Day 1: Osaka
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens.

Monday, March 25, 1991

My youngest brother, MJN, arrived from Las Vegas this afternoon. We're going to spend spring break kicking around Kyushu. Last night, I took the overnight ferry from Beppu to Kobe. From Kobe I took the train to Osaka to get the "lay of the land" before he arrived. I was also supposed to find a hotel. I know I should have gone to Beppu's Foreign Tourist Information Office for help, but I thought I'd be able to do it on my own. So I blew most of the day and still hadn't found a hotel when it was time to pick MJN up at the airport.

I haven't seen much of my brother in the last ten years. My first impression is that he takes up a lot of space. He's big and tall, and although I cautioned him to pack lightly, he brought a large bag and his guitar. He talks softly, but he gestures largely and he seems unaware that the guitar case on his back nearly takes out the row of people behind him every time he moves.

At the airport, we were able to make hotel reservations. We decide to stay at the Hotel New Hankyu because the airport shuttle bus stops there and it is convenient to Osaka station. When I went there this morning they said they had no rooms. I guess they reserve blocks of rooms for the travel agents to fill.

After we check in, I play a little trick on him. The lobby of the hotel is a modern Western style, light and spacious. There is a corridor that leads to a door that opens on the underground mall where the main subway lines converge near Osaka station. So we're walking down this corridor, immersed in our conversation, basically alone. We open the door and, on the other side, it's wall-to-wall people, the flood of rush hour traffic. MJN is momentarily stunned. As we wade through the current, he clings to me. He knows if he loses me now, he'll be really lost. Brother, welcome to Japan!

Day 2: Kobe
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens.

Tuesday, March 26, 1991

Do the tourist thing and head to Den Den Machi. In Osaka station, as I'm trying to figure out which subway to take, MJN spots the Information office. "Hey, let's ask them." I'm dubious. So he goes off to do it and comes back with a information map with our route highlighted in yellow. There are obviously advantages to being outgoing and unselfconscious.

As we exit the subway and are staring at the map to orient ourselves, a man comes up and asks, in English, if we need help. I'm surprised at how used to foreigners people in the big cities are. And their English is so much better. You'd hardly know you were in Japan.

About 2:30 head back to Osaka station and have lunch there while waiting for our train to Kobe. In Kobe, we make the requisite stop at Maruzen bookstore in Motomachi. I buy a cookbook and Martin's Pocket Dictionary.

Given that MJN has so much luggage, he's able to talk me into taking a taxi to the port (such luxury). Like most first-time visitors, he's startled by the taxi's automatic doors. The ferry is not as crowded as it's been on my other trips, and we use our blankets to stake out a territory about the size of a 6-mat room. We take turns going down to the ship's public bath. By onsen standards, the water is not very hot or pleasant, but it's fun watching it roll with the motion of the ship.

Day 3: Kannawa
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens.

Wednesday March 27, 1991

Arrive in Beppu-shi and take a taxi to my apartment to dump MJN's luggage. Walk over to Jenny's place at Beppu Daigaku, showing MJN all my haunts in downtown Kamegawa. Even though we haven't seen each other much these last ten years, we talk as if we'd left off our conversation yesterday. And Dad must have given us both the same lectures, because we can quote him verbatim. One funny thing is that MJN is completely oblivious to bicyclists coming up behind us. They squeak their brakes to let us know that they're there, but he never jumps out of the way. He says he doesn't hear them, which seems incredible to me.

Jenny has been shopping and has a new stereo system and an electric rug. It feels so warm and snuggly to lie on it, which we do while she makes breakfast. Then we decide to walk up to Kannawa to Hyoutan Spa. Spend the rest of the morning at the baths. First we go to the separate baths and then we meet in the outdoor baths where mixed bathing is allowed. MJN and I walk back to Kamegawa the back way along route 218, past Shibaseki Spa.

Around 5:30, stop by Toyomi for groceries and head home.

Day 4: Eating Live Fish
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens.

Thursday March 28, 1991

Nana pokes the fish, hoping for a sign of life, as Mrs. Yamanaka looks on.

MJN and I walk up to Mrs. Yamanaka's house. On meeting her, MJN immediately wins her over by complimenting her garden in his phrasebook Japanese. She and Nana are going to take us out to lunch at an expensive restaurant where live fish sashimi is the speciality. The weather is clear and the azalea bushes lining the streets are in full bloom. "Good travel season." says Mrs. Yamanaka and we all agree that this is the best time of year to visit Beppu.

The main open area of the restaurant has a huge pool stocked with fish. As it turns out, it isn't decorative. That's our lunch swimming around. We are shown to a small private room off the main room. We steel ourself with sake and soon the whole fish is brought in on a large platter. The fish has been fileted live, and the slices laid back in the fish. The fish isn't moving, so Nana pokes it with her chopsticks. It flaps its tail weakly, and she and Mrs. Yamanaka squeal. Now Nana and Mrs. Yamanaka have paid top dollar for this meal, and Nana wants to ensure it's memorable. This fish isn't moving to her satisfaction, so she pours a little sake down it's throat. That gets it going. Nana and Mrs. Yamanaka are the best part of the show, though. Like small girls they get closer and closer to the fish, poking it with chopsticks, and when it finally moves, they jump back and scream.

The sashimi is delicious and I'm sorry when they take it away. But it turns out that that was only the first course. The next course is fish head soup. When it comes, Nana tells us, "The eyes are the delicacy. Please eat them." This leads credence to my belief that the Japanese are all involved in a giant conspiracy to see exactly what bizarre things they can make gaijin do--a national "Candid Camera". But I don't mind playing along and MJN's a good sport, too. So we eat the fish eyes. I swallow mine whole, pretending it's a giant grape. "Mmmm. Delicious." I smile. All in all, it's an incredible lunch and an unforgettable experience.

A very full MJN after lunch.