The Tokyo humidity got to my little iPod, Rick James. He found his new pastel blue silicon unitard wasn't as breathable as he had originally hoped, so I threw it in the wash for him. Awww.

Let this post mark the beginning of an in-depth study of a curioiusly striking point of Asian v. Western cultural difference. First, some background:

When I stepped off the plane exactly ten months ago, things in Japan smelled differently to me than anything I'd smelled before. I imagine this fact should come as no suprise to any level of seasoned traveler. Anyway, to my nostrils the smell is neither bad nor good; since that first epic day I've come to know it fondly as "Asian Body Aroma" (though probably more correct would be the region-specific "Tokyo Body Aroma." It's alright, just different to the western nose. Sixty percent of the time it works all the time.

There are many derivations of what shall heretofore be known as TBA. Some of them are delicious, and some of them are undeniably wretched. I imagine this could be said of any BA, really. But I will not mince words; TBA has evolved some pretty powerful strains, strains that manifest themselves most prominently in any sort of confined/sealed/cramped/unventilated public venue. I spend most of my waking hours in public (or at least publicly accessible) venues graced with at least one such glorious adjective, so I am as aware of its presence as any other foreign city dweller.

On what might initially seem to be an unrelated note, public bathrooms suck. I mean, really. And when one must bounce all day from one publicly accessible venue to another, the desire to avoid moldy-smelling bathrooms, added to the desire to avoid squatting and the desire to not endanger one's weak-seamed Japanese trousers* sometimes overrides the natural urge to pee. After repeated supression of this urge, one logically and eventually begins to targed the source itself, namely water. Thus one begins to drink less and less, leading to dehydration.

These experiences of mine led me, a few months back, to hypothesize that most of Tokyo's population is likely underhydrated on a daily basis. So far I've done only cursory and inconclusive research . . . for example, I don't even know if "underhydrated" is a word. However, I've convinced a few friends that my hypothesis has validity. And thus, I'm off to turn it into a theory. Wish me godspeed.

*see "Embarassing Stories For Another Day"