Rosie sure will miss this town and my neighborhood when I leave Takayama after living here for just over 1 month. Its a great feeling to be recognized and acknowledged by your neighbors when you are out and about and to be treated like a local by the places you frequent. It is such a nice feeling to have people genuinely say they are going to miss you when you leave. I feel exactly the same too, Rosie has certainly made herself at home in this town and I could honestly say I could quite comfortably move here tomorrow.
First up, let me show you my home away from home. Its no palace, but it is big enough (or small enough) for me to feel quite comfortable in. It has great light and is nice and airy, plus it has a little luxury for these here parts, a tiny outdoor terrace where I can read in the sun and hang my washing to get dry.
Like all Japanese homes there is always an area of tatami (reed) matting, this is pretty much your Japanese carpet and these mats seem to be in living rooms, bedrooms and dining areas. The inside of houses are strictly a no shoe wearing area, especially on these mats.
This room above, is my bedroom/living room, and if I did live here there would be a low table and chairs for a dining area. Because my house is small, either my bedroom or dining area would be pushed aside in preference for what you are doing at the time. 
This too is kind of luxury, a western style couch and coffee table! It is still so low….but has been a great place to have and watch my Netflix there.
See my bed stack below? This is how my bed gets made and stored during the day…..if I lived in a Japanese house there would normally be a big, deep sliding door cupboard where the household bedding goes to tuck away for the day.
This is my bed made all ready to hop into it at night. I have actually been really comfy on my futon….Rosie was dreading it, but it has been really comfy. Mind you…I have added an extra mattress to my bed stack, but it is perfect. I love the way the fitted sheet fits around the duvet so you just sleep under it, perfect!
My kitchen, bathroom and wash house are all one room. This is not unusual in Japan in older style houses or apartments in the big cities, the footprints of some homes here are pretty small. I know…. I could have done my dishes LOL
My flat has been a conversion over an old crusty garage me thinks…you can see the crusty garage from the outside pretty well…..don’t freak out, my place isn’t that bad. I have always wondered what that ladder is for….my Fire Escape? The lean to off the side is my terrace area.
To get into my house you actually go into the garage around the front of the house by the bath house, yep, through the gap in the yellow doors, there is an entry way to the house just to the right….below that is what my place looks like from the other side.
I am situated on the out skirts of the old town next to the local bath house which my land lord owns. The tall heating chimney in the middle of the picture is my landmark for getting home if I get to wandering.
The flat is next to one of the canals and the sound of continual rushing water reminds me of home and my river. The grey house is mine, I have a great view from my computer table alright.
A rusty, old, kids playground is below one of my windows and the laughter of the kids playing there after school is nice. From the terrace side, the tall trees of Shiroyama Park flank my second view.
Like I have said, everything that I need is within walking distance and it will take me about 8 mins to walk into the middle of town which is a lovely stroll along the canal bank, everyday I see something different and it is such a joy.
100 metres up the road is my local coffee shop, and the closest to where I live. Jiro works out of a tiny shop custom built in front of her house.
It has 4 chairs and she makes a mean latte amongst heaps of other specialty hot and cold brews. Her filter brewing is like a school chemistry set, all beakers and cool stuff, plus she even roasts her own beans and has canisters of beans waiting to be ground straight to your cup from all around the world.
She gets a pretty trendy crowd stopping by for kind of being situated in the middle of nowhere. Jiro dosnt open till eleven oclock….so this is normally my afternoon fix.
I see her up town sometimes in the morning and she always waves and calls hello. I didn’t get to say goodbye before I left town as she was shut for the whole weekend when she is normally open on a Saturday. Thanks for the fab coffee Jiro and making me feel so welcome.
I walk past his wee garden on my way into town, everyday…it makes me feel so happy just looking at it, the colour and the whirling spinning decorations, over the month there have been a couple of new ornaments added as well.
Most houses in this area do not have any sections so the area around their front doors are normally planted with heaps of flower boxes or vegetables in containers. There are heaps of tomatoes on the footpath and these sweetpeas….I have been watching them grow as I walk past too. Other folk as per the bottom photo have claimed a small piece of dirt over the road from their place on the actual canal bank.
