Our tenth show kicks off with a parable before we launch into sonic mayhem with an episode sure to grate on the ears...

News: Dave tells of his moment of soccer glory, before prognosticating on Japan and England's respective World Cup prospects, while Andy has been behind desks in amphitheatres listening to stylistic analyses of short stories.

The literary theme continues with the questions of why we read, what the best posture for reading in bed is, and why the Hiroshima Book Club came to a sticky end.

STAVKA crank up the amps for the hard-hitting anthem 'Angst Perimeter', before we change tack and consider leisure in Japan, the country where 'sleeping' is seen as a hobby.

We then conclude with a cacophonous tour around a game centre and a pachinko parlour to see what the natives get up to therein.

In which we take you on a culinary tour of Hiroshima...

Andy kicks off with an intro from the Royal Host family restaurant at Tenjingawa, east Hiroshima, before meeting up with Dave on platform 7 of Hiroshima Station to listen to him slurp noodles into his maw. Gross!

A quick trip on the train to Yokogawa, the next station along the line, and your intrepid hosts crash into Okonomi House for a slab of Hiroshima's cabbage pancake that tastes better than it sounds.

To the clatter of the Master's spatulas, Andy tells of his Short Fuse Week and goes all class-conscious, while Dave impresses us with his recipes and three words of Japanese.

Of course, an idiom brings up the rear (so to speak).

Dave returns, and we announce an exciting competition in which our listeners can win a great prize...

We learn about crap trains in Britain, before discussing the onset of beergarden season here in Japan, and then get sidetracked onto the perils and pleasures of brewery tours in Europe.

STAVKA then sing about the treachery of Lady Luck in the song 'A Half Friend in Fortuna'.

Website of the Week features the Japan-themed forum at http://www.crisscross.com/jp/forum/

Then comes the main event: we tackle the myths and reality being the age-old question, is Japan 'Shag City'?

We round out with a couple of Japanese idioms from Dave centred on bowels and brushes...

Andy takes the helm since Dave is away in Britain, and regales us with tales of financial disaster and misdiagnosed computer ailments.

He then heads downtown, new portable digital recorder in hand, to interview a Japanese female in an exceptionally noisy restaurant. Between mouthfuls of pizza, the talk ranges from men with breasts to plastic bags full of goldfish, as our young interviewee gamely dodges a neverending stream of innuendo.

STAVKA treat us to the new track "Coasts of Low Potential" before Andy reviews www.japanesepod101.com in 'Website of the Week'.

After a brief description (including sonic proof) of the horrors of Hiroshima's 'Flower Festival', we drop back in on the restaurant to catch the tale end of the interview,  which  brings things to a close.