Anselm and I flew into Kagoshima airport, in southern Kyushu, and enjoyed an hour’s comfortable bus ride to the city station through beautiful lush countryside, exactly the model for those paintings of forested knolls and rice paddies that I always thought were fantasy reflections of Guilin and Yangshou. We smoothly picked up our Japan Rail passes and headed for the ferry to Sakurajima, our island destination for tonight. An active volcano ringed with fishing villages and farms, the mountain often spews ash but is currently quiet. Tomorrow’s plan is to circle the island by bus, visiting the lava fields. We might have done it today, but missed the afternoon pickup. Luckily, maybe, Anselm spotted a dinosaur park on the map that was a short but steep walk up a nearby hill, which he pulled off manfully despite the heat, tiredness and major mosquito bite discomfort.
Eventually we jumped on the bus to our hotel, an onsen ryokan. This ryokan is a true full-fledged Japanese experience, with virtually no English, signage or spoken. So we have been tentatively feeling our way through the many rules and rituals of shoe removal, clothing, bathing, dining and tatami sleeping. Upon arrival we were seated in the lounge and served two speckled golden bowls of a bright green, frothy tea with lava-rock-like chunks of sugar candy: both loved by the boy. In our tatami room, which smells like a freshly mown field of hay, we changed into our robes, drank more tea with some wonderful cakes and looked at the view; Anselm updated his notebook with a picture of his newly discovered loose tooth. At 6 the outdoor hot spring baths opened. These were astonishingly beautiful, and required several changes of footwear and robes.
We had requested a 7.15 dinner so, clean and fresh, made our way to a private tatami room where a sunset view of the bay and our hors d’oeuvres awaited. For the next hour or so, a kimonoed lady continued to appear with additional courses: soups, custards, shellfish, tempura, pork shoulder, more and more and more. Anselm was given the “children’s meal”, an incredible array of foods, including a meat patty, shrimp katsu, omelette, rice, miso soup, a noodle dish, sashimi and salad (and more!), some of which, along with some of my meal, he ate.
Over the hours, Anselm talked to me gently and sincerely of many things.. his feelings of friendship with all animals, including meat-eaters, even the mosquitoes that are tormenting him; somehow related to his vegetarianism, his knowledge of the likelihood that Blaise and I will die before him; the problem of the end of humankind, and what we might be able to do to render some other planets habitable before Earth passes to an end; how uncomfortable it was for the lady to continue bringing food when we were no longer hungry but could not be impolite (an anxiety gracefully not mentioned til jokingly after the meal); his worries about losing his baby teeth. It fascinates me that he communicated these things to me already processed: at some level he has already dealt with them, and some are too private to be fully spoken of (I was only given a hint of the death issue, for fear of upsetting me with the thought of my own death). We talked about fear of death, and the will to leave something of yourself, and the natural turnover from parents to children. Seemed he had a fair bit on his mind.
2 comments:
I guess this is where I should have placed my last comment. It doesn't matter; What a great trip!
and what a sensitive child. It shows in the photos.
Post a Comment