"Subarushima" written by Eiichi Ikegami

"Subaru" means gathering, and integrating together. "Shima" means an island.

The writer Eiichi Ikegami raised in Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture. He is well known for his popular novel "Tempest." The "Subarushima" consists of eight short stories written about each of the eight islands of Okinawa called Yaeyama Islands. All the stories were witty and very interesting, but in particular the story "Iriomote Island" left a deep impression.

I have been to the Iriomote Island three times. The story depicted vividly the island's atmosphere such as the nature like in ancient times, the strong smell of grass in the mountains and the high humidity. So it made me feel like I was in the island again. The storyline beyond my imagination and the depiction of the primitive instinct as male and female were shocking.

Below is from the story's beginning and ending:

-Iriomote Island called "The roof of Yaeyama Islands" is an unexplored region in the southern sea. It is the largest island among the Yaeyama Islands and inhospitable. The high and steep mountains' surfaces always wear cloud veils, so it is impossible to see the whole picture. There are higher mountains than ones in Iriomote Island all over the world. But the mountains in the island are characterized not by their height but by their depth. What you look up at the entrance now is just the tip of the iceberg. As soon as you step inside the mountains and you are in a rainforest that even a compass doesn't work.  

Some young men in mountaineering equipment piled off a boat. A middle-aged man approached them and said, "I study in a lab of this island. Are you, by any chance, going to camp in the mountains?"

The mountains cover over original sin and grow thickly today.- (H.S)

                         A mangrove forest and sands of Urauchi River

                         Nature that doesn't seem like in Japan spreads out. 

                    When I trekked the jungle toward Kampiree Falls, some parts of                                    the trail had become a stream.

           About an hour later, finally I arrived at the Kampiree Falls.
          Kampiree means "place of a god".  Although there wasn't that much of                            height difference, it looked indescribable godly. 

          

I looked for a carrying case for large Li-Po batteries

I was looking for a suitable case for storing and transporting large Li-Po batteries for drones for spraying agricultural chemicals. Considering the risk of ignition of the batteries, plastic is not completely safe. On the other hand, aluminum is not strong enough. So finally, I found an iron ammunition case that originally had made for a military purpose.

When I put eight batteries, each battery is about 1.6kg and the case itself is 3.2kg, so the total weighs 16kg. But there is no distortion around the handle unlike an aluminum case I tried before, so it is quite sturdy. I need a bit strength  to open and close it,  but it can also be expected to be airtight to block water and air. Since there was a convex part at the bottom, I put a cushioning material to make it even.
T.S

Armylike appearance

Eight batteries just fit into the case.

The film "Rocketman"

I saw the film "Rocketman", which is a biopic of Elton John. Taron Egerton acted Elton John and sang the Elton's songs himself. When I saw him in "Kingsman" for the first time, I was sure he would rise to stardom and it happened. His straight and pure voice emphasized the beauty of Elton's songs. The scene that Elton is composing and singing "Your Song" made me cry and evoked feelings that I had forgotten. 

Also, it was impressive that Elton met a songwriter, Bernie. I was surprised that the actor who played Bernie was Jamie Bell, who played Billy Elliot back in 2000. I

was touched by when they met for the first time, formed and their confidential relationship lasted for a long time. 

I fully enjoyed Taron's acting and singing that expressed Elton's success, suffering, loneliness, alcohol and drug addiction and sexuality. Especially, his act when Elton visited his father after he became famous was amazing. And of course, you can enjoy Elton's most popular songs. (H.S) 

Summer days of my cats

I have two cats. One is Gil, an orange tabby 7-year-old male cat. The other is Miiko, a black and white 6-year-old female cat. They are not a brother and a sister. Some time after I started raising Gil, Miiko came to the space under the eaves of my house and she didn't go anywhere since then, so I started keeping her, too.  

I had never kept two cats at the same time until then. I have heard that a new cat is in a stronger position than an old cat, so I tried not to give Gil stress as much as I can. As expected of a new cat, Miiko was strong and she fought back against Gil's threatening.   

Now the two cats are spending their time as they please. That said, this summer is

too hot for them as well, so they tried to look for cool places and live as comfortable as possible. (H.S)

                                         Where is a cool place?

            Cats like cardboard boxes. If Gil finds one, he always tries to get inside it.

  

                                 Gil is eating the grass in the garden. 

                           

              

                                    Stairs is one of Miiko's favorite places. 

              

       
                            

 Miiko often lies on her back. It must be a comfortable position. But Gil never does   like this.

                                

         

              Usually, they don't care about each other but sometimes get friendly.

Good harvest of tomatoes this summer

Heat wave has been continuing in Japan. Despite the heat, the vegetables in my home vegetable garden are growing well. Particularly, I got a good crop of tomatoes. Originally, tomatoes are heat-tolerant, and I think that their taste harvested under the blazing sun is more condensed than usual.  