This is where I go for tea three nights a week. Its only 100 metres from home and Matsuri who runs this tiny counter restaurant out of the front of her home has made me feel so welcome here in the neighbourhood.
Its been like my home away from home. She cooks me the special of the day every time I go, I dont need to know what it is, she couldnt tell me anyway as she speaks no English, but it is always freshly made on the spot by her, it is seasonal and her cooking is divine.
A two course meal and a small flask of Sake cost no more than $8 – $12nzd depending on what her special is.
I sit at the six person counter with the other regular old boys and have had some pretty goods times, especially when the sumo tournaments are being broadcast live on the telly sitting on top of the fridge, things get pretty animated.
Matsuri is a pretty dab hand at using her translation app to tell me stuff too. ‘I will miss you when you go’ she said to me as we raised a glass of Sake together and she gave me a gift of some Japanese Vinegar that I particularly like. I will miss you and your home cooking too.
A couple of streets over is Hinoromi, Rosie stumbled across his place when out walking. There is a red flashing light in front of his door and sign over the door with ‘coffee’ on it. Rosie never passes this opportunity up.
So, going in, I am actually entering the front room of his house….inside is a large dining room table with 8 chairs around it….a couple are already sitting in two of the chairs and this man ushers me into another chair. Welcome welcome….have you come for coffee. Rosie acknowledges….the customary warm towel to wash my hands with is placed before me, and so also is a plate with two biscuits and and a beautifully splayed fan of cooked pear…..my coffee is being brewed to order and my host picked that I was from New Zealand! Well I’ll be damned.
His daughter had been a student and worked in New Zealand for some time, he had never visited her there but enjoyed the pictures and stories of her time in our beautiful country. He was quite knowledgeable about NZ and his coffee was top notch. Turns out he is an accomplished shamisen player.
He showed me his photograph albums, sitting at the table in his front room coffee shop of the orchestras he has played in around the country and the medals he has won etc. Then he pulls out his shamisen and gives Rosie a tune. WOW, the sound is a mix of bass guitar and banjo all done with three strings. What a modern groovy sound and yes, he was a master of it.
Everyone that visits his coffee shop is asked to sign a visitors book, he likes to log where the tourists are from and takes a picture of them to add to the page. He was totally chuffed when I came back the following week, he was so surprised that I was still in town, ‘no tourist comes back he says, thank you for coming back’. I love this guy, he reminds me totally of my Dutch Great Uncle – The Scheduler.
So, believe me, there is nothing like seeing your neighbours naked. Yep, the bath house is next door and Rosie cant actually believe how popular it is! This is certainly one Japanese custom still going strong. Rosie and The Operator each went to our segregated baths on the first night we were there. It was a little intimidating going in there when all Rosie could hear from the outside was cackling and laughter from the 4 old ladies that were already in there. Rosie walks in naked….in a chorus they all sing out ‘good evening’ to me in Japanese….phew….I feel better now.
Young and old come here to soap up, wash their hair and hose themselves down on the sidelines. Then its a quick dip in the hot mineral pools, and I mean a quick dip…cause they are bloody hot! 40c…Rosie was melting afterwards. Consequently, she has only been back a couple of times as the daytime temps here have been near 30c. In the winter with snow on the ground and it being freezing cold….Rosie would come here every night.
Of course I cannot forget my wonderful host and landlord Hiroto, his beautiful wife Masumi and their lovely daughter Yuka. They have been there every step of the way with advice and a helping hand. Their hospitality has been amazing and endless! Hiroto and Yuka have given me a guided tour of Takayama outside of my walking zone, introduced me to Matsuri and her wonderful restaurant, driven me to the post office with my huge box of goodies to post home and also provided me with a desk and chair to do my computer work from. Plus, last night they took me out for a wonderful farewell meal. Thank you also Masumi for introducing me to the most handsome hairdresser in town.
The Japanese hospitality here has been incredible, Rosie will never forget it and is thankful she was been able to experience it. It is with a small tear in my eye I bid Takayama goodbye.
