Japan Day 10: Hermit Envy

We've reached the last stretch of our trip, and it's taken on quite a different twist to what we've been experiencing thus far. We are staying at what I think used to be or still is a preschool or kindergarten. Breakfast is at 8:30am, not the usual 7:30am. A full extra hour to sleep. By now though, my body has become accustomed to the early mornings and the extra hour didn't do much for me. I woke with some extra time and decided to go for a walk when I realized we were in the midst of mountains and rivers. I thought it was raining throughout the night but now I knew that there was a river flowing right next to where we are staying.

My walk didn't get very far, because when I got to the riverside, I remembered Professor Glassman's words about vipers in the area. It scared me off and I went back to the lodgings.

Breakfast was served on school trays, and to my surprise, a western meal. No chopsticks provided. The feeling was odd.

Today we will spend our time at Nakamura Omasu's home deep in the mountains. The bus drove on roads that just cling onto the mountain side, barely getting through turns, everyone held their breathes, and had a celebratory applause for the driver when we finally arrived.

Nakamura is an artist who lives a very self sufficient lifestyle. He will teach us how to make traditional Japanese bound books. The covers are made from a printed cotton cloth, which I later found out Nakamura himself printed himself with blocks he carved out himself. The process was very simple but time consuming. Not that we minded at all, his art studio sat on the second floor which opened up to a view of the wide open mountain with nothing to block it.

As some were crafting, others helped prepare lunch with Atsuko. She is also an artist from Kamikatsu. The stove we used was lit by open fire, which I helped with. I was attracted to that more than anything else.

This type of living was so simple and uncluttered, I wouldn't mind living like that whatsoever. But alas, I am bound by my human ties. Not that I mind. It is my choice.

After a good few hours, we somewhat reluctantly left Nakamura's home to head for the 0 Waste Academy. We will be back tomorrow to finish the books.

The Waste Academy has 34 streams of recycling and is the reason why Kamikatsu is a zero waste community. They do not make any profits from it, but it does lower the cost of would have been garbage pick up and disposal.

They also had a huge "free box" which we Bryn Mawr women spent a good 15 minutes going through, finding trinkets and knick knacks that we liked.

I was amazed at how organized and clean it was. Normally when I think of a recycling center, I imagine a smelly place that is sticky and disgusting. This was not.

This is contemplation in a non religious manner. But it still comes down to simple, basic living, without excess desires and materials.