Waking up in Utsunomiya

Host mother Kimiko-san is already 73 years old, but looks just like 50. I didn’t understand how until I saw her house, also fortunate enough, to be able to sleep in it for one night.

Kimiko-san’s house is completely made of wood: walls, rooftop, and furniture. Everything has a warm texture that gives out golden glow. It is such a beautiful place! I later found out, Kimiko-san and her ottosan(husband) Moriyama-san were girl and boy scout leader. Under this mutual interest in kids and outdoor activities, they furnish their house with ropes and knots falling down from the roof for kids to climb up and down like Tazan from the Disney movie.

Later in the afternoon that day, four teenage girls showed up in front of Kimiko’s door. They asked if they could come in to play. Kimiko-san joyfully let them in and showed them the way, even though she had never known them before, only thing she knew was that they live nearby. I was so impressed by the trust and understanding they had given to each other. For Kimiko, she does not take it as a burden, that those kids might make a mess in her house. For those kids and their parents, they must know about Kimiko either themselves or heard from other people, and they trust her a great deal!

Japanese are really pioneers in human ergonomics. From the butt-warming toilet seat, feet-warming wooden floor, temperature-preserving Ofuro, to intelligent baking matrix, technology is integrated into every detail in life, making it enjoyable and pleasant.

The next day in the morning, Kimiko-san took me to the ichigo field nearby. The strawberry of Tochigi is big and red. Bite it, it’s very “amai”(sweet) and mitsu-mitsu-shi(watery). It was until later when I realized that almost all the strawberries sold both in Yokohama (where I live) and near Tokyo Tech Ookayama campus are from Tochigi. Then it becomes really interesting just to imagine those strawberries arriving at Tokyo after a relaxing three-hour-bus-ride from Tochigi, just like what I did!

It was really chilly after picking strawberry, so Kimiko invited me to an ofuro nearby. The hot spring is around 45-50 degrees, warmer than a lot of hot spring in China. Everyone took off her clothes in the changing room, facing each other without secret at all. It’s in the Ofuro that different shapes of body, types of personality and levels of literacy blurred the boundary. This reminds me of a Buddhist saying, “we were born into this world naked, and will leave this world naked too”. The possession we obtain, during the meantime, is just a process, not a result. Remember this, then there isn’t really too much to be burdened in life.

At the lunch with Sato-sensei after the ofuro, we did some tempura soba (freshman level) and tororo(yam) soba (intermediate level). Taste very different from the soba I made at home. I told Sato-sensei I had been worrying of being rejected by this YSEP program because when I was applying, there was Senkaku Island conflict that put a lot of tension on China-Japan relationship. Sato-sensei then spoke, “Na, we don’t really care about it. It’s not going to affect your application.” I don’t know why, but this short comment stirred up quite a bit of emotion in me. I want to say a lot of thanks to them.

Hard to explain, but warm inside.