Visitors

Dansen stopped by last Wednesday night, which, in all honesty, was awesome. He's just returned to Japan after a year in Korea and three months in Hong Kong. The plan was to fly to Pusan and take the ferry into Fukuoka. But, there were some difficulties with his arrival; originally he was scheduled to come on Monday, however trouble making a timely connection from HK to Pusan and sold out ferries because of the equinoctial travel season led to his delayed arrival. Moreover, there were some minor difficulties in catching the correct train from Hakata to Ube. Minor difficulties which resulted in his, exceedingly brief, stay in Hiroshima. But, hell, I haven't seen the dude in two years, so delays are really quite inconsequential.
Wednesday, after I got back from work, we went out. First to the izakaya pictured at right, Doma, for tasty foods and drinks, but unfortunately they were out of chicken hearts, so we had to do with knuckles - a poor substitute. After, we went to Healing Box Bigi where where Daisuke, the bartender, was more than happy to help us out in our quest for potables. While there an interesting succession of people entered an exited the bar. First was a young couple, soon after they left a salaryman and a much younger woman entered and upon their exit a biker, leather and all, arrived in the bar. Needless to say, the topics of conversation covered that night were broad, but stuck to your standard "Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll" formula. We left Bigi and adjourned to Maybe Tomorrow but, at that point Dansen had begun to, as the French say, "pound in nails with his head." To be more direct: he fell asleep at the bar. Feeling that it was in his best interests to rest, we went home.
The next morning Dansen woke well before I did and rose me in time to get ready for us to meet his old friend from his Tokyo Nova days. So, at the crack of noon, we marched down to Higashi-Shinkawa (my local train stop) to meet Tanya. While they met in Tokyo some years ago, she's now in Onomichi as a JET. Together we hoped on the first train to Shin-Yamaguchi (the major local hub) and then sprang into mulling around aimlessly whilst deciding what to do with ourselves for the afternoon. We knew there was sightseeing to be had but our thought process had not extended much beyond that. But, the choices were quickly pared down to Tsuwano and Akiyoshido. This was a decision easily made as the train for Tsuwano came in two hours and the bus for Akiyoshido left in fifteen minutes.
Akiyoshido is a large cave. Very large. In fact I believe it may be the largest cave in Asia, however I will be willing to accept any and all correction on this point. But Akiyoshidai is a small , tourist town, depending on the cave, Akiyoshido, and the expansive boulder studded plateaus in the surrounding area. After some enjoyment in wandering the cave and enjoying the beautiful scenery we decided three things. One, we were hungry, two it was starting to rain, and three, we were a little lost. Eventually though we found the bus station just in time to catch a bus to Yamaguchi city and enjoy some quite stunning Indian food at Shiva, a noted restaurant in the area. After an immensely satisfying meal of naan and curry we struck home. Had a late night snack at Hai Kaladori, a friendly if mediocre izakaya where we attempted to meet a friend. Minor difficulties, not worth elaborating upon, ensued.
I saw them off to Beppu the next day, and am looking forward to Dansen's dropping back in on his way back up to Tokyo. If he is able to he should arrive within the next fifteen hours. Even if he cannot, it was good to see Dansen and meet Tanya. Having him around, a reminder of America if you will, made Japan seem much more foriegn than the familiar country it is fast becoming. A strange experience.