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Broadcasting to an audience of three (and a goldfish)...
Comment, ramblings and musings... life through the eyes of a Japanologist...
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Saturday, July 27, 2002 |
 In the evening, I met Miura-kun for a drink; we went to the American
Base. It's always good to be able to eat really fattening food
every once in a while, but the fact that we were the only two people in
the whole place spoiled the atmosphere somewhat.
Anyway, afterwards
we went into the city-centre for super-hot ramen; there's a chain
that does ramen where you can choose the strength of the 'sauce'
from 1 to 10. 3 was enough for me!
It's becoming a tradition while
waiting for the final ferry from Kure to buy a bottle of coffee milk (a
little milk-bottle-shaped bottle), and this too we did. Unfortunately,
it doesn't go very well with spicy ramen...
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So, an extremely good experience- and the invited guests all got a
present (cufflinks and a tie-pin) at the end of it!
But as
Kurihara-kun, Mori-san, and I left the ship, we realised that we were
actually quite exhausted; presumably a combination of the heat, and
having been on our feet for most of the day. We were just wondering
whether there was anywhere to get a drink in Kure when one of Mori-san's
friends drove up, so we all got in, and it was almost immediately
decided that we'd pop over to Hiroshima for a quick Starbucks. I'd
arranged to meet Miura for a drink that evening, but there was plenty of
time, so off we went. We all got on very well, and Mori-san's friend let
it slip that Mori-san had liked me since we met last summer! Interesting
admission...
Anyway, we all exchanged email addresses, and Mori-san
and I caught the train back to Kure (and she on to Takehara). It's
always good to make new friends (or old ones, as the case may be),
especially as it shows that the difficulties with some of the young
people in the office aren't just my fault.
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I went across to Kure with the Chairman of the Town Council and the
Vice-Mayor, both of whom had also been invited (see!- a completely
different level of status to me!- so why was I invited?), and we went
along to the pier together. They were on a different ship, though, so
after getting our name 'rosettes' (which weren't in fact rosettes, but
ribbons hanging from a little JMSDF flag) we went our separate ways.
Feeling quite remarkably self-conscious in blazer and tie, I was
escorted to the ship by a young chap from the National Defence Academy
(apparently, every year they have a period of training).
I don't
whether this is standard procedure, or whether it's just because space
in Kure is at a premium, but the warships 'double park', so to get to
'Yamayuki' I had first to board 'Setoyuki', and then cross over into the
second ship. At every stage, there were salutes (I never know quite how
to respond to these; it would seem presumptuous to salute back, not
being in the Navy myself), which only added to my self-consciousness,
especially as (because of the ferry times from Etajima) we'd arrived
early, and the only people around were non-invitees (i.e., not
dressed in jacket and tie!) who'd arrived early to bag the best spots on
the deck.
Anyway, almost straightaway I saw Miura-kun, an officer
now, but a friend from his time as a kanbukohosei at the Naval
School in Etajima, and he commented that the chap who'd shown me to the
ship was in fact his junior from the NDA. Well, this junior was perhaps
only 20 or so, but he was superbly polite and well-mannered- the product
of the strict and traditional education of the Academy, no doubt. I
think that one of the major reasons why I get on so well with the
Officer Candidates in Etajima is for precisely this reason: they're
excellent fun, but they're also traditional, respectful, conservative,
and well-mannered.
Anyway, I went to the officers' mess to wait for
the ship's departure, and gradually the room filled with other invitees.
It was a little disheartening to see that most of them were old boys, or
in some way connected to the JMSDF, and I resigned myself to the fact
that none of them would bother to speak to me. However, just before 10
o'clock, a young girl and a young chap came in. Ultimately, we spent
most of the day together- but that story's jumping the gun a little at
the minute.
We went up to the level above the bridge for the ship's departure, and
as we went out into Kure Bay and headed towards Kirikushi, with Etajima
on the left and Kure on the right, the people started to disperse, and
taking pictures became easier. We'd been told that lunch (kan-zume
meshi) would be served between 11 o'clock and noon, and that we were
free to use the mess as we wished, so I wandered all the way around the
ship, taking pictures of the scenery and of the ship itself. During my
second year in Etajima, I'd been invited on to 'Matsuyuki', the sister
ship of 'Yamayuki', and so being back on a 'Yuki'-class destroyer was
both nostalgic, and an opportunity to look round in more detail than I'd
been able to before.
Up on the helicopter deck, just as we headed round past Kirikushi
towards Ozu-no-seto, I found myself standing next to Mori-san, the girl
from the mess. We said hello, and it turned out we knew each other- we'd
met in Etajima the previous summer. Two of the Officer Candidates who
graduated in March were mutual friends. Anyway, we wandered round the
ship (and, in fact, through its bowels) and then in for lunch,
together.
