We met in Miyakojima. We realised we were foreigners, who were also staying in Tokyo. We were in Miyakojima for a holiday.
"Any plans for later?"
"Um, not really. I'm free and easy today."
"Do you mind if we walk together then?"
"I don't mind!"
"Yeah let's do it! We have time, and since we're gaijins anyway…"
That was how we started a trip together. No itinerary. Just pure spontaneity. It was not as fun as I thought, as I always needed to confirm if she wanted to go to the next place I wanted to go. I did get slightly irritated at times, but she was a really easy-going travelling peer. In hindsight, it was probably one of the best trips I had.
We started in the city centre. There was not much for us in that spot, given that we are both broke students. She suggested that we rent bikes to travel around. Apparently, we could rent electric bikes for 2500 yen per day. Why not? We rented them and started off searching for scenic spots.
Miyakojima is not a big island, if you have a car. Strangely, we just agreed on searching for the best beach sites around the island. It was not extremely hard to cycle if you had practised beforehand. Having an electric bike was a good idea. We tried to cycle across Irabu Bridge, which pride itself as the longest toll-free bridge in Japan, but the wind was blowing at 11 metres per second, so we walked our bikes. It was good training for both our arms and legs, having to brace through the wind and walk our rather heavy bikes. Moreover, because we walked, we managed to look down at the sea, and discovered that there were massive sea turtles looking back at us. We were so amazed that we could only utter "oohs" and "ahhs" at the sea, turtles and wind. When we were at the other side, we decided to stop by and have a bite. Fortunately, when we finished our meals, the weather heard our pleas to be calmer. The wind had slowed down to 7 metres per second.
"Let's bike to Torike pond?"
"Sure!"
We biked to the pond. There was a long stretch of wooden bridge linking the land to the ponds. It was such a sight to behold.
"Can you help me with something?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to run across this bridge, Naruto-style. Can you help me take a video?"
"…Okkkaayyyy…"
"Thank you!"
The video was taken, with laughs. We continued cycling to the beach. The sea was so blue. The sky was becoming more blue too, and the wind was calmer.
"Can you help me take a Naruto-run video again?"
"Lol, okay."
After the video-taking, we cycled around and we journeyed across the superbly beautiful white sandy beaches where a number of tourists scattered around for pictures, to beaches cluttered with rubbish. There was no one in the dirty beaches. It was as if we travelled from a paradise to a dystopia. The wind was kind enough to blow as slow as 5 metres per second. We finally managed to cycle across the bridge.
"Can you believe it? We actually walked and cycled across the longest toll-free bridge in Japan."
"Ooh, it sure felt nice. I mean, it was only 3.5 km…"
"But it's the longest toll-free bridge in Japan! You know…"
We both laughed. We realised how much we enjoyed this trip, that we decided to do it again tomorrow. We cycled back to our own guesthouses, and decided to meet at the same place we met today for our next day. The next day, we decided to cross Ikema bridge, stopping at Manatsu beach.
"Do you want me to take a Naruto-run video of you?"
"…Yes!"
Manatsu has really nice rocks. The sand was ivory. We spent some time soaking our feet in the sand and sea. Before cycling, we went to the toilet, to which we saw two shisas.
"Uhh, can you help me take a photo with the shisa?"
"Sure! …Wait, you're going to poke its nose?!"
"Yes!"
The photo was taken with laughs. We cycled across Ikema Bridge, and headed towards a famous shokudo for food. Right before we enter the gates of the restaurant, we saw shisas again.
"Can you help me take a photo with the shisa? And yes, I'm going to poke it's nose."
After the photo was taken, we had the best goya champuru, miyako so-ki soba. We decided that we had lots of energy for today, and would cycle to one of the best spots in Japan, known as higashi-hennazaki. We managed it to do so, all thanks to the electric bike, the goya champuru, miyako so-ki soba, water, and the chocolate bars we had with us. Higashi-hennazaki did not disappoint us. It was so beautiful that we did not want to leave.
