I left Tokyo and headed out to Tottori. More specifically, a little town called Kofu to visit my old friend and college dormmate, Brian. I knew he was teaching English out in Japan, and decided to stay with him a couple of nights. For all I knew, I imagined Kofu to be just another city, but when the train started going through mountain passes, I started getting a little worried thinking I got on the wrong train. Luckily, it was right and found out that Brian lives in a really really small town up in the mountains.
Speaking of the train ride there, as we got higher in the mountains, it started to snow. I rode a train through the Japanese mountains during a snowfall. It’s things like this that make traveling so great. I like traveling for moments like these, which turn into memories. This one was a keeper. It’s like that one scene in Forrest Gump where towards the end, Forrest is explaining his past experiences by sharing one certain memory from each event. One day I will do the same.
Well, once I arrived, which took about 7 hours by train, we briefly looked around his small town where he is the only English speaker. Seriously, everybody knows him because of this fact, and he was greeted on multiple occasions as we were walking around. I then met one of his friends, Keiko, who then graciously invited us for dinner that night with her family. Keiko was definitely cool, and she spoke some English. We helped cook part of the dinner, then it was time to eat. I had such an amazing time at dinner getting to talk with locals, and just feeling loved by people that I have just met. They also saw me praying before my meal, so they asked if I was Christian. After I said that I was, they asked me to pray again, but for everyone. No way. So I did, and was also able to lift up a prayer for Keiko’s husband’s back, which they told me was having some problems beforehand. PTL!
Brian and I with Keiko and grandma.
This is what we had for dinner, which was all from scratch. Need I say more?
The rest of the time in Tottori was spent sightseeing. It was great to reconnect with my buddy, but also thankful that I was able to have that dinner with Keiko’s family. It was probably the highlight of my entire trip.
This was Brian’s house, insane. It was also nuts seeing Brian bust out his Japanese.
Being in a small town, we had little heaters to warm us up in the house, which had to be filled with…kerosene. Nice.
There was a nearby dairy farm, which Brian claimed had the best ice cream, but they were closed. On the way up, his awesome toy of a car was just cruising up the snow covered mountain roads with ease while we drove past other cars putting on their chains. His car is also awesome because it’s a car straight out of a Japanese cartoon.
Did I also mention that he lives like 10 minutes away from the slopes? Dang, if I were in his position I’d be practicing to be pro by the time I returned to the States.
Adachi Garden: Voted #1 in Japan.
The Matsue Castle
I wonder if this Samurai was rockin’ a soul patch underneath as well. Bonus points if he was.
My visit fell on Brian’s birthday so we went out for sushi. This place was popping, and we had to wait about 30 minutes, but it was well worth it.
Toro was my favorite of the night. It literally melts in one’s mouth. Delicious, no, DANG delicious.
Victory!
Tottori was cool, and I was so glad that it was part of my trip. It was a nice break from your normal tourist attractions, and I was able to get a better grasp of this wonderful, but complex culture. One example they were explaining to me was about the uber politeness. Along with what seemed to be a good characteristic, there is also a lot of faking and judging underneath it, so it can be really hard to get to know someone really well. Interesting.
On to Kyoto!
