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Megapost on Japan: Part 3

Day eight, nine and ten -cont'd (Fri - Sun) - Hello countryside!:
Upon boarding the high-speed "Thunderbird Express," we embarked for the last leg of our vacation. After the long trip back to Osaka, we got on a local train and literally took it to the end of the line - a place called Tamba Sasayama (丹波篠山). As the crow flies, it's about 40 miles north-west of Osaka.
The moment we got off the train, I was in awe. The roads were wide and not at all full of cars. Every direction I looked were hills and mountains full of thick, green foliage. I felt like I had jumped into the land of Totoro (one of my favorite movies).
Wami's friends were too generous, making us wonderful food for each meal and spending all their time with us.

This college buddy of Wami's married a classmate who decided to leave the high life so he could pursue his dream to become a renowned potter. He dove in head first, buying a plot of land in the countryside of Sasayama and building a unique home - or maybe cabin would be more appropriate - complete with a kiln for firing his pottery. Tamba Sayasama itself is known for a history of pottery dating back hundreds of years. This home in Tamba was beautiful, custom built out of a very fragrant, locally grown wood. The house had no cooling and used only a wood stove for indoor heating. Each evening, we built a fire in another heating unit primarily for heating up the water in their ofuro. You want to talk about HOT water? I'm pretty sure you could have cooked an egg in that water.

Overall, it seemed like living in a dream. The house backed right up against the mountains. They often had monkeys and all kinds of wild animals wander down into their yard. We hiked right up into the hills from the backyard.Taisei and their boy were almost the same age, so they had a great time running wild, indoors and out. After we got back, Taisei kept asking to play with their boy again.

Over the weekend, we spent time relaxing, checking out the local pottery museum, learning about how to make pottery at home, playing with the kids, and eating. I helped dig a hole meant to keep daikon fresh - which is apparently more effectively done by a covering of dirt than a chill in the fridge.

I greatly enjoyed being so close to wild, but still having the comforts of a country-style Japanese home.

The day we left was a day I'd rather forget. Of course, there was the fact that we didn't want to come home. But to make matters worse, we had a very long trip to get back. Basically, this was it: 1 hour by train back to Osaka, more trains to Kansai Airport, the 10 hour flight back to SF, a 3 hour layover, 2 hours back to Salt Lake, 1 hour to pick up Hiro and finally get home. Altogether, we were traveling for something just under 24 hours. And then, I only slept briefly that evening and ended up at work just 5 hours after getting back home. My recommendation for next time would be to stay home and veg, even if you can't sleep. It was miserable day at work.

One good part of the trip home: we got to sneak out of the airport to see the family. There was one brand new member I hadn't met yet - baby Samuel! Overall, the trip was awesome and well worth a painful trip home.

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