i had a great time going back to the ocean in kobochihama. to see the progress of that wonderful fishing village getting back to normal was my dream since the first time i went there in 4/11. i seen the worst, and the worst is over. things are looking promising and this is a perfect example of one village that didn’t give up. Kimura-san took me out on this very same boat he sped out to sea on day of the tsunami. for japan fisherman, once there is a tsunami warning, the first thing is to take their boats out to sea. he was alone, no food, no water, and it was freezing cold. 2 days later he made his way back to a fishing port that was totally devastated. that must have been hard to see.
as everybody knows, i love everything about the ocean. and i love everything about japan culture. so experiencing it both at the same time was awesome. i watched everything Kimura-san did from controlling his 45′ boat to harvesting the oysters. he did it alone and just by watching that, i learned a lot. someday i want to be able to control a big boat and fish at the same time and now i have a lot more confidence.
from the sea to the mouth. in my whole entire life, i haven’t eating a fresh oyster like this before. the best in the world and the cool thing about it is that Kimura-san told me he will send some to me the next time i’m in japan. yeah!
when i first came here, the roads were full of debris that you couldn’t even walk. now it’s clean and the walk back to Kimura-san’s house is very pleasant. we took the oysters back and ate them all!
when you go to restaurants in hawaii, you will sometimes see “fresh oysters” on the menu. hawaii doesn’t have oysters so it’s not fresh. from the time the fisherman take it out of the sea, to processing, to shipping, to getting to the restaurant can take weeks. here in japan, fresh is fresh. now i know the true meaning of fresh! i can’t wait to eat some of these again.
want to thank Kimura-san for taking us out on his boat, teaching us the culture, and being such a positive person. he’s definitely a samurai in my eyes!
