Styx in the Sticks

So when asked about what my activities included in Kumamoto, I like to point out that one of the first things I did was step in well placed present left by a local dog. After I cleaned up with a hose (courtesy of Hiromi's friend Saori), we drove around and laughed at signs such as "Handsman!" which apparently is a store like Home Depot. Other signs included "Dramatic Communications!" and "Jolly Pasta", though I think my favorite is still “Enjoy Entertainment Space”.

Food followed and then the group decided they wanted to go to the onsen. While they did that I came to the conclusion that while I am willing to try things in Japan in an effort to be culturally adaptive, I still have a population cap of “Just Me” for bathing purposes. If you want to see how the onsen went, you may want to check Ryan’s blog.

Then that night we got to sleep in the official haunted room of Hiromi’s parent’s house. Well, not really haunted, but it is the room with the family shrine in it including pictures of past generations. More sleeping on tatami and futons. I love it.

The next day (which also happens to be the day I am writing all of this on) didn’t feature dog droppings, but it did have a slightly more relaxed pace than we have had up to this point. We spent a large part of the afternoon doing karaoke with some of Hiromi’s friends. The company was great, the songs were fun, and the air conditioning was just lovely.

That was followed by Mr. Donuts and fireworks. It is nice coming to a place where they let you set things on fire and they aren’t worried that you’ll burn down the countryside. Tomorrow will apparently include visits to the recently restored Kumamoto Castle, a famous kabuki theatre, and one of the houses of Natsumei Souseki. What crazy happenings will befall our hero next? Stay tuned!

~Jeff