The Battle against Anti-Slack or The Neighbor has Karoshii

The house I rent in our slightly run-down East
Osaka neighborhood with a quaint 'shotengai'
(shopping street) with little food stands, groceries,
and kim-chee shops is owned by a rich couple
who live in traditional merchant's house behind
a wooden wall which conceals their Japanese garden.
We found our house through the daughter-in-law, a
dedicated 'education mother' who actually moved
to Australia over a year ago just so she could send
her three sons to international school on the Gold
Coast. I was asked to proofread her pleadings to
the director of the school to admit her 'clever'
sons and apparently that and the advanced fees did
the job.

The father and son of our landlord was the success
story - he was a managing engineer for a high-profile
Japanese overseas development project (think something
like the Three Gorges Dam) in Asia. He had been living
in that country for three years, seeing the family only
once or twice a year, and working under deadlines and
the pressure that such a project demands. Early this
year something went wrong, a deadline was missed, he
was blamed and he quite simply cracked up. Quit or
dismissed or given leave I'm not sure. Anyway he is
back at the parents place around the corner, refusing
even to talk to his wife or sons in Australia.

Anyway the wife (and my wife too) have asked me
repeatedly to go over there and try and coax him out
and do something together, anything, like go for a
walk or a drink or a bike ride, anything. I e-mailed
him an invitation and he declined with a typical
Japanese apology. Finally, after repeated urgings
from both wives, I went over and rang the bell at the
gate of the family compound. To my surprise he actually
came out into the garden and opened the door. He looked
thin and drawn, like a Katrina survivor, but he smiled
and thanked me for coming over. He said no, he couldn't
come out. I invited him to do something, anything, that
I was here if he wanted to talk. He said sure, but I
knew he wouldn't. He closed the gate and went back to
his bad trip. The Beast really had him in its claws and
nothing I said or offered was going to release him from
it.

I later heard he had agreed to go to Australia in July.
This was a big improvement but it will be make or break
time as the wife had hinted at a divorce if he didn't come.
I wish I could fly him out to X-Day instead. Only that
could save him (or put him out of his misery) at this point
in time. The conspiracy of Work is nefarious and many faceted.
I sicked out on Friday, got on my bike and checked out my
favorite places in Osaka, got a haircut, ate at a grilled
skewered meat palace, checked out the brothel district, and
felt all the better for it. More slack!