My flight departed Tokyo at 4 pm on September 18 and I arrived home in Houston at 2 pm the same day, September 18. But that was after almost 20 hours of traveling starting with a bullet train from Kyoto. Flying east over the date line is always a little amusing.
Last Saturday night I met up with friends in the evening which translated to morning, Tokyo time, and felt wonderfully wide awake until 4 am. I slept until 2 pm which is bizarre for me and had a cheeseburger and fries for breakfast. But wasn’t it just last Wednesday that I enjoyed a full on Japanese feast? The past remembered often times seems like a dream. Now, where was I?
Tsumura is a super fit Japanese gentleman in his 70’s who I met while walking across Spain 5 years ago on the Camino de Santiago. A Camino Amigo. He spent his working life in the Export business with a number of years in the USA and South America. In the early 1970’s he worked out of an office at the World Trade Center in New York. Now he likes to go on long walks. Since the Camino we have kept in touch via Facebook. I let him know I was traveling Japan and we made plans to meet at 8 am sharp on my final day in Kyoto.
First stop was the Imperial Palace offices to try and secure passage to a couple of places that you can only see via a tour that's usually hard to get on. As it turns out it’s oddly easier for tourists so Tsumura was happy when we just happened to luck out and get permission to visit two locations including a villa he had never been to. Naturally, palace officials didn’t want to stay in one place all day. They needed a different environment to rest in the afternoon, have tea, or watch the moon.
With passes in hand, and a plan, he phoned up his friend Mary who happened to be free for the day and opted to be our chauffer. First stop, Shugakuin Imperial Villa. A lovely peaceful place with tatami floored tea houses, pond, streams, and gardens on the outskirts of Kyoto. From there it was on to Mt Kurama for a short vigorous hike up to some temples. Mary had prepared lunch for use so we ate on the go. After Kurama we cruised over to Katsura Imperial Villa with summer home for observing moon and more tatami floor tea rooms amidst gardens. But before that it was shaved ice flavored with green tea syrup and some kind of sweet bean something or other on top. When we were done with that tour we took a train back towards Mary’s and added some extra walking by not taking the subway.
I was sure Tsumura would be getting tired by that time but he wasn’t. “No problem, I’m good, I can keep going”. He suggested we get some beer and wine and drop by Mary’s for tea.
We were both very surprised to find a full on Japanese traditional spread of all kinds of food very nicely set out for us when we arrived at Mary’s. I felt kind of grungy in my old blue travel shirt (that I have vowed to burn this week) and flat hat head hair but we were very graciously welcomed.
Beer and wine flowed. I ate anything and everything because in Japan it’s safe to do so. Cooked fish, raw fish, little fish with heads, some kind specially prepared boney fish that wasn’t boney at all. Little salad mixed things and such. Beer and wine flowed. The food was amazing. Fresh Kobe beef cooked on skillet. My only slight hang up was Kobe beef, after its cooked, is traditionally dipped in raw egg before eaten. With no hesitation I dove in. It was good but a little too rich so after about half of the egg I went eggless.
Tsumura and I were in awe and greatly enjoying a marvelous feast. Conversation flowed nicely and as usual topics of politics and foreign relations come up when people from different countries gather amidst food and drink. Usually it’s in a good way. Sometimes I think world leaders should spend more time in casual conversation over food and drink. We talked about my visit to Hiroshima and I found out that many Japanese would like for Obama to visit the city. Japan today is a million miles away from the war and I sensed no animosity towards Americans whatsoever while traveling the country. Laughter and good conversation amidst a fabulous array of food made for the perfect ending of a Triple A+ day in Japan.
Mary closed out the evening with a piece by Schubert and Mozart on a beautiful Steinway Grand Piano. Tsumura had informed me that Mary was part of a prominent Kyoto family. Her contemporary yet traditional apartment was very classy and everything was top notch. I couldn't be more grateful for Mary's and Tsumura's hospitality.
Ironically my accommodation was only a 10 minute walk from Mary’s. Tsumura and I parted ways at the subway. What a great day! If you travel in Japan don't turn down Japanese hospitality .
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