Shimogo - A Return

Last week, I headed up to Fukushima Prefecture for the wedding of a former colleague. I decided that it would be a good idea to spend a couple of days in Shimogo to catch up with some old friends. On Friday (31st August) I met up with Satoshi, Nozomi, and Matthew (my replacement) in Wakatsuki, my favourite restaurant. It was great to catch up again and and after a good dose of beer, I left at 2am for a drunken stagger through the rice fields back to the inn where I was staying.It was a good feeling to be back in Shimogo but a little strange to return as a visitor. I roused myself the next morning at 8am and made an effort to look respectable before I headed down for breakfast. I wasn't at my best because of the previous evenings activities and only managed to consume a bowl of miso soup, some rice, and a cup of green tea. I think the woman who owns the inn was concerned that the Japanese fare was unpalatable to the western tongue. After breakfast, I went upstairs to my room to close my eyes for a couple of minutes and woke up again after midday.
Embarrassed at my slothfulness, I sneaked downstairs to the shower room to freshen up. Feeling half human again, I left the shower room and hoped to sneak unnoticed back to my room. Unfortunately, when I emerged into the corridor dripping and wearing my yukata, I stumbled into a wake which had just started. I couldn't imagine being in a more conspicuous situation. A tall gaijin, dripping, wearing a yukata, standing amongst a crowd of black suited, mourning Japanese.

After my escape from the wake, my friend Satoshi and I went to Doronko for lunch and coffee. Satoshi then kindly drove me around Shimogo and gave me the opportunity to take a trip down memory lane. It was a beautiful day and I really wanted to be able to hop on my bike and escape into the mountains. The rice fields were lush and the flowers around Shimogo were all in full bloom. I found myself wondering if we made a mistake moving to Tokyo. Probably not, but it is a close one to call.

At 6pm, I walked back to Wakatsuki to meet up with Tomo, the local doctor. Tomo mailed me the previous week and asked me if I wanted to eat bear meat. At the time, I thought he was joking. When a plate of meat cooked with beansprouts turned up, I assumed it was beef or pork and started to eat. I was taken aback to discover that it was actually bear that I was eating. I can now add it to the list of strange / exotic food that I have eaten in Japan.

1. Bear
2. Minke whale
3. Fugu (Pufferfish)
4. Jellyfish
5. Raw horse meat

and probably a lot more.

It was good to meet Tomo and Nari (his brother) again. I was impressed with the number of beers that Tomo managed to drink. I probably drank less as I was still feeling rough from the previous night. Another drunken stagger through the rice fields followed and I got back to my room at about 1am. I decided to skip breakfast the next morning but the woman called my room and insisted I go downstairs to the breakfast room. It seems that my lack of appetite the previous morning had spurred them into making a real attempt at serving me a Western style breakfast. Twinnings tea, two fried eggs, sausages, bacon, toast, and yoghurt. Bloody fantastic!!!! It was so kind of them to make the effort, and another reminder of some of the things we left behind in Shimogo. The icing on the cake was when I checked out and received a 20% discount. It is next to impossible to receive that level of kindness in Tokyo, but par for the course in Shimogo.

A nice return to Shimogo and I still had a wedding in Aizu Wakamatsu to look forward to.