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    🎌🛏️ Day 36 (A) 🛏️🎌

    October 8 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Day 36 (Part A)
    Rest Day recap:

    Just a quiet post today. A rest day, as Yuki, Masa, Lisa, and I savored calmness.

    In the morning, we lingered over breakfast, watching a bit of baseball on TV. At 12:30 PM, Yuki needed to be in 甲府市 (Kōfu-shi, Kofu City) for a local radio program that would feature her, so we all piled into the car and made the hourish drive through the familiar busy roads to Kofu.

    Lisa and I got to sit in the radio studio with Yuki, listening to her talk about 書道 (shodō – calligraphy), sister state relationships, and how she came to move from Hiroshima to Yamanashi. We loved hearing her stories spoken in Japanese. Although we could only understand less than ten percent of what she said, we could feel the excitement and love in her interview.

    Afterward, we followed Masa’s usual mission of ramen hunting. We stopped at a mom and pop ramen (ラーメン, rāmen) shop outside Kofu. Masa, one of many self-appointed “Ramen Critics of Yamanashi,” took an artistic photo of his bowl of ramen and then sampled with serious concentration.

    After the ramen lunch, we returned to Yuki and Masa’s home where we enjoyed a rest day nap.

    We work up to a glowing sunset and a quiet house. Masa and Yuki were out so Lisa and I went for a walk to savor the incredible glowing views of Fuji one last time.

    As we returned so did Masa and Yuki. We then gathered for a gentle dinner. We watched Japanese TV, mostly the news updates about the typhoon moving nearby. The current storm is Typhoon Halong, which is brushing the Japanese coast with heavy rain and strong winds. It is causing alerts in parts of the Izu Islands and prompting warnings for flooding and landslides. We should only feel the effects of some wind and chilly conditions.

    We turned in early around 9 PM because we had agreed to meet for coffee at 6:15 AM. Yuki had another calligraphy event to prepare for in the morning, and we would need to get rolling for a hard day ahead. A 98 on my rating scale of one to 100, with just over 55 miles and about 6,500 feet of climbing.

    As we settled in for the night, the house felt quiet and peaceful. There was warmth, comfort, and also a touch of sadness knowing tomorrow we would say goodbye to Yuki and Masa. The kindness, laughter, and generosity we shared here will stay with us long after we ride away.    Read more