While writing this silly novel of mine, I’ve fallen back in love with Google. Because I am short on general reference books in my library (though we do have quite a collection of O’Reilley titles and Japanese language primers), Google is where I turn for fact-checking.

Some of the tidbits of info I’ve tracked down quickly for the book:

• How big is a wedding cake to serve 200 guests? (Greystone Bakery)
• What is the price of a pair of size 26 fancy dress shoes in Tokyo?(Ginza Washington)
• What time is the tuna auction in Tsukiji? (Wikipedia)
• What’s the correct order for names in a wedding announcement? (New York Times)