Jeepney Press/Dennis Sun

Editorial

by Dennis Sun

Today, I woke up at 4:00am. I thought I was just going to the toilet to relieve myself quickly so I could go back to sleep, but nature had other plans. When I looked outside the veranda and saw the beautiful breaking of dawn and a stunning sunrise (see the photo), I decided to go out and do my early morning walk for an hour around my neighborhood, and then proceeded to the gym for another hour of workout. I went back home and took a cold shower. While checking my email, I laid down in bed and rested in my bedroom.

Suddenly, my ears picked up some strange noises. My morning walk took me past a cemetery earlier, and I even saw a black cat passed by, so perhaps some sociable spirits must have followed me. My next thought was that the noise was coming from either upstairs or downstairs. However, as the sound grew louder, it became more disturbing. The sound came from inside the house. I opened the door and I saw a strange figure of a man moving right inside the living room, messing with my already disorderly things on the shelves. I have felt, heard, smelled and seen ghosts before, but never have I seen one so real and alive as this. It was not a ghost I see, but a real human being right inside the living room. Now I wonder which is scarier: a ghost or a real human being you don't know inside your house? I realized then it must be a burglar? Here in Japan? In my place? I was in a state of shock! He looked like a hobbit with Albert Einstein's hairdo. My adrenaline surged up and I shouted at him at the top of my voice in Japanese to scare him, "Who are you?! What are you doing here?!!"

Morning scene from my veranda

Photo by Dennis Sun

While I was panicking, freaking out, and shouting at him to distract him, I was also contacting the police on my mobile phone. This is multi-tasking at its finest! On the other hand, he wasn't moving and was so calm and composed. He seemed a bit different. He wasn't physically aggressive and didn't even try to run away. I slowly noticed there was something wrong inside his head. He told me he lives here and even advised me to leave and escape before the police shows up to catch me.

About 5 minutes after notifying them, the police officers arrived one by one. Seven policemen came, and were interrogating him, but he seemed out of touch with reality, as if he were living in a different world. Finally, they brought him to the police station. Less than an hour later, one of the police officers came back and informed me that the guy already had a record with the police. He actually lives two floors downstairs in the building with his elderly parents. He does have a mental illness but is generally harmless and poses no threat to those around him.

Come to think about it, I now felt sorry for how I treated him. In retrospect, maybe I should have been gentler and kinder. Moreover, I do not intend to press any charges of trespassing. I suspect his parents are already in their 80's or 90's and finding it difficult to deal with him, let alone their advancing years.

Oh, well. It's only 9:00am. And the morning isn't over yet. I wonder what is in store after lunch.

Over the past 30 years of living in Japan, I have never locked the door at night, even when I went to bed. However, this occurred during the day when I was already awake. I couldn't even imagine this would happen to me in Japan. I have lost my wallet and other things outside many times in the past in Japan and ended up finding them. I still believe Japan is a safe place. But things do change... somehow. It's the small things in life that often have bigger consequences. Simple lesson of the story: just lock the door. And the irrefutable lesson of life: The sunrise and sunset will always remain beautiful no matter what happens. However, despite what happened today, I still look forward to watching and witnessing the golden sunset later this evening after shooting and savoring the early morning sunrise this morning.

Dennis Sun

Editor-in-chief / Creative Director