Yamaguchi #9: A Dull City

April 2009

I had lunch at a crowded restaurant near Kozan Park, in Yamaguchi city, on Friday. Because all the private tables were taken, I got placed at a long table in a tatami-mat room, shared by an older woman who was elegantly dressed. By and by, the woman and I began to talk. There are days when grammar and vocabulary come together in my head, and Japanese rolls off my tongue almost eloquently. This was not one of those days. But I tried to speak to this woman. I tried so hard.

The lady let me ramble on for about 20 minutes before revealing, at last, that she spoke perfect English. Well. Didn’t I feel foolish, then?

After lunch I had soft serve ice cream at the park. The advertisement read, “Teutsu Soba Soft Cream,” and I had to do a double take just to make sure I was reading it right. Yes, it actually said “Handmade Buckwheat Noodle (Flavored) Soft Serve.” I ordered it mixed with Hokkaido cream (the most delicious cream in Japan), and the person put some kind of crunchy, vaguely nutty topping on the soba side. Actually, it was pretty good. Not as sweet as most ice creams and a little more earthy.



Kozan Park was known for its five-storied pagoda, Ruriko-ji. Since it was spring vacation and beautiful weather, everyone was out doing hanami near the temple, that is, having a picnic and enjoying the cherry blossoms. I ate my ice cream. There were two white women (a grandma and a mother) and two Asian-looking kids in front of me, and the mother was speaking to the kids in English. At one point, in the temple, she explained how people in Japan would ring the bell and clap. I thought this was interesting, because later I saw a Japanese mother take her two kids up to Xavier Memorial Chapel and I could just imagine her trying to explain to them how Christian religion worked.



The other two things I came to see in the park had to do with history, of course. Chinryu-tei and Rozando. Unfortunately, I didn’t know much about them, because my guidebook ignored Chinryu-tei entirely and only said of Rozando that the Mori lord held secret meetings to overthrow the Shogun. The signs at the sight weren’t helpful either. No English for Chinryu-tei (but inside were portraits of revolutionaries I knew), and maybe one English sentence for Rozando, saying basically the same thing my guide had.

Oh, well, that’s how it goes. I was in Japan after all. There was nothing to do but take pictures of the Japanese signs, print them out after the trip, and painstakingly translate them for myself. Which is exactly what I did.

All in all, though, Yamaguchi City was rather dull.