Conversations over fish soup

"Mm, very tasty." Toshi ate the first spoonful and looked at me as he said this. I started to doubt whether this was just politeness or if he really liked it. The broth turned out full-flavored, but I forgot to add black pepper. How could I forget - they all cook such delicious things with tons of spices, and I forgot to add just one single spice to the fish soup. "Thank you. This is the simplest fisherman's soup, usually made outdoors, so it's quite simple. There are also two tablespoons of vodka in it." "Haha, Russians add vodka to everything."

"I don't like vodka." "Really? What do you like?" "Tequila. With salt and lime. You know, you sprinkle salt on your hand..." "Yes-yes-yes, I know." He pulled a fishbone out of his mouth and put it in a cup, then got some store-bought Chinese dumplings and pushed them toward me. So he definitely doesn't like it, or maybe it's just as an additional dish.

Sleepy Taro came down from the second floor. He works nights, Toshi is his colleague, they climb on house walls and check for cracks. This kind of job probably only exists in Japan. Because of earthquakes, buildings require constant inspection.

"Russian soup." Taro has a special attitude toward everything Russian. His grandmother is Russian. As a young girl, she came to Japan from Russia and met his grandfather. "Taro, I was just about to wake you up."

Today we rode bicycles to Moerenuma Park, on the outskirts of the city. We climbed a mountain from which you can see the whole city. Too bad the weather was cloudy. I thought it would rain and that's why I stayed another day, but it was just overcast. Dragonflies fly around the park, rattling their wings. Dragonfly in Japanese is "tombo." I saw them after the rain, in the forest, over Lake Katsurazawa, when I was standing on a bridge right above it. They rose in a swarm from the steaming lake, gaining dozens of meters in height. And now they're here in the park, the same dragonflies.

Taro sipped the soup. "Need to get some black bread." "What time do you work today?" "At eleven."

Usually they work during the day, but now their project is Sapporo Railway Station, and it's too crowded there during the day. By the way, that's where we met, when I was sleeping on a bench near the station.

In the kitchen where we're eating standing up, the lights are dimmed.

"When will you be in Hakodate?" "I don't know, maybe in seven days. I've lingered here a bit, need to move faster." "You can stay here." "Yeah, that would be nice. I like Sapporo, there's hot summer and proper winter here. There's something to do year-round. Snowboarding, snow festival." "Yeah, it's cool here." Toshi is a snowboarder at 45, single, never been married. He speaks good English because he lived in England for a year. He thought for a moment. "You need to find a Japanese girl, worth trying." "Haha, yeah, but the problem is I'm constantly moving, never staying in one place." "Yeah, but maybe you'll find one on the road." "Toshi, you've never been married?" "No." "And how is it for you? Don't you feel lonely sometimes? I mean, sometimes you want to go home knowing someone's waiting for you there..."

Toshi thought about it. "Yeah, sometimes I'm lonely... But I'm not actively looking. I do so many other things: snowboarding, traveling, photography... It substitutes... Maybe later, when I get old, I'll be very lonely, without a family."

"What's Taro playing?" "That's Pat Metheny." "Beautiful!" "Yeah." "How I wish I could play guitar like that. Just sit and play from your head... The same way a person writes down their thoughts with letters, to be able to reproduce it on some musical instrument." "Yes-yes, that's great..."

"It's a problem when you're in a relationship, you want freedom - to do what you want without being accountable to anyone. I lived with a girl for two years, and that was enough for me. But now sometimes I want a steady relationship. To have a person who cares more than others about what happens to you." "Yes-yes... I don't know. It should come naturally. I had a woman who died in a car accident on her way home from my place. Since then I haven't had long relationships. Sex, that's different. I don't feel the desire." "Like, at all?" "No, well sometimes I do, I'm still a man, but rarely. Do you have a girlfriend?" "No. What girl would let me go off like this for three months somewhere cycling?"

Now I was thinking. "I need to find one I could take off somewhere together with. You know what I mean? Like Sachi and Tomo. They're having a blast, the two of them riding around Japan together." "Yes-yes, they're cool." "And do you think about getting married?" "I don't know. Having kids is too late anyway. I'm 45... Maybe I have about 15 years left." "At 60?" "Yeah, that's about the life expectancy in Japan, 60-65." "And what would you want to be remembered for?" "What do you mean?" "Well, when you die, you want them to say 'Toshi was...'" "Hmm, good question... Toshi was a snowboarder. An old snowboarder." He smiled.

Sachi and Tomo came home from the city. Now we're drinking white wine. In the morning I'm hitting the road again. Samurai didn't like staying in the city too long, believing it lowered their fighting spirit and physical strength.