So this weekend Shigako invited me to come to a beach near Toyama City (about an hour away). She said that her friends who play Shamisen (and Okinawan music) would be there and they were having a bit of a get together. Who could say no to that!?
I packed up my car and headed out the door at 8:30 this morning. When I got there, the meat was already on the grill, the beer was flowing and the water was beckoning me.
It didn't take long for the two of us to jump in and cool off. It was sweltering even before noon today. And it took even less time once we were dry for Shigako to pull out her Shamisen and get everyone singing and dancing. Once it started in never stopped.
Shigako Playing Shamisen (click here for video)
Shigako's Shamisen sensei (teacher) was also there today, and he was by far the craziest of the bunch -and by that I also me the friendliest and one of the most sincere people I've met in a while.
There was also a drummer who was more than willing to put on a show for everyone.
Drummer Boy (click for video)
We were waaay at the end of the beach but people kept wandering over to check out the music. One family even brought us a whole bag of freshly caught oysters as a show of appreciation!
I befriended a little girl while swimming - I taught her how to blow bubbles while here grandmother watched and praised us both!! The little girl came over later to our picnic area to inform us that she practices Taiko (Japanese drumming) at her kindergarten and she asked if she could show us what she had learned. Everyone loved her! She was a great entertainer.
Drummer Girl (click for video)
I and others had brought watermelon to the party -can't have a summer bbq without it! A popular summer game is to blindfold people, spin them 'round and then try to get them to find the watermelon then split it open with a stick. I think it took 5 or 6 of us before we had a direct it. It was pretty tastey on a day like today. The guys had tied it to a stick and stuck it in the sea to cool for the day before smashing and eating it. Nice idea!!
As the afternoon turned into evening people started packing up to go. Shigako and I were enjoying the company of those who were left when out of the blue this man came over and invited himself to the party. He didn't speak Japanese but he did speak English, although it wasn't his native tongue for sure. He told everyone he was from Sydney Australia, but he definitely didn't have an Australian accent, more like Pakistani, which is also how he looked. He sat down right in front of me after shaking hands with everyone and before I knew it he had his hand on my knee!! Oh, I forgot to mention that he was old enough to be my father...well his hand was off my knee faster than he had put it there and that, my friends, was the end of my efforts to be polite to this guy. He basically ignored everyone around him, told me I should go for a walk with him -alone. He kept telling my how beautiful I was and that he loved Canadians (I'm sure he couldn't find it on a map...) and he wouldn't leave even when I was telling him TO HIS FACE that he was being rude. He ignored what I was saying and continued to spew random garbage about the business he runs (used cars, surprise, surprise), where he's been, where he lives... then he had the nerve to ask someone to get him a beer...needless to say, he almost ruined the end of a perfect day. I felt bad for everyone else because although they couldn't understand exactly what he was saying, it was pretty obvious that he was being extremely inappropriate (they all saw him put his hand on my knee and they all saw me swiftly take it off) and being Japan, nobody could really say or do anything to make him go away. And even though I was telling him flat out that I wasn't interested in talking to him because he was being so rude, I didn't feel it was my place to tell him to leave our area. He had been welcomed by others (before they know what kind of person he really was), so what was I to do?
This was my first instinct:
Finally I couldn't take it anymore and Shigako suggested we go for a walk, and hopefully he'd leave. But he didn't. So it was time for us to go instead. We packed up our things amid his yells (yes, he was yelling at me) to stay because I should like him and want to be with him, and he came over specifically for me, and blah blah blah, it was awful. We said our goodbyes and thankyous to everyone and unfortunately, the day came to an end.
I've had some great days in Japan, and despite the way it ended, this one ranks right up there. Sitting in the sun all day, listening to music with good people and good food... I could very well have been in Okinawa today!
more shamisen (click for video)
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