Discovering Japan

My old friend Marc Weidenbaum, curator and writer of disquiet.com, reminded me, in his latest post, of the value of blogging. So, here I am (again).

Since September, I have been on sabbatical in Japan, working mostly at QUP (International Center for Quantum-field Measurement Systems for Studies of the Universe and Particles) at the KEK accelerator lab in Tsukuba, Japan, and spending time as well at the Kavli IPMU, about halfway into Tokyo from here. Tsukuba is a “science city” about 30 miles northeast of Tokyo, home to multiple Japanese scientific establishments (such as a University and a major lab for JAXA, the Japanese space agency).

Scientifically, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and talking about the topology of the Universe, future experiments to measure the cosmic microwave background, and statistical tools for cosmology experiments. And I was honoured to be asked to deliver a set of lectures on probability and statistics in cosmology, a topic which unites most of my research interests nowadays.

Japan, and Tsukuba in particular, is a very nice place to live. It’s close enough to Tokyo for regular visits (by the rapid Tsukuba Express rail line), but quiet enough for our local transport to be dominated by cycling around town. We love the food, the Japanese schools that have welcomed our children, the onsens, and our many views of Mount Fuji.

And after almost four months in Japan, it’s beginning to feel like home.

Unfortunately, we’re leaving our short-term home in Japan this week. After a few weeks of travel in Southeast Asia, we’ll be decamped to the New York area for the rest of the Winter and early Spring. But (as further encouragement to myself to continue blogging) I’ll have much more to say about Japan — science and life — in upcoming posts.