BACK TO MY ROOTS

I am at an obscure onsen somewhere in Akita Prefecture using their computer where the keys are strange.  I'll later add graphics from my Mac Air.  The day went very well, with Shizuko and Shigetoh joining me on the Shinkansen to Akita, where we were picked up by Ikuko Iwasaki.  I gave my talk on the Blue Revolution at her Akita Prefectural University.  If Professor Takagawa had not bought that interface link, I would not have been able to use my Keynote.

More than anything else I was interested in that one in a million chance that someone in the audience could have been linked to Kenjiro.  I shared with the group my quest for one of Kenjiro's grandmothers, who might have been a female samurai in Akita, probably around 200 years ago.  This was coming back to my original roots.

We then went on to Satomi Onsen and had a fabulous dinner with Professor Miyachi's former students and staff who teach at this university.  The onsen itself was traditional.

On my way back to my room I noticed there was a bar area called 50's Cafe.  I walked into a bizarre scene.  First of all, the music, very loud, was only American of the 50's.  I'm sure I was the only person who grew up in those times as I must have been 20 years beyond the next oldest.  

There were about a dozen seated around a large table where one gentleman dominated the conversation, speaking at high intensity to overcome the music.  An equal number was seated at three tables very observant of the main one.  Although there were six staff members in white shirts or tuxedos, these lower dozen leaped when his person needed a drink, serving as the interface between the high dozen and the serve staff.  When any of them walked out to use the restroom or make a call, he bowed to that main table first.  

I was the only alien in the room not associated with the above scenario.  While Akita I don't think is known for organized crime, my fantasy mind running wild, I could only guess that these were Yakuza.  But I was not about to check their fingers.  I had a whiskey on rocks (everyone at the main table drank whiskey and water, while their drivers--the logic of the situation dictated this guess--had mostly water plus a couple of beers).  I stayed mostly because no one seemed to mind, I was fascinated with the scene, and loved the music.

Today, on to Daisen City to complete the Search for Kenjiro's Grandmothers.  Tomorrow, the Shin Nihonkai from Akita to Hokkaido.  Then on to Otaru, Sapporo and Utashinai.

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I noticed that the price of crude jumped to $81/barrel today.  I'll later get to the Dow Jones Industrials and related matters...but this might be in a couple of days.

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