This morning’s walk was long and slow. Plodding along beside the growing river that became a lake above the dam. The hills are all covered in greenery. It wasn’t until I visited Egypt that I really appreciated how fertile New Zealand, and now Japan, really is. I think this is from “Bilbo’s song”

in every hill, in every glen,
there is another shade of green

I dropped down to route 439 and got some long overdue chocolate and a small pack of sweet strawberries. As I walked the simmering road I stopped to admire the sign “Mojoyama Mississippi” and heard a man calling me over. Fuji he called himself, short for Fujishima meaning Wisteria. In his early 50s, he had a greying goatee and a buzz cut up top. I was invited to take a rest outside his art studio/cafe and we got talking. He’s travelled quite a bit, including a while in New Zealand back when he was married to a Kiwi. Andy Kershaw played his blues music on Radio 1 and he busked around Europe for a while. He certainly had an energy going and it was good to speak in English. After a peppermint tea and hearing a few Japanese swear words as he burnt his fingers on the pot, I was off into the heat again. It’s like summer here and I’m going to start enjoying siestas soon.
 
Further and further I went. I restocked at a supermarket and my bag is bulging despite only carrying 3 days of food. Some may make fun of American food being fatty but I really appreciate it being so calorie-laden. Last year I crammed a week of supplies into the same space.

It was getting late as I stood by the road considering asking at a house if I could camp in their garden. A car pulled over and I did a double-take as Leslie, the first pale face I’ve seen in a while, asked if I needed a lift. I had to decline but he did set me up with a place to stay. As the local JET he knows a few people and drove ahead to check with Okamoto-san if I could stay at his village’s closed school. If I’d been smarter I would have gotten him to take my bag ahead too. Slack packing is the best gift I can get right now. Besides food, shelter or bionic legs.

Word of the day: gak-ko = school

Distance today: 46km