One day, I decided to hop on the next train for Akita City. I had the week off work and no plans. I booked my hotel on the way to Morioka Station. Once I got there, I bought some snacks and beer and had the perfect amount of time left to wait for my train.
I had an incredible train ride. The mountains between Iwate and Akita might be one of the most beautiful places in the world. I pulled myself from the window to eat my snacks, drink my beers, write a little bit. I felt incredible when I arrived.
But I didn’t have any real plans. I figured I’d go see the Sea of Japan, and then just walk around the city, go to some parks, and eat during the day. Then, at night, I’d go to bars and walk around.
On one such night, I had had about enough wandering around and stopped in a convenience store to use the bathroom on my way back to my hotel. There was only one bathroom, and the one person ahead of me was a gorgeous woman of about 23. I figured there wouldn’t be much time to talk to her, but we made eye contact and smiled a bit. Then we both looked away.
Some time passed. I said something to her about how long it was taking and she laughed. I asked her name.
“Michiko. You can speak Japanese?” She seemed surprised.
I told her my name. “Where are you from?”
“I’m from here! What about you?”
“I’m from America.”
“Oh, wow!”
“What are you doing out tonight?”
“My friend and I went out to eat!” She pointed at her friend on the other side of the store. Her friend came over.
“What’s going on?”
“Whoever is in the bathroom is taking a long time. This is Nathan.”
I said hello to her. Michiko told her a little about me. “Are you from Akita, too?” I asked her.
“No, I’m from Morioka.” She responded in English, which was surprising.
“Oh, you speak English? I live in Morioka!”
The three of us talked a bit. Michiko decided to knock on the door. It had been at least 10 minutes since I got there, and it seemed like Michiko had already been waiting for a bit. After another minute, we heard a flush, a guy came out and apologized. He looked like he had fallen asleep. Michiko went in.
Her friend’s name was Sayaka. She was studying to be an English teacher. Michiko was beautiful, but Sayaka was pretty cute, too.
“Since you live in Morioka, maybe we can hang out sometime? You can practice English and I could practice Japanese.”
We were exchanging information when Michiko came out. She wanted in on it, too. “Do you live in Morioka, too?”
“No, I live in Tokyo. I’m just here for the holiday.”
I was disappointed. We said our goodbyes.
“Good thing that guy took so long in the bathroom!” Michiko said.
They left and I finally went to the bathroom.
Later, I sent Michiko a message asking if she’d want to have lunch with me before we left town, but she had plans. We talked a little more and she quit responding. Sayaka never responded to the message I sent her.
And there you have it.
*Michinoku is an old way of referring to the Tohoku region.
These days, I’m just tellin’ stories.