So hospital is a lot of fun. The Okinawans have a talent for creating an ambiance of competence, efficiency and enjoyment. My stay is a vacation.

I have a lot of checks: blood pressure, temperature, heart beat, four times a day. Multiple specialized blood tests and a memorable bone marrow biopsy, which hurts!

Apart from that I doze until the next meal.

The food is so good. It is plain, presentation is utilitarian but is is so healthy, so delicious. You may remember that I ate nothing for 10 days during the throes of Covid – no appetite. Confronted by hospital meals my appetite springs, tiger like, back to life.

So you get the idea. Yum!

I think I mentioned before that, because I am over 70, the maximum I can be charged for all hospitalization, treatment, medication, even if I stay a month, is 15,000 yen – approx $100!

” We have private rooms, Neil san but they are very expensive – 5,000 yen a day! ( about $ 30.)

” Oh, I think I will have one of those please.”

So I spend a blissful week, horribly curtailed by the consultant haematologist who announces out of the blue, ” We have finished all our tests. You can go home tomorrow.”

Long term prisoners who are released frequently panic at the prospect of coping for themselves after a highly organized and protective regime. I feel the same.

My fellow internees rattle their tin cups against the bars and shout encouragement as I step over the exit gate into the uncertainty of freedom. How will I manage?

Thanks so much to all the people at Chubu Tokushukai Hopital – stars all. If you have some spare time in Okinawa, book in here.