This
morning, Nicky and I woke up early to try and watch a kyudo practice
downtown. However, when we got there, the sports center was closed, so
we decided to visit the cemetery Nicky had discovered earlier this week.
The cemetery was really peaceful, with only the hum of cicada in the
background. We walked the paths for nearly forty minutes, before
deciding it was getting too hot and quietly making our exit to return to
the downtown area. On the way out, a blue butterfly followed us for a
few feet, which I thought was pretty cool.
When we got back to the marketplace,
we decided to go get some fresh bread at the Kufokudo Cafe we’ve been
visiting for a few days now. It was super delicious; we had some curry
bread, melon bread and a three-filling (adzuki, cream and grape) bread
as well. Nicky treated me to some matcha shaved ice, which was sorely
needed because it is still so humid around here. It reminds me of
Louisiana quite a bit, so I think I’m better adjusted to the humidity
than some of my other classmates at present. At the very least I don’t
feel like I’m suffocating to breathe in the air.
We walked the streets a bit more after
that; I got some school supply and a new backpack for next week, and we
found some pretty cheap fruit as well. (Five hundred yen for two asian
peaches isn’t bad!) We even found a peach tree for sale for $18, but
given the fact that we won’t be able to bring it back to North America
with us, we passed on the purchase. On our way to the local shinto
temple, we were stopped by a camera crew wanting our opinion on Japanese
funerals. Even though my Japanese is sketchy at best, I was able to
make out that they wanted to know if other countries cremated their dead
and sent them into the air with rockets.... not in the US, as far as
I’m aware.
We don’t know if we’re going to be on
TV or not, but they both were incredibly friendly. If anything happens,
we’ll be on channel 4 tonight, most likely. Afterwards, we finally went
to the temple and were able to get two priests to recite sutras on our
behalf on the way in. It’s a really nice temple. One of the things I’ve
noticed about Japan so far is how everything is incredibly intimate
here. People aren’t cold; I’ve felt incredibly welcomed here.
Overall, a great day.... and it’s only 5pm!