Dazed and drenched within Tokyo¡¯s oppressive summer furnace, I peered up from my squat through the prism of perspiration in my eyelids to see a figure I had gradually come to know as the grumpy ol¡¯ garden drunk.

¡°When ¡®ja plant ¡®dem cucumbers?¡± he slurred, fingering a tall can of tepid happ¨­shu in his rustic left claw.

¡°Um, about a month ago.¡±