Speaking of nutrition of tomatoes, lycopene is well known. Lycopene has powerful

antioxidants that is more than a hundred times vitamin E that has an effect similar to lycopene. And, when heated, lycopene absorption rate will improve so I am glad that tomatoes can be used for various menu. (H.S)

                                      Harvest of the other day

                             There are eggplants under the tomatoes.

                       

                                          Tomato curry and rice

                        Put peeled tomato in last. Fry cut eggplant.   

                                          

Cold tomato spaghetti

   Add salt in the water when you chill the spaghetti. 

   Salt is important! Please pour lemon and put black pepper on if desired.  

Cold noodles topped with steamed chicken and sesame sauce at a Chinese restaurant "Fukui Gen"

Yesterday I went to the Chinese restaurant "Fukui Gen" , which I often go for lunch. I chose this cold noodles because I didn't feel like eating something hot on such an extremely hot day with temperature over 35 degrees Celsius.

Althogh it was topped with only a small amount of vegetables, I love the style featuring the main ingredient with almost no extra decorations in the same way as other menus of the  restaurant. Ice was put under the noodles.

They also serve ordinary "Chilled Chinese noodles." But I prefer the one above. It is forecasted that hot days will continue for the time being, so I will likely go to eat it again soon.
T.S

Curry and rice imitating Kouchigawa Dam

Finally, the rainy season was over, so I went to the Kouchigawa Dam to take a video with a camera and a drone.

The Kouchigawa Dam was completed only just this year near Kumagawa-juku in Wakasa Town, Fukui Prefecture. While the main facilities of the dam itself have been completed, other facilities around it, such as the place located just below the dam body to see the downstream, are still under construction. So the sound of heavy machineries was echoing with the sound of the water and buzz of cicadas.

I got an interest in a banner saying "Kouchigawa Dam Curry", which I found while shooting, and I ate it at the hotel "Refreste Yamabiko" located by the dam lake.

In Japanese restaurants, it has become popular to serve curry and rice that imitates a dam for more than 10 years, which is called "dam curry". According to the website of the Japan Dam Curry Association, this Kouchigawa Dam Curry was made as its 176th.

This curry is characterized by not only spices but also by a herbal flavor. A lot of home grown watercress are used. I thought green curry was a good idea for dam curry.
T.S

Full view of the Kouchigawa Dam Curry

Brand new dam body of the Kouchigawa Dam

Kumagawa-juku's character "Kumakawa-san" mimicked "Attack on Titan". It's the manhole cover at the top of the dam.

The banner of the Kouchigawa Dam Curry. The hotel "Refreste Yamabiko" is seen behind.

A fresh encounter with a book published six years ago-Molly Birnbaum's "Season to Taste"

It is a story of a young woman who was aiming for a chef, from when she lost a sense of smell until getting it back. I always read electronic books, but since there was no electronic version of the book, I decided to borrow it from a library.

Then I borrowed the book at Fukui Prefectural Library yesterday, and I was surprised that there was no sign that the book was opened because the tassel was folded neatly between the pages of the book.

Am I its first reader? Had it been waiting for being picked up for nearly six years at the bookshelf of the library that many people use? Indeed, the book was published in September 2013.

Having said that, though, the library may not always get books right after publishing, so it didn't make much sense, but it was a bit of fun from the beginning.

I wanted to read this book because it was introduced in the book called "The strongest 'Reading' that is helpful in business" written by a well-known business person and a great reader Haruaki Deguchi. I like the words of him saying, "There is no other way but meeting people, reading books and traveling the world to become smart.”

Mr. Deguchi recommends the "Season to Taste" after mentioning as below.

- "Flowers should have scent, books should have poison." or "An unprejudiced idea is a non-scented bouquet." Among proverbs about books, I like these two irresistibly.-

I have just started reading the book and I do not know at all what the story will be like, but I am curious about what kind of poison or smell it has.
T.S

Memories of Mt. Sanjusangen in Fukui Prefecture

When I was tidying up the drawers in my room the other day, I found a journal of the mountaineering club of the company where I used to work in my younger days. I was asked to join the club eagerly and joined it without much consideration, even though I had never climbed a mountain and had no prior knowledge. Now I think that it was because there were very few women in the workplace, so they needed female members for cooking etc.

After work, I ran on the company ground. And then, I climbed the Mt. Sanjusangen ( 842 meters high) located in Wakasa Town, Fukui Prefecture, which was my first mountain climbing. Although I don't remember very much, I remember that the large panorama overlooking the sea and the refresh feeling when I arrived at grass fields in front of the top of the mountain. According to the journal, lunch of the day was Mabo-tofu (Chinese style tofu food), rice, fruits and lemon juice.

By the way, a co-worker who was in a college mountaineering club wrote in the journal as the ultimate in enlightenment of mountains as follows.

"Springwater in mountains, if you drink it, you will get exhausted, if not, it will be the hell, you drink it and exhausting is the way of mountaineering." (H.S) 

                         Commemorative photo on the Mt. Sanjusangen

Most of them were from other prefectures and now they returned home.

The mountain climbers were full of energy and gentle. I wonder if they are doing well.