Chapter 56: CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Reads: 164
Comments: 1

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

The next morning I asked the Okusan for directions to Wajima and how long it takes by car.

"I always take Route 8 to 249. They're both major highways and quite fast. And there are road signs that should help get you there. I usually make it in about two and a half hours"

"Well little buddy here we go to Wajima. I think I know the way well enough now. Just pray that main street where I ate my sushi at last night is Route 8."

It wasn't.

"I'm sure the Okusan knows the way blindfolded, she's done it so many times. And by car. But this is our first time, damn it."

Beeep!

Again the frustration of having to ask for directions twice for it and not getting clear answers because so few streets in Japan have names. It took us thirty minutes just to get us out of Kanazawa.

"I sure hope we have better luck on the rest of this drive to Wajima, little buddy."

Beeep!

The drive from Route 8 to 249 wasn't bad, but it was all inland and went through many small towns. But just as the Okusan said, it was a wide major road and quite fast. And jammed with cars and trucks, natch.

Getting to Route 249 wasn't as bad as I feared. Again as the Okusan said, there were plenty of road signs for it. But it was narrower and had lots of curves and wasn't anywhere near as fast. It did though occasionally go along the coast in a few short sections.

"Hey little buddy, this coast sure isn't like the southern coast of Shikoku. Look at how close the mountains are to the beach. And how jagged! They sure as hell aren't like those hilly mountains on the southern coast of Shikoku."

Beeep!

It took us almost six hours to get to Wajima. And then there was the search for a place to stay. Route 249 suddenly made a right angle turn and I found us on the main street of Wajima. I drove us along it for about ten minutes to a bridge crossing a river and doubled back.

"Plenty of sushi shops on this street, little buddy. And coffee shops with morning breakfast. I'll bet there are plenty of minshuku just off this street to stay at and --Hey, there's one right there!''

Be-Beep!

I kept driving us along the main street until we got back to the right angle turn. There I spied a ryokan and thought maybe, just maybe, it would be as cheap as a minshuku. Then I saw the tour minibus parked in front of it and the sign reading ''Wajima Ryori Ryokan."

''Not for us, little buddy. Way too expensive. And I'd rather eat at one of those sushi shops anyway."

Beeep!

I decided to take a look at the minshuku I had spied just off the main street. It looked nice enough and very close to the main drag with all its sushi and coffee shops. "Let's give this one a try, little buddy."

Be-Beep!

The room the minshuku's middle-age Okusan showed me was a somewhat small three mat room without a TV. But it was clean and certainly large enough for one person. "Can I stay sudomari? All these sushi shops really look nice."

The Okusan chuckled."Oh yes they are. My husband and I often eat at one ourselves when we don't have guests."

"Well then, how much would this room cost sudomari?"

She gave me a price that was about what I had learned to expect for a minshuku in a small city.

"Then I'll take it. Is three nights OK?

"Of course."

"Can I take my ofuro as soon as I get my cub parked in your parking lot and bring in my luggage?"

"Certainly. The other couple staying with us has already taken theirs."

I parked the cub next to a car that I assumed was the 'other couple's' and grabbed my saddle bags. "It'll be a lot lighter for you without these damn things weighing you down, little buddy."

Be-Beep!

As I was expecting for a minshuku, the ofuro was quite small. But the water was still nice and warm and I could soak in it as long as I wanted to. Once again to get all the kinks out of my body from all that driving.

When I got out of the ofuro it was already late. I bet those sushi shops will be probably be pretty crowded at this hour.

They were.

I walked along the main drag looking at the various sushi shops and spied one that, although all its tables were taken, there were a few vacant seats left at the wide counter where I wanted to sit anyway and entered.

"Do you have nodoguro?" I asked the non-smiling itamae sushi chef standing behind the counter.

He shook his head. "Not for a few weeks yet when it's the season for the ones that have a lot of fat on them start coming in."

My God, the the nodoguro I ate in Kanazawa wasn't the best of blackthroat seaperch? "Well, how about a Nihonkai moriawase?"

"Yeah, that I can do."

"Well then, one moriawase please."

"That'll take a while," he said still no hint of a smile on his face.

When my tray of mixed Sea of Japan fish arrived, I found it had twelve pieces, instead of ten. Again, just like in Kanazawa, it had a sweetness that I hadn't tasted in the sushi of either Kyoto or Osaka. I saw a sign on the wall. "All our sushi is made with vinegar from here in Ishikawa Prefecture." Could that vinegar mixed into the rice for the sushi make all the difference?

When I got back to the minishuku, my stomach was no more filled than with the sushi I'd eaten when I was in Kanazawa. But I didn't give a damn. I quickly laid down my sleeping futon, slipped into it, and fell instantly into an exhausted sleep.

Submitted: October 05, 2024

Romance romance japan gaijin travel-in-japan japan-1970s

Like
Shelfit

Chapters

T
Prologue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64

Add Your Comments:

Sign in to write a comment

Comments

B Douglas Slack

A tad more detail in this chapter, ken. I like it.

When I was living in German back in 1957 and doing bicycle tours, we tended to stay away from hostels that accommodated tour busses and the like. Instead, we opted for the smaller hostels, usually those with no kitchen so we didn't have to pay for food even if we didn't eat there. More fun to wander about and sample local cuisine anyway.

I have a sweet rice vinegar I like to use when I make my own sushi. Not harsh, like a lot of vinegars are.

Bill

Fri, October 25th, 2024 3:17pm

Author
Reply

Glad you like this chapter, Bill. It's really a transition between Kanazawa and Wajima. My wife and I went to Kanazawa on our honeymoon, By train, not by bike. We didn't particularly like Kanazawa much. So, we took the train to Wajima (the train there was still running then) and enjoyed it much more.

Ken

Sun, October 27th, 2024 6:30pm