It's the past-time of many a foreigner in Japan - gomi hunting. This involves walking the streets of the big cities looking for discarded items (aka rubbish) that could be put to good use in the home. For example, I had a friend who had three video recorders in his flat - all the fruits of intensive gomi hunting. I asked why he needed three, and he explained that one of them played but didn't rewind or fast-forward, the other rewound but didn't play or fast-forward and the third one fast-forwarded but didn't play or rewind.

If you're ever supping a drink in a gaijin bar, listen in on a conversation between foreigners and before long you're bound to hear them swapping stories about how one of them found a "washing machine like new" or perhaps a "great clock although it only has one hand." So imagine my delight when I recently stumbled on this little gold mine in downtown Osaka - a van AND a whole bunch of clothes and other things. I'm happy to report that most of the clothes fit really well, and the van drives like a dream.

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