"Hey, this is the perfect spot to do your Naruto-run!"
"Oh yeah!"
After the Naruto-run video taking, we cycled back to the city centre. It was a very long day, and we stopped by Miyakojima City Museum as it suddenly rained. It was a fascinating museum, linking both the historical and natural aspects of this island.
"What are you doing?"
"Uhh, I am trying to take a picture of my finger poking the horse's nose."
"Hahahahahaha, let me help you. Put your finger nearer to the lens. A little to the right…ok!"
When the whole museum visit ended, we went back to our guesthouses. The next day we met at Pina Gama Beach, and cycled all the way to Yonaha Beach. We went across Kurima Beach.
"This is a good spot to do your Naruto-run!"
"I'll do it now!"
…
"Hey there's shisas!"
"I'll poke its nose now!"
…
This was our last day of cycling as I was going to return to Tokyo, while she's going to another island after this. I invited her to my guesthouse as they had a kitchen. We both cooked dinner together, and concluded that home-cooked meals is the most blessed meals of all. We ate to our hearts' content.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yes?"
"Why do you like doing the Naruto run?"
"Uhh...well, this is a little embarrassing, but I really love Naruto."
"Yeah, I can see that. But is there any particular reason for the run? I mean, you kinda did it in nearly all the places we cycled to together."
"Well…I kinda see Naruto as like a saviour to me, you know. It was the only thing that accompanied me when I grew up as a kid. And the way Naruto works hard…did you watch the anime…no? Well, Naruto worked really hard to gain skills, and I really looked up to it. In some ways, it felt as if Naruto was my role model. When I run like him, I feel as if I could conquer anything that comes in my way…you know."
"Ah…so it's like you wanted to be like Naruto?"
"Kind of…I mean, I see Naruto as something really important to me. Naruto was the one that taught me important lessons when I grew up…"
"Oh? Really?"
"Yeah. My parents divorced when I was seven. My mother never really could stay at home with me. I never saw my dad after their divorce. Naruto is really the only thing I could think of when it comes to growing up, you know."
"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's okay. What about you? You love poking noses. I mean not yours, but like you were crazy poking noses of shisas and the fake animals in the museum."
"Oh lol, I don't know. It's just this really weird desire of mine to want to poke noses of animal sculptures, especially those with really big noses."
"Hahaha, that's some weird desire."
"Yeah, I know right. But I think it's somehow something to do with the fact that, it was one way for me to make my friends laugh as a kid."
"…Okaaay, you were doing it to make your friends laugh?"
"Yeah. I had difficulty keeping friends actually, when I was younger. It was nobody's fault, actually. I had to move a lot because of my father's job, and we ended up in this place where everybody spoke Chinese. My family spoke English, so it was kinda hard."
"Oooh…"
"Yeah, and that town was kinda small too..? So there was not much exposure to stuff like foreign literature. Like I was the only one reading Harry Potter, and I was reading it at 14 years old, which I only realised it is a children's book when I came to Tokyo. Like after I met some British people there, they told me that."
"Ahh…so you thought poking noses was a way to make friends…?"
"Ummm…kind of…? Like I was really busy trying to secure those friends by making them laugh. You know, making them think I'm a funny person. Which I did, but still the friendships didn't last. But, maybe, because of that experience growing up, I just really wanted to make everyone laugh through some weird actions, or habits. I think of it as the only way to keep them as friends."
"Yeah, I get what you mean."
We had a short dinner, but a very long talk. Tomorrow we parted ways at the airport. She left before me. We exchanged contacts before bidding farewell. Honestly, that period we spent together was the first and last time we talked. We never contacted each other ever since the trip, which was 3 years ago. Not even the 3 days of cycling, sessions of Naruto-run-video-taking and nose-poking-photo-taking, nor the long chat we had, persuaded us to catch up with one another. She was the first person I ever explained to about that weird habit I have. Perhaps it was because she was a stranger, that allowed me to open up so much. And perhaps, we wanted to remain so. All I could say is that, she was the closest stranger I ever known.
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