enable my heart and soul to be touched by the essence of Japan without disturbance. One way to achieve this is to make peace of mind a first place. I do not need to worry about transportation, accommodation, food, books and sightseeing arrangements. So I would choose the best that I can afford. One day when I was browsing on the Net for hotel information, the picture of the Laforet bellboys at dusk was suddenly retrieved from the archives and it gave me the comforting moment as strong and alive as when in 2002 I actually saw them. The actual substance of this moment remains somewhat beyond verbal description, but the desirability and comfort drawn on the picture I recalled and the Japan I know definitely played an important part here. I decided to look for Laforet and my memories were correct. Can I really experience Laforet this time? From a commuting perspective, it is not truly a desirable place. Laforet is located in Shinagawa, a short distance from the JR station. Although Shinagawa is not comparable with Shinjuku, Shibuya or Ikebukuro, if trendy nightlife is your goal, it has certain attractiveness to me, so to speak, for it is still on the Yamanote Line and Shinjuku and Shibuya are only a couple of stations away. But Shinagawa is far subtler in the sense that the chances of meeting those loud people from the city where I stay would be much lower, and it has also some historical significance not far from that which you would find in Shinjuku, Ginza or Tokyo Marunouchi.
I don't know what else to say...but I am certain that the reality created by, if you will, the Laforet experience, would be an enjoyable one - it is a pursuit of happiness, serious and far from frivolous, stretching the amplitude of life, in what I believe is the highest level of human living. That evening, alone and tranquil, was a moment and it was eternity.