Lunch was, in a word, 'interesting'. I'd expected curry (the JMSDF
serves curry almost religiously, every Friday lunchtime, and I thought
that this 'signature dish' would be served), but in fact it was
kan-zume meshi, which translates as 'canned rice', or 'canned
food'. This was in fact an extraordinarily appropriate name, since it
was (red) rice in a can, and saba, also in a... can. This wasn't
just the Self Defence Force being stingy, though; this is the food eaten
when the ship is at war, amongst other reasons because it's quick to
prepare (just boil the canned rice). Anyway, I can't say it was
delicious- the rice was stuck together in a tough lump- but it wasn't
bad, and it was certainly good to rediscover the delights of canned
mackerel.
Another benefit of being an invited guest was that there were five
officers assigned to look after us. However, most of the guests seemed
to know their way around a warship, and so one of them basically spent
the whole time with Mori-san, me, and Kurihara-kun, the young chap who
joined our little group. After lunch we wandered up on to the helicopter
deck to see the kunren. This word translates as 'training', but
in fact it was more like a pageant, in keeping with the name of the
event. The kunren took place in the waters off Iwakuni, where we
were joined by ships from Iwakuni and Matsuyama. They passed us and then
swung round so we were all in one line, and then before we all split up,
they formed two lines. The precision was amazing; the line was perfect,
and, according to our guide, the distance between ships was a uniform
500 metres. 'Yamayuki' was the lead ship, which meant that we had a
unique view of everything. There were fly-pasts by planes and
helicopters, a huge hovercraft that came out of the belly of one of the
ships, a firefighting-type ship spewing plumes of water, and an exercise
involving a helicopter and some men in a little dinghy. All in all, very
impressive. Miura-kun had joined us on the deck, and afterwards the four
of us wandered around together for a while. It was obviously very hot-
the figure 36 degrees was mentioned- but the sea breeze was very
refreshing. Unfortunately, though, I didn't realise just how sunburnt I
was getting...
After the exercises had finished, we split up, some of the ships
returning to Iwakuni and Matsuyama, and our 'fleet' heading back to
Kure. We spent some time in the mess, some time on deck with our
'personal' guide, and we were up on the level above the bridge for the
final approach to Kure. The preparations for docking are very
interesting- although this is a modern warship full of electronics,
there's still nothing to replace the yards of rope and the sailors ready
to throw it across on to the dock. As we approached Kure, a group of
sailors lined up at the prow of the ship, and as soon as 'Setoyuki' had
docked (we were to dock outside her, so had to wait until she was docked
properly) they sprung into action. It was perfectly executed. The
officers on the bridge of the two ships ended up exactly opposite each
other, and so close they could have shaken hands.
I realised this
when I was on 'Matsuyuki', but getting a ship in and out of somewhere
like Kure takes a heck of a lot of work and cooperation. Officers check
all the sea lanes, and immediately identify every ship that's moving.
There were constant calls along the lines of 'Matsuyama ferry just left
port', or 'Nothing coming from the direction of Etajima'. Everyone has
their own job, but everything comes together just like (to use a cliche)
the cogs of a well-oiled machine. In a way, it's inspiring.
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A pleasant coincidence (or perhaps it was planned especially to coincide
with the beginning of my fifth year), but I'm spending the day on the
JMSDF warship 'Yamayuki' today. Every year, the JMSDF has an 'open
training exercise', where members of the public can experience a
warship. I'd been considering applying for tickets, but I was invited
especially, which of course is far better. People who apply for tickets
have to sit outside, but the invited guests can use the officers' mess,
and lunch is also provided. One slight downside, though, is that I need
to wear a shirt and tie, although in this sort of heat I'd have
preferred shorts and T-shirt- but realistically, this is a small price
to pay for having been invited specially. Even if I have no idea why I
was invited...
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Today marks the first day of my fifth year in Etajima. On one hand, the
four years until now have passed by in a whirlwind- it seems impossible
to believe that I've been here since 1998- but on the other hand,
passing memories of my time here seem impossibly distant, almost as if
they took place in another life, not just three or four years
ago.
Anyway, time to look forward to year five (and, with any look,
year six as well). I'm sure there'll be things I dislike as well as the
good times, the memorable days, but ultimately, the fact that I've
stayed so long and I'm looking to stay longer means that all in all, I'm
happy here.
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Breakfast Show Staple Randomhaiku of the day (from The Genuine Haiku Generator)
dismayed dire cherry
crying imprisonments quake
gladly, alertly
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© Copyright 2003 Nathan Duckworth.
Updated: 8/1/03; 8:23:10 pm.
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