Wakkanai is a port and a fair

Your tongue will take you to Kiev, but not to a Japanese electronics store if your tongue doesn't speak Japanese. I'm doing orienteering in Wakkanai, looking for a photo shop or store.

Everything's simple ...wa doko deska. You need to insert a word instead of the dots. "Su-up-a wa doko deska?" — Where is the supermarket? "Ma-ke-to wa doko deska?" — where is the store. I found the supermarket and had breakfast with yogurt, a jam roll and bananas — all for 225 yen. Then it got a bit more complicated. If market is ma-ke-to, then a camera store is probably foto-ma-ke-to, but nobody understands me. At a Chinese restaurant I gesture like I'm holding a camera and pressing the button, "foto maketa wa doko deska?". The waiter and restaurant owner rush back and forth between me and inside the restaurant, make phone calls, talk amongst themselves. Finally the owner brings out a piece of paper with a hand-drawn map. This willingness to help looks unusual. They don't just help, they run around, excitedly pointing at the paper with trembling hands, but such dedication gives them great dignity and earns respect.

— Arigato gozaimasu! — I duplicate just in case. — Thank you very much! — [Response and wishes in Japanese]. — I don't understand what it's about yet.

Today I'm looking for a solution for my camera. The city is small, and after three hours of moving around on bicycle I already know it completely. Moreover, the last thing I found out was where you can buy a camera in this city. Due to expenses, I'll have to cut my daily budget by 5 dollars, now instead of 25 it's 20. That's tolerable. I bought the camera. Inspired and satisfied, I went to photograph the city.

The city itself is beautiful, located at the foot of a tree-covered hill. Above this hill there's always a gray threatening sky. Right now there's sun in the city, but a breeze is blowing, soaked with seafood from the port, and at night there was a downpour. The gray sidewalk tiles, matching the sky, sometimes surprise with bright colors. I saw a huge sunflower sticking right out of the middle of the sidewalk. The entrances of many houses are decorated with flowers.

Across the street from me is a fair. The traffic lights here are very long. — Traffic lights in Japan are so long. — I address a young couple. They laugh. — Soon, Soon!

I've never photographed strangers before. It's difficult. Someone turns away, someone just looks puzzled, like, what are you photographing me for. But somehow photographers do this, right? I decided to reinvent the wheel. I'm a bit constrained by the fact that nobody understands English. First I try to speak simply, with monosyllabic sentences or just words, but it looks like I'm just a Russian sailor — this stereotype sits very firmly in their minds here and people look at me sideways. A few phrases in Japanese lighten the atmosphere, but I don't have many in reserve. Ok, let them not understand. I speak fluently, smile, now it looks like I'm European.

— What are you selling here? Oh, what sausages! Looks beautiful! — I address an elderly vendor. It works! The vendor smiles, I snap him. — Hi guys! How's it going? — snapped. In about five minutes everyone's posing for me. An elderly woman came up and pinned a dragonfly badge on my t-shirt.

This day is like a little quest.

Marketing ploy

Mikio-san gives me the Japanese name "Irya"

Oh, by the way! I'm off!!!!!