YamaYama Cooool: So Desu Ne (Day 1)

Today is Ciarán's birthday, so he and most of the others have gone off to sell chicken with Kanashima somewhere in Japan. They all left at about 8 this morning, so I did not see them.

Drum and I, instead, are going on a little two day road trip with some of our Japanese friends. We were picked up by Shinichiro (hereafter know as Shin) from Cambridge House, and we drove to meet the others. All together there were 10 of us going in two cars: Shin, Sawako, Mina, and Kimiyo were the ones I already knew. There was also Tomy, Tatsunori, Eriko, and Kimi(?). We paid Shin the money for the trip and off we set. Drum and I rode with Shin in his car, with the stereo turned up loud, blasting out some good music we had brought with us. To start with, we had some 70's soul classics that Drummond had borrowed off Rushen's Akiko.

We got stuck in a giant traffic jam going there, which made us about 2 hours late. We cut out the planned onsen stop, because of it. We ordered lunch over the phone, so that it was ready by the time we arrived. We all had toriten, which is chicken tempura, or chicken deep-fried in batter.

We then headed off up a hill, where we had a great view of the countryside below us. It was so refreshing to get out away from the built-up areas of Japan to the relatively untouched land in the hills. There was a kind of playground next to where we stopped, with a huge castle-esque climbing frame, though it was rusting. It did have a giant slide, complete with rollers. It was only later we noticed the "Do not enter" sign!

Shin got off in his car and drove off, mysteriously, and after a little while most of the others jumped into the other cars and left as well. Drum, Sawako, and I were left wondering what had happened. It did not take long to realise that they had simply gone around the corner to where our lodgings were. It had the feel of a large log cabin, though not made of logs. There were about three bed rooms, and a large living area which opened onto a wooden patio with a stunning view. We were the only ones staying there, which meant that we had no restrictions on our activities, bar burning the place to the ground.

We got back in the cars and carried on up the hill, reached a shrine about 2 minutes later. We climbed up a rocky path to the peak (568m above sea level). One part involved using a chain to help get up the side of one of the rocks. The view was really cool: loads of green everywhere. The girls had most difficulty climbing up and down, mostly because of their choice of footwear, whereas Shin just ran and jumped around everywhere. He is mad.

After climbing back down we went shopping for dinner. We bought lots of meat, vegetables and other assorted goodies, before driving to a Harajiri falls. A cool waterfall, we crossed over a long rope bridge opposite it, obviously swinging it as violently as we could, before we realised there were others on it as well! Oops. We then went and climbed on the rocks forming the waterfall itself. Never in England would you be able to walk up to the edge of a waterfall!

Next we went to Shin’s parents house (where he grew up). We met his mum and his dog, Ron. They gave us rice and a few other things. Halfway back to our accomodation, we realised that we had forgotten to pick up the hot plates they were going to lend us, so our car turned back whilst the others went on ahead. We met Shin's dad who was returning home when we got back and picked up the tools.

Back at the house we had a big feast, though there was a little trouble with the electricity. We worked out in the end that, for some reason, the mains could only cope with one hot plate, not two when it would cut out. There was a lot of beef, chicken, onions, bean sprouts, peppers, aubergine, squash, edamame, and later there were marshmallows. Marshmallows need real fire, it turns out, as they just melt when put on a hot plate!

Kimiyo went home at around 9pm, as presumably she was working again the next day. She's been driving the whole day, but she got home safely at about midnight.

Later Shin’s parents turned up. We all sat around, chatting and continuing to eat. We were then told that we all had to introduce ourselves, so we went round the table. Shin's dad took notes on all the girls' names and asked for their mobile numbers! Later, Drum and I played and sang. We did a selection of a few Beatles' tunes and some others from our reportoire that we knew. We got a little drunk and started to blag tunes that we vaguely knew. Drum has an amazing ability to play things by ear, so we ended up sining a few more Beatles', Simon & Garfunkel's Sound of Silence, and even the YMCA, to which they all joined in with. We did not know any of the lyrics, though.

Bed was on futons on the ground. The guys slept around a Japanese fire place in the main room, whereas the girls had three rooms between them.