Another brilliant piece from a GUNNAS WRITING MASTERCLASS WRITER
There is nothing random or out of place in a Japanese dwelling. There is little storage space and there is certainly no clutter now that Marie Kondo has taken hold across the country. Everything has a place and a correct order. Life must be orderly.
The smallness and storage efficiency of an IPod appeals, as does the ability to plug in and listen in gracious isolation when commuting. The device creates a neat barrier that separates one from the surrounding environment. The familiarity of selected music on a crowded shinkansen can lull one to sleep. Heads down, no need to make eye contact. Peas in a pod. And then two schoolchildren sitting across the aisle from me, one earbud each attached to a sleek purple IPod between them, begin to bicker. I have never seen such disorderly behaviour in Japanese children, and certainly not on a train. Other passengers begin to take note and the sleepers awake. The Japanese trait of following instructions and not interfering looks set to be upended on this occasion.
The dispute has been caused by the IPod. It is on shuffle, playing a selection of music over which neither child has any control. Out of order, and therefore very untidy. Tracks are being pulled out of its storage at random. A distressing experience for Kondo kids. The IPod is switched off suddenly and put away in a school satchel, and the children gaze out the carriage window as an orderly silence descends once again.