Birafuya Addendum

I forgot to say I learned how they cook fish on Irabu island.
Watch the video

Birafuya Guest House on Irabu-Jima

A light rain was falling as I walked into our new guest house in the early afternoon. It was a bit of a shock. I turned to Eriko and whispered "we've found the hippies!" Every person there looked like they belonged in San Francisco during the late 60's except for the tall guy with dreads and wearing Jamaican colours, though he fit right in long hair and all.

The place was really cool. Artful in its' details. Warm with touches of colour. The people really inviting.

This is the guy who was/is building everything including making the doors. His name is Raita-San. He used a hand drill to decorate the steps behind him. The pattern forms a tree.

This is his partner, Aiya-san. She is in charge of guests.

I tried to convey a sense of the place by focusing on details rather than a large view.

In the kitchen you can buy either brown or white rice by the cup which is great for travellers. Eriko and I prefer to cook rather then eat out all the time. The quality is better plus we save money.

The bath/toilet facilities along with the laundry are outside and very clean. I really enjoyed the shower while looking out the window at the lush surroundings. No picture of that moment.

Construction is on going and everything is done by hand often with re-cyled materials.

                                                                                                     

Like all good things there is a reverse side. Here they also do not believe in screens over the windows. The mosquitos had a good time.

At night large rats would invade the kitchen knocking over tins. With them and the rats there seemed to be fleas. As usual Emma was the target. This picture was after the first night. It got worse on her face as well as both arms and legs.

As odd as it seems we miss this place.

Raita-San took us on a free tour of the island on our second day, he was a good guide. Next I'll show those pictures.

Ferry to Irabu-Jima

We rented a small Suzuki boxy wagon. An amazing 2 stroke car with AC, GPS, that holds 40 L. of gas. Our plan was to take the ferry in the morning to the next island. A 25 minute ride. When we awoke it was raining lightly and windy as usual. I don't think there was a day during our southern sojourn that the wind wasn't around 20 Knots, gusting to 30 and sometimes 40. When we got to the ferry they warned us the trip would be rough.

Emma and I went upstairs to the cabin just as the boat left port. The boat was moving so I could not take a still picture.

There was enough salt spray to hit the vehicles on the car deck.

This must be a regular affair because they were

ready with a large hose and spray nozzle for each

car.

Emma had been looking a little odd upstairs in the cabin so I went back to the car with her. As we were navigating our way across Irabu-Jima Emma suddenly tossed her cookies. Lucky for her I was busy trying unsuccessfully to catch what I could in my hands or I would have taken a picture to her lasting embarrassment.

I didn't know it yet but we were about to enter the 60's.

First Island Miyako-jima

We left our nice hotel in Kyoto and had no knowledge that we would soon miss such luxury. Our taxi took us to the bus terminal near the train station and there we took a bus for the long ride to the Kansai airport.

The bus ran along an elevated expressway over the city for over an hour, all the way to a bridge that led straight to the airport. It seemed designed for that one purpose.

The Airport itself seemed barely above sea level and is on a purpose built island. It was there that I discovered my favourite sweet potato ice cream was available. Yum!

Soon we were on the Boeing 777 heading south.

When we arrived at Miyako-Jima we were a little disappointed as the neighbourhood looked quite run down. The concrete was all stained in in some cases rust could be seen from re-bar. Gates were askew and the taxi driver was so slow he didn't show up on my camera. There were a few hints of flowers and an occasional well kept home. It was very 'Key West' like.

After the really slow taxi we found our way along some tortuous side streets to the guest house 'Hiraraya'.

Inside the guest house was a different story, at first. The room was really nice, the guests and owner really friendly and as we had arrived late they offered to share dinner with us which was really great as we were hungry, the kids were sleepy and it was now dark.

The downside we were to discover is that they don't believe in using mosquito screens on the windows. What they do is burn mosquito coils in every room including under the dining table. I am allergic to cigarette smoke as it makes it hard for me to breath, I found out the coils do the same thing with the added 'benefit' of a sore throat. The mosquitos bit us in any case. Emma fared the worse with Kaji second.

I walked around the neighbourhood with one of the guests, Yano-San. He brought me to an old shrine when the original islanders believed in nature worship.

I also saw a new shrine being built, probably Shinto. They were using story sticks. These are long flat sticks marked with the heights and lengths of walls and openings with out having to use a tape measure. This is a traditional boat building technique that I was surprised to see used for a building but since the shrines must conform to some norms it makes sense.

Emma was often taken care of by other guests which gave her parents a break. This person from Tokyo spent a lot of time with Emma playing at making food with the bits of coral rock.

We also had some reservations about the bathroom. The shower was an empty space in the laundry room by an open window which was another mosquito expressway. There was no standard Japanese bath nor did it seem there was one in the surroundings.

Still we enjoyed Hiraraya, the people and the island style.

We rented a small car for the ride on the ferry to the next island where there was no public transport and the price of taxi service would be more than the $30 for the rental. We were looking forward to a change.

Friday Night Out in Japan

Kyoto and the Park

Japan Airports

I cannot honestly say that I'll be able to see Japan with fresh eyes to paraphrase Proust. After all I've been here a few times before. With all that said I still am filled with wonder about all the twists on modern technological life that Japan creates. I'll try and convey that feeling in words and images.

This is our itinerary.

As you may imagine the flight was long and tiring, a total of 29 hours door to door plus a day lost via the date line. The kids were great and slept a lot. When they were awake they were pleasant and not too demanding. Kaji's ears must have hurt him from the pressure changes but other than grab at his ears and make faces he was calm. Here are some photos of Emma and Kaji as well as some from the flight.

When we stepped off of the airplane at Narita airport near Tokyo I turned to Eriko and said I remembered the smell of Japan. A light dry aroma of slightly spiced dust. Once in the terminal and after the long lines for customs I knew for certain that once again I was in a foreign place.

The first indication was a booth called Health Consultations, which sounded like a place to get advice but was more like the quarantine for infectious diseases. Here is a picture of the temperature scanning device, somewhat robotic and rube goldberg looking.

For security there was a policeman on a platform

keeping a stoic eye of the passengers.

The luggage carts are cool in Japan. There is a trick to them.

You have to squeeze a handle along the push bar or else the cart

will not move as they all have an automatic brake.

This is hard to learn when you are tired and jet lagged.

There are lots of transportation choices at many of the airports in Japan.

The usual busses and taxis along with trains and subways.

This particular one sounded cool. I'd like to try it someday.

I was happy to have a hard futon to fall asleep on

our first night.

Too bad I slept less then 6 hours.

I awoke to a standard breakfast of fish, rice and

fermented soybeans along with barley tea

to wash it down with.

A little tough to adjust when you are still tired.

At first Kaji seemed to be doing fine.

We did try and do some shopping the first day. Mitsuaki, Eriko's dad drove us luckily.

Of course the kids were completely wiped out.

Eriko and her dad got excited about a snack of fried octopus tentacles covered with very thinly shaved fish. I passed on that and went for a soft ice cream.

I slept better last night though I still feel stiff from the flight and the futon on the floor.

Emma is enjoying being in a totally Japanese environment. Kaji is getting a lot of attention from the grandparents and the aunts. Eriko is having some problems with her mom as usual.

The weather here has been the coldest in 100 years. It was 9 C the evening we arrived. The high has been 15 and it is raining lightly at the moment.