My Adventures: I love you Chichibu!

6.21.08

I left work at 2:30pm to catch the train to visit my two friends, Yuma and Yo-chan, who live in Chichibu. The small city of Chichibu is located within a narrow valley of the Saitama Prefecture, which is immediately north of the Tokyo Prefecture (I live in Chiba, which is to the immediate east of Tokyo). I had to switch train lines twice before boarding the Limited Express train bound for Seibuchichibu station--my final destination. As the train zoomed in and around the mountains, I saw many beautiful and interesting things out of my rain splattered window. Because the region is so mountainous, farmers rely on terraced fields for crop production. Besides the farms, most of the remaining areas were heavily wooded and I noticed a great deal of streams and creeks that would've been ideal fishing spots had my father decided to show up at my front door. I'm not sure if it was due to the rainy, damp weather or the fact that I live in the city, but I felt calmed by the natural world passing by outside my train window.

When I got to the station I emailed Yuma on my phone, and not long after, I heard her voice welcoming me to Chichibu from Yo-chan's silver Toyota. We hugged each other and hoped in the car to head to their favorite Indian curry restaurant for dinner. We shared two bowls of curry; one made with spinach and cheese and the other was seafood curry, three orders of nan; garlic, cheese, and minced fruit with spices and shrimp salad. I was fully impressed with their recommendation by the end of the meal; I was also very full.

After dinner, we braved the rain and headed to a candle party at Yuma and Yo-chan's friend's house. Before arriving at the house, we stopped at the local convenient store to get something to bring to the party. Yuma wanted to buy Haagen Dazs and was disappointed when she realized the store didn't have any. However, in the end she was satisfied with a box of chocolate covered ice cream bars. About a fifteen minute drive away from the convenient store, Yo-chan drove down a narrow, windy driveway lined with old Japanese homes. Yuma got out to see if the ground conditions were dry enough to park the car safely without the tires getting stuck in the mud. With her approval, he stopped the car and the three of us walked toward the house. I had no idea where I was going so I walked quickly ahead. I was amazed by what I saw. Even though it was dark, I could make out a narrow walkway that cut a small rice paddy field in half. I had always seen rice paddies from far away and was so happy to have the opportunity to see one up close. It was quite dark but I could make out the green tufts of rice grass sticking up out of the top of the water in straight, neat rows. My eyes were taking all this in while my ears were listening contently to the euphonious conversations of the frogs surrounding the paddy.

I snapped back to reality when I realized that Yuma and Yo-chan were calling me to come inside their friend's house. I ran towards them and we walked up to the house; the front door of the house faced the paddy that I had found so fascinating. How amazing would it be to see that sight early every morning as you left home for work? Most likely, I would be late everyday since it would be difficult to pry my eyes away from such a stunning image.

Yuma and Yochan's friends who owned the house were a younger couple. The wife, Michiyo (her nickname was Mittan), was creating her own natural clothing line. She showed Yuma and I one of the outfits she had created for Tamaki, her five month old son. It was so adorable and easy to tell that she had enjoyed sewing each stitch. The husband, Hiroshi, was a candle maker; hence all of the large beautiful candles that illuminated both the inside and outside of the house. Obviously, he had been the one who had made all of the candles for the "candle party". Besides Mittan and Hiroshi, I met many other people. There was the Buddist monk Eishou, his wife Naoko and their two children Sorazo (a cute, three year old boy) and Momoko (one of the chubbiest baby girls I have ever seen). Sorazo kept offering us food and beetles--there was one on his shirt that he kept pretending to pull off and give to everyone in the room. I tried to play along with him using the limited Japanese that I know. Sakai-san, an older man nicknamed Momo-san (Mr. Peach), drew a portrait of me with his black ink brush. When he was finished the picture, he presented it to me as a gift! It was starting to get late, but just before we were about to leave Mittan showed us around her old Japanese home. She was so proud to show us her newborn son who was sleeping soundly in his room. She also showed us the kitchen, which I greatly admired for its simplicity (It also had a distinct smell that reminded me of the summers I spent in Canada with my family when I was young.). I have come to appreciate the Japanese sense of simplicity that I find wherever I go.

It was raining pretty hard by the time Yo-chan dropped us off at Yuma's house. Yuma's father, Hiruichi, greeted us at the door. Yuma and I both got ready for bed and then stayed awake talking for quite a while. In the morning we woke up and ate a very traditional and large Japanese breakfast. I ate: cabbage salad, tomatoes, blueberry yogurt drink, miso soup, mackeral made by Hiruichi and a roll with butter. I enjoyed as much as I could and was very full by the end. I told Hiruichi that his fish was delicious and he was very thankful. While we were eating, Yuma's sister Michiko said hello and then left to visit Yuma's oldest sister.

After breakfast we walked to church and saved a seat for Yo-chan who was on his way. By the time church was over it was about 12:30pm. Yuma and Yo-chan wanted to take me to the little cafe where Yuma works part-time. The owner and cook, Mama-san, was a very kind women as well as an excellent cook. We had a big lunch with a little dessert to go with it.

I wanted to leave Chichibu around 4pm to return home. However, since we had some time Yo-chan thought it would be a good idea to stop at one of the most famous shrines of Chichibu appropriately called the Chichibu Shrine. This particular shrine was popular for several reasons:

1. Every year, members drag a float down the shrine steps and into a nearby park. The purpose of this custom is to celebrate the affair between the male god in the shrine and the female god in a mountain shrine close by. The parade participants must walk and drum quietly until they pass the temple built for the god's wife. After passing the god's wife, they beat their drums loudly and yell in celebration as they approach the female god's mountain shrine.
2. The temple is said to be carved by the same artist who carved the famous "Three Monkeys" shrines of Nikko that I saw in November.
3. Yuma and Yo-chan explained the legend behind the shrines famous carving of a chained dragon. There was once a dragon who lived in a nearby lake. The dragon was eating many of the townspeople, and therefore, causing much damage. Around the same time, there also happened to be a carving of a dragon on the shrine. In hopes that the dragon in the lake was connected to the dragon carving, someone decided to wrap chains around the wooden dragon decorating the shrine. After the carving was chained, the beast in the lake no longer terrorized the village.

By the end of our visit to the shrine, it was about time for me to return home. I said goodbye to Yuma and Yo-chan and thanked them many times for their hospitality. The train ride back home was long but relaxing.

I saw these terraced rice paddies from the window of the train as we traveled through Saitama to Chichibu.

It rained on and off all weekend long. Behind the business man hurrying home for Saturday night dinner, you can see the misty clouds hovering in the valley near.