Essay - Travels

No.3
2002 Summer - Yakushima No.5
Drawing: centipede cat
centipede cat

At 2 a.m. of the last day, When I happened to wake and stretched out my arm to straighten the pillow, zzzt! I felt an electric shock. For a moment I didn't understand what happened. However I instinctively sucked the base of my right hand at once. I checked in the washroom but it looked ordinary. I switch on a light, but the culprit had escaped already. As I thought I was bitten by something wrong insect, I washed well with soap and applied antihistamine ointment. Although I laid down to try to sleep again, the bittend point became numb and painful more and more. I couldn't sleep at all...

In the morning the pain was not gone yet, I told the landload that I wanted to go for a doctor. He called nearby medical office, but nodoby answered. Then he said that he wold drove me to a general hospital. He had planned to go to Kagoshima, but he said "Don't mind" I explained circumstances to a doctor, then he said at once that probably it was centipede. He also said the bite by centipede would not remain sequela and it was enough to apply antihistamine ointment already. After all, I had no treatment, but I felt relieved to know the culprit. The pain seemed somewhat better.

The landload drove me again and we returned to the inn. The landlady, in relief, gave me various shell. In this way, though I experienced pain, I could feel heartwarming by Island people. Thank you so much, landload and landlady of Soyotei!

Drawing: drunk cat
drunk cat

By the way, the inn "Soyotei" (means house of seeing off the sun), we stayed the main house and the whole building was reserved for us of five. There were a hall, a wooden floor room with a fireplace, three eight-tatami-mat rooms, wide wooden veranda around the rooms, a big bath room built of brick, washing machine, refrigerator and sink. There were no phone and TV set. No need. The landloand and his son reconstructed old house and repaired. They came up with various ideas to make the building easy to use. It was a pleasure to watch such a idea here and there. The landload seems hit upon ideas one after another.

There were also two houses in Soyotei. Each building was filled with the landload's wish to relax guest. Many stones were lined up on the roof to protect house from typhoon, and it seemed to merge into the beach. Soyotei was the fruit of the wisdom and idea of landload who had lived long time in Nagata and knew all climate.

Though we hated to go, we left Soyotei. After we visited Yakushima lighthouse, we drove clockwise the same as the first day. We saw banyan tree with fanning mosquito away in Sitogo. In Miyanoura, we visited memorial exhibition of Sansei Yamao. After he moved to Yakushima, his face became saintly with the years. We had Ramen noodles and curry rice at the Kabocha-ya. And we ended our travel with studying the history of Yakushima in the historical folk museum.

written and illustrated by Poco