Reading at restaurant -Afternoon on the Islands of Langerhans-　Haruki Murakami

     Young people's magazines often feature special sections with titles like "City Life and Beyond," but to be honest, I often feel that they are not very useful for people who actually want to live comfortably in the city. For example, when you're on a date with a girl and she suddenly says at 3:30 pm at the Roppongi intersection, "I need to go to the bathroom...," these kinds of magazines never write about where to take her. You have to find this kind of practical information on your own by exploring on foot and committing it to memory, which can be quite a hassle, but if you diligently engage in this type of footwork, your life will sometimes flow surprisingly smoothly and easily.

It's also important to secure a few good cafes with a pleasant atmosphere and no music playing. When you've been walking around in crowds and your mood is starting to get jumbled, finding an oasis-like cafe and drinking a slow coffee can help calm your mind. It's also convenient to know about these kinds of cafes when you need to have an important conversation with someone. Instead of yelling, "Hey, listen, do you want to do something this Sunday?" over Stevie Wonder's "Part-Time Lover," you can have a more civilized conversation in a chic cafe. While there are plenty of trendy cafes around, quiet ones are hard to come by if you suddenly need to find one, so knowing about them can be surprisingly helpful.

When you want to read a book in town, the best place is definitely a restaurant in the afternoon. Find a quiet, bright, spacious restaurant with comfortable chairs. It's also good to have a kind restaurant that won't give you a hard time if you only order wine and a light appetizer. When you have some free time in town, buy a book at a bookstore and read it while sipping white wine. It's a very luxurious and enjoyable experience. It seems like it would fit really well with reading Chekhov. These kinds of tips for small, simple living aren't taught by anyone or published in information magazines. You have to acquire them through trial and error on your own, so in that sense, living in Tokyo is not so different from living on the snowy plains of Greenland.