Inaka is the Japanese word for "countryside" or "middle of nowhere." The word strikes absolute dread to a lot of foreigners coming to Japan when they are told that they will in fact not be in Tokyo or Osaka. When I was first told I was going to the inaka I really didn't care because a) I'm from Iowa which is pretty much all "the middle of nowhere" (there are no stoplights in my entire town) and b) I was just happy to have a job. After being here for awhile, though, I realized that one can have just as good of a night in the inaka, if not better, considering the people are friendlier. I also have helped other foreigners realize this.
Take last Friday night. A group of us decided to visit our friend Ellie in her inaka village, Yubara. Yubara is famous in that it has a lot of nice hot springs (onsens) so it does have shops and some small restaurants, but it seriously lacks modern conveniences like a large grocery store or trendy bars. We usually make Ellie drive over to our towns where one can find a McDonalds, Indian food, and cheap Karaoke boxes. But seeing as it is her last month here we decided to have a big night out in her home town. We being a girl named Janet, a guy named Johnny, and myself.
We started at a small udon/soba/sushi restaurant where I introduced Ellie to my pickup line, "Ohisashiburi!" or "Long time no see." I have a pretty lame sense of humor, but I love saying this to random Japanese people. At the restaurant there was only one other group of people and they consisted of three ojichans and two obachans (grandpas and grandmas). They are sometimes the age demographic that hates foreigners, but our pick-up line broke the ice and they invited us to their table for sake shots. They were literally about to give us the whole bottle (and these are BIG bottles) but we insisted we better eat first (we were seriously feeling the alcohol after only 2-3 drinks).
Despite sitting at a different table we continued out conversation. It was the usual, "Where are you from? What do you do? Do you know my grand daughter who goes to your school?" etc but it was fun practicing our Japanese. I was really impressed as the one guy knew Iowa and proved it by saying that Iowa has the first caucus during the election year. I was not as impressed when the other guy told me I had a large, round behind, even after he insisted he meant it as a good thing.
After having our fill of cheap food we decided to head off to the Karaoke bar. We invited the friendly people with us, but seeing as they all were probably in their 70s/80s, they declined.
One really big plus about the inaka vs the city is that things are close to each other. When there is only one street for entertainment, you don't have to go far. We literally only had to walk two steps to the next place we were going. AKA the one place with karaoke in town. I had been here twice before, once for a good-bye party and one other night out with Ellie. It is an expensive place in that you have to pay per drink and per song (really tricky for me since I always sing about 30- no joke), but it is very clean and the staff are really nice. The last time we had been there we had been the only ones and we thought it would be the same last weekend, but we lucked out.
After singing for about an hour a group of about 13-20 men all in Yukatas (Japanese casual kimonos- more like a bathrobe) came in. They were part of a tour group from Hiroshima studying the local "biomass." I think they meant green energy. Anyway, they had all been at the onsens (hence the robes) and had decided to stop in for a quick drink and some light singing. After seeing us, though, they decided to stick around and we had quite the party. It helps that Ellie and I are total hams and that Janet is quite the beauty (especially with the Japanese men- they were all pushing their chairs closer and closer to talk to her). If we had been in a big city the guys would have ignored us or we would have had other foreigners to compete with, but seeing as this was the inaka, they were all ours. Johnny of course was a little sad to not have any girls come in, but he is also the type that is happy to just sit back and relax.
I couldn't help but whip out the four Japanese songs I can sing (Ashiteru, Ruby no Yubiwa, Nada sou sou, Sukiyaki Song, etc) and was also happy to take requests. Seeing as Whitney is still big news, I was asked to do "I will always love you" but did the Dolly version. I also sang "Dianna." The guys were pretty good singers themselves and we had fun clapping along, playing the tambourines and maracas, and dressing up in the hats/wigs/masks the bar has around the different tables.
Finally it midnight rolled around and it was time to go home. Of course, what night would be complete without getting food on the way back. One downfall of the inaka is that there aren't as many late night eating places to choose from (I really miss living a five minute walk from Sukiya, though my waistline does not). We did find a ramen shop, though, and enjoyed side servings of gyoza as well.
When we went to pay we only had a 10000 yen bill (like $100) and so the cook/cashier left us in the shop while he ran somewhere else to get change. Seriously could have cleaned the place out or skipped the bill. Of course, with our white faces we would have been easy to track.
Anyway, ended the night by walking back to Ellie's telling ghost stories and gossiping. Probably the best part of living in the inaka is that you can safely walk back like that.
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