This is the first open-cemetery I have seen in my life : no gate, no fence around the grave-yard; the normal street just becomes the Aoyama cemetery street and that's it, you walking into the "garden of souls"... It's green, a bit wilder than the city around you can visit from dawn to sunset. Some people do their jogging around the graves, some other do pic-nics during the summer. It's actually a lively place...
I was looking for the grave of François Bonne, a little priest from my aunt/uncle/cousins' region, la Chartreuse (France) who became bishop of Tokyo around 1911, but I couldn't find it i the Gaijin-bochi. It was one century ago...

Who said that market studies were boring ? Last week, to learn more about the French-style bakeries in Japan, I went to the far-away Hadano (one hour by train from Shinjuku by Odakyu line, until Tokaidaigaku-mae station) in order to interview Jinbo-san, the owner of the bakery "Le Lourdes". Me and my colleague have been treated like family, and it was great to listen to the Japanese "pan-ya-san", to learn about his story and his bread, to understand how different the market is between France and Japan.
After tasting the best "pain de mie" ever (without sugar, without oil... only an original making process to transform the flour into the nicest bread), we had a walk into the close fields. Jinbo-san works with local bio-cultivators focusing on organic and natural products. We talked a lot about the French consumption, the Japanese one, the trends, the needs... How couldn't we be touched by these talkative guys, who carry the French flag in their truck ? I give you the image of mutual interest.

最近東京の郊外のパン屋に行きました。日本のパン屋について市場分析をしていますので、オナーに色々聞きたかったです。パン屋さんはとても優しくて、興味深い説明をもらいました。パン屋の後で麦畑を見に行きました。ビオの野菜や麦など見られたし、農耕者とよく話したし、面白い写真を取れました。とても楽しくて、色々な勉強できました。