It’s 4:30AM.
Someone is making loud scraping noise right outside of our bedroom.
I peek through the curtains…
It’s a surfer, busily applying wax on his surfboard.
Then, I realise- I’m back home in Oiso!
My hometown, which is located 70km to the west of Tokyo, perhaps is one of the Top 10 destinations for the Japanese surfers.
The number of surfers per capita is abnormally high, and in summer the main beach literally gets filled with local and visiting surfers. It’s like the Shibuya Station crossing if you know what I mean.
Naturally, the town is full of the outdoor types, hippies, creatives and plain weirdos (like myself).
It’s a historical town, too, that once hosted 2 ex-Japanese Prime Ministers and 6 other PM’s who had their holiday homes there.
Some of you history-buffs may know that it was one of The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō during the Edo Period (1603-1867).
The Japanese literary giant, Toson Shimazaki, lived in Oiso, too, and Haruki Murakami still has one of his houses there (he’s rich).
I realised that I am describing it like a utopia, but it’s really a sleepy little town with a population of around 30,000 people. Most Japanese would just bypass right through unless they are surfers or history fans.
But to me this is my home, and I have a lot to talk about!
In the next few blog entries, I will be sharing about this town that only the locals know, including its local legends and folklores.
My back and shoulder are not doing great at the moment, so I’ll stop here for now.
See you next time!
English Rakugo NZ 