During a speech in Tokyo this week, South Korea’s Ambassador to Japan Yun Duk-min said his country is eager to join the G7 after joining last weekend’s summit as a guest country. Haruki Murakami won this year's Princess of Asturias Award for Literature in Spain, while 11 year-old Kunzaburo Yuno from Oita won a special prize at the Children's Nonfiction Literature Awards in Kitakyushu. And finally, a painting of victims who suffered the Minamata poisonings more than 6 decades ago has now been restored. With Shunsuke Imai's painting exhibition titled “Skirt and Scene” taking place at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery near Hatsudai, we skirt from Shinjuku to Hatsudai and then beyond, taking note of sight and sounds from the local neighbourhood as we ride the local bus towards Shibuya. — Substack: notebookpodcast.substack.com Instagram: @notebook_pod Twitter: @notebook_pod — Get in touch: notebook.podcast@gmail.com Leave a message: speakpipe.com/notebook —