So, now I'm in Japan. The town is called Yonago, in
the prefecture of Tottori. Both are pretty much due
west of Osaka and on the Sea of Japan. It's summer by
the beach here in that it's kind of hot (around 85
degrees F) and humid. Yoshimi's parents are very nice
and hospitable and they have a comfretable high tech
japanese style (tatami mats and sliding doors, etc.)
house. The toilet seat is automatic and always warm.
It's a scientifically proven fact that it must just be
magic.
Descending into Osaka we flew over an exterior
matrix of ricefields and forested hills (even a
ridgeline of wind turbines overlooking the sea)
interspersed with structures to the point that it is
impossible to say where one community ends and another
begins, yet there is no feel of a cohesive city. Yet.
As we approached Osaka proper the shoreline becomes
geometric and highly developed, increasingly becoming
industrial. Flat bionic man-made islands appear and
sky scrapers loom inland. Upon disembarking from the
airport we ride busses for hours along elevated
freeways many stories above and amongst the bustling
humanity of so many people in such a confined space.
Which is not to say that the city is compact. Indeed
it was different from any place I have ever seen and
could hardly imagine. We drove for hours through
towering high rise appartment buildings and all other
kinds of structures eventually to emerge in to the
forested matrix of hills, fields and communities. It
appeared that even small towns along the free way had
large big-box buildings, speaking to the difference of
Japanese community design.
As it got dark and we approached another town I saw
out the bus window a solitary young man standing near
a blazing ten foot tall bonfire amongst the rice
paddies and rural dirt lanes.
It's good to know that places like Japan exist, in the distance and perpetually across the seas riding the fanciful waves of countless dreams and contentful salvations.
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