Yesterday was Saturday and the weather was great, so I rode the Ginza line of the Tokyo Metro to Kappabashi to pick up some things for my family. Also known as Kitchen Town, Kappabashi consist of about 8 blocks of stores selling kitchen and restaurant supplies of every possible size, shape, and color. There are stores with a wide variety of goods (breadth) and others with a wide variety of one thing (depth). Stores that sell nothing but display cases, knives, signs, packaging, plastic food, and so forth. The entrance to Kappabashi is marked by the giant chef, shown in the picture at right.

Anyway, I picked up the things that my wife had asked for, and got back on the subway to return. I was listening to Sensored, Cory Doctorow’s newest podcast. In the introduction, Cory says that his daughter had recently turned two and that they celebrated with ice cream at London’s Fortnum and Mason.

Five or six minutes later, a woman boarded the train and sat down across from me. To my astonishment, she was carrying a bag labeled Fortnum and Mason! I was so surprised that I actually rewound the podcast to make sure that this was the name that Cory had mentioned. I had never heard of this shop before yesterday and the name was unfamiliar to me. This must be a billion to one coincidence.

Now that’s a case of synchronicity! This event also gave me a great idea for a sci-fi story. I need to think it through a bit more, but I may soon realize my dream of writing some fiction.

I will be heading to London next month for some talks and meetings. If I run into Cory, that would take the oddness to a whole new level!