The World Wanderer: Nagai- A thought or two

Nagai is a place that is always so foreign to me yet so familiar. I know the places to go and the things to do. It has a home feel to it, but it’s the strangeness that keeps me intrigued and interested. It’s like there is always something to learn. Always something that distracts or amazes me. It’s never boring. One could say or assume that that’s because I enjoy learning and observing people, but it’s really the culture. The more I learn about Japanese people in the country side the more I understand and can communicate with them, yet they are never a bore and there is always something more to learn.

What is it about Nagai that I love so very much??

Well maybe it’s the comfort. The sense of family, the sense of community, the sense of friendship. There is this constant sound of children’s laughter during the day. Old ladies in aprons riding their bikes in the middle of the road. Children playing together without a worry of strangers or fear at all. At night when the children are tucked into bed, then the sound of drunken Japanese men Kampi-ing swarm the streets. Young people Karaoke-ing can be heard from blocks until the wee hours of the mornings. Sometimes until dawn. There is always a friendly hello and greeting amongst friends and strangers alike when passed on the streets. Cars are left with keys in them, doors left unlocked, bikes sitting outside and a friendly person chasing you down because you dropped a dollar.

Maybe it’s the vegetation. The greenness and earth. The sense of Mother Nature that brings such down to earth joy amongst there residents. Every house has a tree or a garden. The mountains are full of large green trees, flowers and mountain vegetables. There are personal gardens on every corner. Flower gardens that are more beautiful than words could ever describe. In the spring Cherry Blossoms bloom in full, Tulips, Azaleas, Big beautiful Iris’s. Nagai-jin flock to these gardens full in bloom and celebrate their beauty with huge festivals full of lights, shishi dragons, traditional music, tea ceremonies, and traditional foods like donburi, takoyaki, and okinominyaki. Then when the festival comes to an end there are endless Otsukarasamadishita parties for the adults with beer, sake and karaoke. All this because a flower blooms. Also there seems to be an endless sound of life, I’m not talking just the sound of people, but the sound of secedes, the sound of crickets and frogs. There are dragonflies, and butterflies, there are yellow and black spiders and bird. It seems as though not only people are happy here, but the rest of Gods critters are also.

Maybe it’s because I feel inspired here. There isn’t a shopping mall, a movie theater nor a bowling alley. Just mom and pop shops, restraints and homes. But somehow none of those matters, what I always want to do is walk, paint and write. I feel so inspired here, like I just can’t sit still. I have to be doing something creative all the time. Today, for example, I was inside watching TV, and finally couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to get up. I picked up my laptop, grabbed a blanket and walked to the park (where I am write now) and began to type. Just typing whatever came to mind. Whatever inspires me.

Maybe it’s because I lived here so long that it feels like home. I know the streets, the shops and the people. I still see students of mine at the park and they say “Oh! Hello! How are you?” oh my how they have grown. I see parents who greet me with a “long time no see, are you moving back?” I know where to go if I need or want something; I know what streets to wander down and where to find my favorite food and people.

No matter what it is, the fact still remains, that I have a love for Nagai.