No Wonder

Driving back from Minakami, we encountered some construction on the highway. Needless to say, the road was practically packed with workers. However, a majority of them were not working on the construction itself. Rather, they were standing still waving flashing lights. Some stood alone, but most were in groups.

Upon doing a bit of research, I have found that Japan's unemployment rate hovers around five percent. Japan has traditionally had very low unemployment rates. Now I know why!

A Memorable Encounter With Age-Soba

After lunch at the little soba shop I described in my previous post, we couldn't resist buying a bag of their age-soba. Age-soba is the result of frying raw soba noodles. These noodles taste sort of like normal soba, but with a satisfying crunch.

Inaka Soba Lunch

Before leaving Minakami to return to Tokyo earlier this week, we stopped for a late soba lunch. When we walked in the door of the restaurant after 2 pm, it was still bustling with activity. We sat down at a little table that, with our long legs, wasn't all that comfortable to sit at. The little Obasan (old lady) who ran the shop brought us soba-cha (buckwheat tea) and asked us if we were the Smiths. I mean, aren't all gaijin named 'Smith'? We told that we weren't and that we were new to the area.

For my lunch, I ordered ten-zaru soba, cold soba noodles with tempura. I have to say, it was truly delicious. The soba was very good, but it was the tempura that made the meal. The vegetables were incredibly fresh. The batter was unbelievably light. The combination was heavenly. It was the perfect end to our first stay up at Minakami.

Pippi and the Car

Just by saying the word 'car' within earshot of Pippi, you can get her attention. Her little ears poke up and she stares into your face with alacrity. Before going downstairs to the car, Pippi has to put on a harness that serves as part of her seat belt. Although she usually protests loudly when someone tries to slip something over her head, this harness is never a problem. In the elevator her tail thumps vigorously. When we get down to the garage, she bolts to our car, where she circles in excitement before someone opens the door to the backseat. At this point, she leaps in and sits relatively patiently until one of us climbs in with and buckles her seat belt. When the car gets going, she plops herself into someone's lap and falls asleep, awaking only when we near our destination. Pippi likes to smell the air outside. Sometimes I open the window for her. But, recently, Pippi has opened the window on her own. For the third time, yesterday, she stepped on the switch until the window was down low enough for her to stick her head partway out.

Minakami

After giving up our country house by Yamanaka-ko, a lake at the foot of Mt. Fuji, my family missed spending time outside of the city on weekends. So, my parents started looking for another house. We had shared our Yamanaka-ko house with a couple other families. This time, Dad was looking for a smaller house for us to rent on our own. In doing it this way, we would be able to go up to the country anytime we wanted. After about a month of hunting around, Mom and Dad went up to an area in Gunma-ken called Minakami. They looked at a few possible houses for us. Dad went up there one more time before we made our decision.

I didn't get to come up here until last weekend. We arrived on Sunday night. Dad drove up with Pippi beforehand, while we three took the train a little bit later. Getting up to the house from the station is incredibly easy. That is, except for one tiny detail. The last stretch of the hill is very narrow. It is also very steep. So much so that when you drive up it, you are lurched back in your seat quite violently. However, after the minute or so it takes to ascend this stretch, you are right in front of the house. The schlep factor on this house is greatly reduced from what we are used to. Thank goodness!

When I woke up on Sunday and peeked out of the window of the little A-frame room my sister and I shared, a beautiful view awaited me. All around us were tall, luscious trees, and behind them, vast green mountains. I couldn't wait to explore the area.