a few days before i left hawaii for this trip, i called Matchi. i’ve known Matchi for over 22 years and we’ve traveled the world together. we went deep into foreign countries, and even deeper into japan. so when i told him i wanted to see some deep japan, i knew he was going to find the deepest ever.
a day before i left hawaii, Matchi called me and told me he set everything up at a little fishing village on shikoku called “Abu.” Abu? i googled it and absolutely nothing came up in english. i couldn’t even find a google map on Abu. right there, i knew this was the place i was looking for. come to find out, i’ve passed by Abu probably a hundred times but never took the turn off the main road that leads to this secluded area. no 7/11’s, no gas stands, no super markets, no nothing. everybody wakes up at 4:30am, and sleeps at 7pm. totally self sufficient. it’s pitch dark and very quiet at night. this was the place i’ve always been looking for.
like i said over and over, if it wasn’t for Matchi, none of this could have happened. yeah, we could have stumbled upon this village, but it would be impossible to connect with Amasan’s, let alone, have them show us their lifestyle.
this Amasan is 70 years old. super healthy, super genki, and super happy living the simple life. they wake up, go diving, sell their catch, and sleep early. only 3 months is abalone season so in this time, they have to make enough money to last the whole entire year. they take their work very seriously and by watching them, i learned so much. now i’m going to take what i learned and live more simple life. as i was leaving Abu, i was thinking “this place is untouched and will probably be the same forever.” my advise to travelers going there, “leave Abu as you found it.”
