Commuting to Work....

Twice a week I commute to work out of town.  The destination being the town of Takahata.  Initially my commute there involved walking or driving to Yonezawa station, riding the train to Takahata, and taking a taxi to my final destination.  That changed earlier this year when our school came into possession of a former teacher's car.  That teacher had driven used the vehicle up in northern Yamagata.  Once she returned to her home country the vehicle was freed up for use by another school.

My commute consists of a drive up Route 13.  This road runs up the centre of Yamagata prefecture along its north-south axis.  At the southern end it's a two lane road which goes through what more or less a series of car dealerships, convenience stores, small eateries, warehouses, and small industrial sites.  I would hazard to say that its closest relative in Vancouver would be Kingsway...which is another road I drove upon frequently (coincidence perhaps?).

Anyways, I spotted a car dealership sign a few months ago which had me scratching my head a bit.  The name sported on its signage is "Metis".  Yes, that's exactly what's spelled out on the sign in the English alphabet.  About a month later I conjectured that the name was an incorrect reading of an English word which had been imported into Japanese.  Two weeks ago I spotted the Japanese katakana rendering of the company's name.  It read "Medeisu".  Okay, there went my theory that it was supposed to be "meteisu" or "maties".

Another feature on Route 13 which caught my eye is an abandoned two story building at the south end of a bridge not far from the southern border of Takahata town.  It's been stripped of fixtures such as doors and windows but hasn't been completely covered in scaffolding and tarps...a sign in Japan that a building is being demolished.  I had no idea what it used to be and I often thought it may be a building which is awaiting renovation.

A few weeks ago I drove up to Tendo to catch a Montedio Yamagata match with a friend.  He used to live in Yonezawa but presently works in Niigata.  When we passed the above mentioned building he quipped that it had once been a love hotel, a hotel catering to couples who needed a private room to engage in amorous activities, which had a brightly coloured sign on top that featured an image of a pink Godzilla.  I've seen plenty of uses of Godzilla in advertising products and services in Japan but I must say that was the first time I've heard of Godzilla, furthermore a pink version, being employed to advertise a love hotel.  Certainly must of have stood out a lot in comparison to the demure sign for the Faeries Hotel down the road. 

Something Heard A While Ago

I don't remember when exactly I heard the following story.  It had to be about a week or so after I returned to Japan from my trip to Canada.  By my calculations it would've been July 15th when I last visited the place where I heard it which is a "snack" (a ubiquitous type of bar which usually serves drinks on a time based fee rate and always features a karaoke system) called "Ruru".

The lead up to the story was where the proprietress mentioned to the customer sitting two seats to my left that I worked as a conversational English teacher.  The fellow went off on the usual segue about not knowing how to speak English.  The next part of his monologue went into the only trip he had made to an English speaking locale.  The place in question being Oahu, Hawaii, and the time was his honeymoon about 25 years ago.

As was typical in those days, he and his wife went to Hawaii on a honeymoon tour.  That meant the newlyweds went on their honeymoon with other newlyweds on a group tour.  He mentioned that the tour company had supplied the group members with food vouchers which could be redeemed at establishments which catered to Japanese tourists.

After three days of that fare this fellow had had enough.  He wanted something different and his wife was in agreement.  So the two of them went off on their own to find a restaurant in Waikiki which looked "Western"...that meaning the place didn't have menus or signs in Japanese and it wasn't on the list recommended by their tour company.

They found themselves at the entrance of a nice looking restaurant.  The couple looked at each other and thought that a meal there would set them back a bit.  But they were determined to experience something unique so they didn't turn back.  The maitre d' didn't speak Japanese and the storyteller didn't speak much English.  All he could manage was "dinner", "honeymoon", and "please"...not in exactly in that order.  Nonetheless, it was enough to get a message across and they found themselves seated at a table in a dining room which featured a floor to ceiling high aquarium tank.  They also found themselves with a problem of trying to figure out the menu so they could place an order.

Fortune was on their side that night.  The maitre d' returned with an African-American kitchen staff member in tow.  It turned out that the kitchen staffer had been stationed in Okinawa during his tour of duty with the US military.  So he knew a bit of Japanese.  He was more than happy to help explain the menu to the newlyweds.

The meal the newlyweds had was delightful and they were more than pleased with their turn of luck.  In addition they were extremely grateful to the staff for being so accommodating.  They quite literally had had the time of their lives...as I could tell as I watched the man tell his story and he smiled to himself....