Best Travel Night Ever
When Yuka and I travel to Japan together, we usually devote about a week to separate travel. Yuka visits old friends in Tokyo, and I go on what we’ve begun to call my “adventure week.” This is the time I go off to explore somewhere that I find interesting but usually will be forced to stretch my limited Japanese language skills. One year, I decided I wanted to get a look at Ama culture while it still exists. Ama are the traditional women divers who free dive to the bottom and collect oysters, scallops, and other mollusks. With climate change and modern aqua-farming techniques, this lifestyle is not long for this world. There are still tourist lunches in Ama huts, bringing busloads of tourists who enjoy lunch and hear stories of what the life used to be like. It’s a quick in-and-out, then back to Toba proper for pearl shopping.
I wanted more. I wanted to get a feel for what life is like in the area. I booked a two-night stay at the Ise-Shima Ohtaya Healing Stay Ryokan on the outskirts of Toba proper. It was about a 35-minute taxi ride from the train station to the inn. The hotel was very nice, but they did not offer an evening meal except for the Kaiseki (multi-course meal) option. Since I didn’t have a reservation for the meal, I asked where the nearest convenience store was. I never thought I’d hear the words: there isn’t one in the village. I don’t know that I’ve ever been more than a few blocks from a C-store. Not to worry, they said — there is a great izakaya (a bar that serves food) only a three-minute walk from here. Awesome! They gave me something resembling a map, and off I went. Some 45 minutes later, I still hadn’t found the place. It’s worth mentioning that this village had few, if any, streetlights. On my failed attempt to find the place, I asked a delivery guy, a barber, and the clerk at another hotel for directions. Most of the conversation was via Google Translate, as we had far surpassed my Japanese language skills.
When I had just about resigned myself to being a little hungry, I spotted an older couple walking along and showed them my map, pointed, and used the translator. Much to my relief, they let me know they were going to the same place. Saved! Upon arrival, I realized there is no way I would have ever found it, as the place resembled the residence it was much more than the izakaya it becomes at night. Once inside, the small room held about ten seats at a bar and a couple of occupied tables. The older couple took what looked like their regular seats at one end of the bar; I took a spot at the other.
After a few minutes, a middle-aged man moved next to me and said, in somewhat rusty English, that he used to travel to Europe when he was a corporate guy, and asked if it would be OK to try to speak English with me. We talked for a few minutes, and soon enough the rough English-Japanese conversation became less awkward. He appreciated the way I ordered various foods, foods most gaijin (foreigners) wouldn’t try. At one point he said, “Ichi-go ichi-e,” which translates to “one time, one place.” I sat up and said, “I know ichi-go ichi-e.” His face lit up. I then typed, “That’s the magic of solo travel,” and he let out a big laugh. I felt like I was home.
At some point during the night, I noticed they served chicken skin gyoza. I wasn’t sure what that was but thought I’d better try it. It was as promised — a gyoza that used chicken skin instead of a traditional wrap. It was like biting a piece of heaven. I ate many small plates and had some beverages. When I got ready to leave and asked for my check, my new friend wouldn’t let me pay. He said he had so much fun chatting that it wouldn’t seem fair for me to pay, and it was his treat — except for the sanma (a thin, very bony fish) I had trouble eating.
I went back into the dark night and walked right back to the hotel. When I laid down to sleep, I thought that this may have been my perfect travel night. The hotel was great, the dark streets and confusion getting to the izakaya, and the warmth of the people I met there made it a most unforgettable night. Not just unforgettable, but maybe my best travel night ever.
