You Should Always Bring A Camera With You

To talk about Sunday, I need to go back to last week and the mushroom parade (which is emerging as a pivot in my Japanese life).

The mushroom parade ended at the city office. Odelia and I headed inside for the air conditioning and the free tea. Sitting at one of the tables we met an older Japanese man named Mr. Minoru who approached us after hearing our English. We talked for nearly an hour before he invited us to his house "for play." Alarm bells sounded in my head. Before I could decide if he was creepy or the victim of mistranslation, he rephrased his question, "I want you to come to my house to eat lunch with me and my wife." This sounded much more reasonable.

Sunday we met for lunch. We were invited into his house (a big deal in Japan) for tea, snacks, and conversation. His wife, whose spoken English is on par with my Japanese, was incredibly cute and excited. As we entered the gated yard, he used the intercom to announce our arrival. She responded to his words, paused, then ventured, "Hi. Hello!" Over their kotatsu, we drank green tea, and ate wafers, jellied candies, and salty rice crackers.

It was obvious that he had prepared for our visit. He brought out maps and visitor guides so that he could talk about the city. He also had written questions that he wanted to ask us on paper, so he wouldn't make a grammar mistake. After getting to know more about each other, he announced that it was time for lunch and that after lunch we would be going sight-seeing. I was immediately sad that I hadn't thought to bring a camera, but excited that I would get to know Ota better.

We got in his car and drove to the base of Kanayama to a new and fancy soba restaurant. They ordered for us a sampler plate of soba, spicy gobo and carrots, and a plate of tenpura to share. Over our protests, they paid for the meal, then ushered us back to the car to see some of the temples in Ota.

I don't know much about the details, but there are seven temples in Ota that each house one of seven gods. They meant to take us to all seven, but there wasn't time. The first temple was a bit removed from the city, surrounded by rice fields and the occasional house. It was the temple of the god of happiness. The gate was strewn with sandals and shoes that people had left as a sign of faith or pilgrimage. The temple itself was over 200 years old. It was something of a museum. We paid a small fee to the lone monk who then started up a cd that loudly went on about the temple (I assume). The temple was designed to imitate the inside of a shell. Ramps wound up and down the three floors, passing thousands of paper cranes, fading paintings, and 100 golden statues of a many-armed god. Leaving the temple we each rang the bell, a wish for happiness, and tossed a 10 yen coin into the collection box.

The next temple was on the top of Kanayama. The mountain (large hill in my mind) was beautiful with winding roads and thick tangles of green that made me forget the city and its flatness. The views from the top showed how large Ota is. It was a cloudy day, but Minoru claimed that when the sky was clear you could see Mt. Fuji and the skyscrapers of Tokyo. We hiked a short distance to the top of the mountain, where there was not only a temple, but the ruins of a castle! The castle was mostly gone, only steps and two round pools remained. Before we reached the summit, Odelia saw a sign that warned visitors to be careful of monkeys! We didn't see any, but it is awesome that Ota has monkeys. The temple was closed to us, but we looked at tablets next to it where people had written prayers—one for a baby, another for a good college. We paused at a memorial to WWII. Minoru told how American bombers forced him to live in underground shelters for weeks at a time. Ota has always been a manufacturing city. While today is it Subaru cars, back then it drew attention for its military aircraft.

The last temple we went to was surrounded by graves. The temple itself was dark and scented with incense. Statues leading to the temple had been covered with matching hats and cloaks. Explanations were few for the last temple. We had to hurry because I had to be back at my apartment by 6 for a pre-scheduled dinner.

Mr. Minoru and his wife drove me back to the train station talking about how the next time we meet they will take us to a black tea factory, an art gallery, and the remaining temples. I cannot wait. I love that they are now part of my Japanese experience. It will be richer with them in it.

For dinner, I ate Korean barbecue with a teacher from my elementary school and her friend. It was an immensely enjoyable evening, but will get the short stick for having come after my superb afternoon. The food was cooked on a grill sunken into the table. It was delicious, although the liver was not one of my favorite meats. I learned that free refills must not be a common thing in restaurants here. They couldn't get over the fact that after the first one the drinks were free. We traded English and Japanese phrases and words, talked about sleep (a popular topic here, probably from a lack of familiarity), video games, and music. They also invited me out again.

I think I have made a good start on one item from my list (a few posts down). I am beginning to make Japanese friends.