Shifting between Japanese and English this is the nearly every-morning exchange with Toda-san, the kindly, engaging employee of the Odakyū Line who looks after the bike space round the corner from the main bike-parking. He speaks not too much more than basic greetings-English, myself, reciprocally, not too much more than basic greetings-Japanese. His custodial patch is underneath Fuchu-Kaido, the highway that heads upward to a bridge over the train-lines. There he rules, always a truly benign rule, from 5.30 a.m, to 12.30 p.m. every week-day. Blue-overall uniform, beige baseball cap with a small red cross and ‘Road Safety Committee’ written in Japanese. Surveillance from his sentry-box. A greeter of patrons, issuer of tickets, manager of parking rows. The pleasantest man alive. In his late sixties. The following translates a February conversation.

How long have you been working for the Odakyū ?

Two years.

And before that?

I worked in sales for NEC first in a branch-office in Nagoya and then in the main office in Tokyo.

Then you retired? Is this arubaito (part-time work)?

I retired at sixty from the company. But it's not quite arubaito – it's shokutaku – somewhere between arubaito and full-time employment.

Necessary to add to my pension.

And you must live near here?

Yes, a few stops west on the Odakyū Line – at Yomiuri. So I use the Ikuta Station.

What do you like to do when you’re not working here?

Most of all mountain trekking, photography and music. I sing in a choir – operas and recitals. In 1992, we sang in Carnegie Hall, the only time I went to America. I also go to concerts all the time in Tokyo.

And your family?

My wife and three children. My son lives in Mishima, my daughters in Shizuoka.

You like the bike job here?

Sugoi. Great. It's fun. All kinds of bikes. All kinds of people. Like you.