One of the downsides of living where we do now is that we are pretty far away from my old neighborhood in Futami. Actually it isn’t really that far as the crow flies, but because of the train systems and the way they are laid out it is a pain to get over there. That means that I don’t get to visit with the Denya master and the gang very often.
Luckily almost every year the Denya master organizes a small get-together at a restaurant in Tsuchiyama, which is a bit easier for me to reach after work. Last night I stopped in at an izakaya called “Hinode” (sunrise) and had dinner and drinks with the Master and seven other Denya regulars. These were the original gang – the first local people in Japan that I met on my own.
Fifteen years ago I walked into Denya for the first time looking for some dinner, and the master was kind enough to change all the difficult kanji into the more simple hiragana writing that I had learned. We struggled with communication, but thanks to the help with that menu I became a regular customer, and my visits to the yakitori (thanks to my empty stomach) became big motivators to learn to speak and read Japanese.
In a nice bit of “closing the circle” the Denya master had asked me to help him out recently by translating his Japanese yakitori menu into English, because there has been a few foreign customers coming in lately. So I delivered his translated menu last night, and he seemed happy about it.
The other folks were doing well, looking good, and there was some good conversation. These people grew up together, and still live in the same area – they support each other’s families and businesses and it is a pretty tight-knit group. I felt lucky to be included in their extended family last night. I’ll try to get out to Futami more often – it is amazing how fast the time flies between visits.
This weekend we’ll be catching a movie (Ready Player One) on Saturday and then visiting Kuniko’s folks on Sunday, so plenty to do. The weather has been starting to warm up slightly, and then it changes back to cold for a few days. Hopefully the good weather will hold for the weekend.
