Chapter 59: CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

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CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

"Well little buddy, it's going to be another long drive today. Feel up to it?

Be-Beep!

"I just hope we don't get lost. My road atlas seems a bit confused as to the route."

Beeep!

Starting out was easy enough. Just get back to Wajima's main drag of Route 249. But turn right on it and stay on it long after it leaves Wajima. Then came the confusing part. How to get from Route 249 to Route 156 using some prefectural roads that didn't even seem to have route numbers? But they did go through quite a few small villages where I could ask directions. This time I found it kind of interesting because of the different accents or dialects the farmers and other people used. Just like John said, it was all part of the fun. But it also slowed us down.

The scenery varied from seascapes to mountains to farmland, but I hardly noticed. I just wanted to get to Shirakawa and the Okumuras.

Finally I got onto Route 156 and stayed on it making fairly good time, But by the time I made it to Shirakawa, it was starting to get dark.

"Oh, David, you're here at last. We were getting a bit worried about you." called Okukusan as I parked my cub next to several cars in their parking lot. "All the others have taken their ofuro, but the water's still hot. But don't take too much time. We're having dinner in less than an hour."

While soaking, I knew this shortened ofuro wasn't going to take all the kinks out of my body. Well, I'll take a nice long ofuro tomorrow.

At dinner I met the two other guests, each having driven to Shirakawa alone. I introduced myself and got the usual sighs of relief that I spoke Japanese. The next day both left right after breakfast. Apparently neither wanted to go to Gassho Zukuri Village.

So why did they come to Shirakawa in the first place? On their way to Kanazawa or somewhere else?

After they left, both Okusan and Dannasan seemed to relax.

Dannasan said, "David, you've stayed with us so often and long, you've sort of become like family to us. Why don't you come with me to the forest today and help me collect the leaves for tonight's tempura. And catch some ayu fish to go along with them for dinner, too?"

"Hey, that sounds like it would be fun!"

"Good. We'll go just after we eat lunch. But be sure to wear a thin long sleeve jacket and gloves."

Okusan smiled. "We're having steak for lunch. Does that sound good to you."

"It sounds fantastic! Your vegetable tempura and fish are great. But I do like to get some western food, too."

Dannasan laughed. "That's why we get to eat plenty of meat from out of our freezer for lunch even when we have guests. Almost all of them stay for one night only and don't stay to eat lunch with us."

After lunch, Dannasan and I went into the forest to collect the leaves for tonight. I picked as many as I could and showed them to Dannasan.

He pointed. "Those two are poison oak. Did they touch any part of your skin?"

"Uh, I don't think so. Not with this jacket and gloves on."

Dannasan smiled. "That's why I told you to wear them. You never know what you might touch when you're going through the forest. Now let's go down to the river -- stream actually -- and catch some fish. I've brought alone another net for you to use and another catch pouch. But you're going to have roll up your pant legs to above your knees and take off your shoes so they don't get wet."

"Damn! I can't seem to see the fish before they see my net and keep swimming around it."

"You're not looking far enough upstream from your net then. Look about five meters ahead at least. When you see a school of fish -- they always swim in schools -- put your net in the direction they're heading downstream."

I tried. But the school of fish must have seen my net or something and changed course in time swim around it. "Damn! Missed again!"

The second time I looked only about three meters upstream. I spied another school not too far from my net. I quickly shifted my net in front of them. Most of them saw it in time, too, and swam around it. But I could feel a slight jolt on the handle of my net. I pulled the net out of the water and sure enough. There was a really small fish thrashing around at the bottom of it. "Hey, Dannasan! I got one!

Dannasan smiled. "You're getting the hang of it. Put that one into your catch pouch," as he put six or so ayu into his. "We're going to need a good forty or fifty for dinner. There's a family's staying with us tonight."

By the time we finished, Dannasan had at least forty in his catch pouch. I had all of four in mine. Dannasan patted me on the shoulder. "That's pretty good for a first time. A lot of people can't get any their first time trying. And some not on their second or third try, either. Well, we've got enough for tonight's dinner anyway. And maybe some for tomorrow's breakfast. Let's go back to the house and give them to Okusan to cook.

"Don't we have to clean them first?"

"Ha, they're much too small to clean. Okusan will just grill them with salt, bones and all. Just like last night."

As I was putting down my sleeping futon, I thought about what I'm going to do tomorrow. Go to Gokayama again so my cub can putt really fast completely unloaded? No, going to the forest with Dannasan was a hell of a lot more fun and interesting.

I caught twelve fish this time. "Hey, you're a fast learner," said Dannasan who'd caught more than fifty.

At dinner I thought I might try going all the way from Shirakawa back to my house and skip Shirotory Riverside Ryoukan. But in my room after dinner, I checked my road atlas again. Uh-uh! That's going to take more that eight hours at least.

Besides I want to see if that renovated minshuku is as good as the Okusan there said it is.

It was!

Not only did my spacious six-mat room come equipped with its own toilet instead of a communal one, a small color tv, an ofuro much larger than most minshuku, the meal they served in the communal dinning room was almost as good as the one they served me in my room in their ryokan. And the price not much more than a usual minshuku. Glad I decided not to try going all the way back home in one long go, I went to bed early knowing that tomorrow was going to be another long drive again.

As we were putting through the mountains on our way home,

"You know little buddy, it seems crazy to me that many of the places I've stayed at so far seem to think I'm one of their longest staying guests, a regular. I mean, I can somewhat understand why the Okumuras would treat me like family since I've stayed with them so often. But even them, I've only stayed about two weeks altogether. And that Shirotory Riverside Minshuku that I've only stayed at for, what, five nights. But the Okusan insists I'm a regular. And the Okusan in that minshuku in Tosashimizu in Shikoku remembered me as well. And everywhere I've stayed, all the other guests stayed for one night only. I'm beginning to think the Japanese don't have any idea what a real vacation means."

Beeep!

As we were putting into the parking lot of my apartment building, "Well little buddy, here we are back home again safe and sound. Great to be home again, huh?"

Be-Beep!

Submitted: December 10, 2024

Romance romance japan gaijin travel-in-japan japan-1970s

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B Douglas Slack

I never got the hang of fishing with a net. I could toss it well enough, but always missed because of the parallax with the surface of the water. I had problems getting the right angle.

Must have been fairly small fish as fifty of them would seem like a lot, even for two or three families.

Bill

Sun, December 22nd, 2024 7:26pm

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Remember, David was fishing with a net in a rapidly flowing mountain stream. He just stuck his net in the water downstream of a school of fish and let them swim right into it -- if he was fast and lucky enough. Trying to toss a net in a stream like this wouldn't work. It would just flow right back at you.
Ayu come in different sizes with those that flow in a stream being the smallest. You can hold 3 or 4 in one hand.

Ken

Wed, December 25th, 2024 6:16pm

B Douglas Slack

Sun, December 22nd, 2024 7:26pm