15 August 2009

In trepidation I attended Japanese class. My fears were justified, as I have slipped so far behind. Mind you, there were only a couple of familiar faces. New to class were a Korean girl and a Chinese guy, who could both speak quite a bit of Japanese. In fact, she was able to hold a conversation with the teacher, and I wondered why she was coming to lessons at all. It only served to make me feel even more useless.

I made my excuses at noon and rushed off to Shinagawa station, where I was meeting Jill and her friend Anna for our night away in Kanagawa. We splashed out on 'green car' seats, which are spacious and comfortable, though they do cost half as much again. But the fare for the hour's journey was very reasonable anyway. We nattered away and ate our lunch, and soon pulled in to Zushi station, at the coast. Anna doesn't have any children, so it made it easier to avoid talking about the kids!

It was a scorching day - perhaps 35C - but the humidity was thankfully low. We walked slowly down to the beach, which we found to be heaving with Japanese taking a rare day off to play. In any case, we were heading around the bay for the harbour, as Anna had suggested a boat trip. I felt for 6-month pregnant Jill, as we walked quite a distance in the blazing sun with only a mild breeze to take the edge off the oven-like heat. I can usually get away with unprotected sun exposure (though I know I shouldn't), but after only half an hour I could see strong marks where my T-shirt had been.

We finally tracked down the boat company's desk and booked onto the trip. Their launch was a fair size and mainly covered; once we got moving it was lovely to be in the fresh air and under shade.



We moved slowly out into the bay through many sailing boats, canoes and jetskiis, passing by some outlying rocks on which a large red torii (a sort of shrine gate) had been erected.



Once into open water the young captain opened the throttle and we surged forward excitingly, making quick progress southwards towards Enoshima island.



As we neared the famous attraction we saw that the rocks around the seaward base of the island were swarming with people. I remembered reading that there were lots of shrine caves and could see that there were walkways allowing easy access into the caverns.



Having viewed Enoshima we turned for home, speeding back along a mile or so off the shore. Some sail boats looked very attractive in the light of the sun as it started its slow descent towards evening.



We had noticed some nice looking cafes on our way to the marina, and made our way back to one for a coffee and some dainty cakes. Next to the cafe was a small piece of beach, and we decided to have a quick dip before we returned to the station. We found the dark volcanic sand to be very pleasant under our feet, and the water temperature was surprisingly comfortable. I wished I had packed my swimwear after all as there was no-one to see me anyway, the crowds all being on the main beach some way off.

After a long paddle we walked back to the station (our accommodation for the night was a further 15 minutes up the line in Kinugasa). We were running a bit late and jumped into a cab, as Jill had negotiated for dinner to be held back until 6.30 and it was already past that. The taxi ride took an eternity, winding around narrow back lanes up into the wooded hills beyond the town. Just as darkness began to fall we finally arrived at the guesthouse. It was extremely traditional, and like a lot I have stayed in, rather run down. It seemed to be staffed by just a trio of elderly women in aprons. I think we were the only guests, and possibly the only foreigners they had accommodated. We were shown to our room, which looked out over the hills and town back to the coast. It was reasonable enough for the price we were paying, though a bit grubby in places.


We changed into yukata while the women scuttled off to cook the meal. Dinner was served in another guest room down the corridor, which allowed them to make up our futons while we ate. The food was decent: very good tempura and the usual array of tiny dishes of unrecognisable vegetable matter and some thick slabs of sashimi. We sat and chatted for quite a while before we realised that we were probably holding them up from clearing the table, and repaired to our room which was now set up as sleeping quarters.

As always, there was a communal bath, and we trooped off down there for a quick dip. The room was lined with white tiles and there were just a few rocks around the bath to make it look a bit natural. Jill and I found the water too hot to do more than put our lower legs in, but Anna managed to submerge herself for a while. High summer is not the best time to appreciate a lingering dip in scalding water. We sat and talked there for a while, listening to the cicadas and other night noises outside.


It was only about 9pm, but poor Jill was flagging and immediately lay down. I had promised to show Anna a shooting star, as she had never seen one before. The Perseids annual shower was just past its peak, but I thought we stood a good chance as we were out of the town and the sky was clear. The two of us ventured back down to the lobby, only to find everything shut up for the night. Luckily one of the old ladies was around and Anna, who can speak some Japanese, managed to convey our desire to stargaze. The woman came out with us onto the steps outside to look, and even turned out the outside lights for us. We were rewarded for our trouble within a few minutes by a magnificent meteor that streaked across directly above for a whole second, and we all happened to be looking the right way at once. Anna and I stayed out for a further 10 minutes or so but failed to see another.