In the end

The last Sunday of September was a beautiful day on the Yoshino. My boss worked things so that I could go canyoning in the morning and then guide a boat for a group of friends from Tokushima city in the afternoon. Everything ran smoothly, and we got back to base safely and happily, everyone having had a good time.

But further downstream, on another tour, a boat flipped on a big rapid during the afternoon, dumping everyone into the water. It wasn’t such an uncommon thing. Hundreds of boats have flipped in exactly the same spot over the past fifteen years of rafting on the Yoshino River. Thousands of people have swum through that same rapid, and through many others besides, and they’ve always popped up and washed out into the next pool. The Yoshino’s record of never having had even a single rafting death was one that practically no other world class rafting river could claim.

On September 24, however, things turned out differently. One young man on this boat, a university student from Tokyo, got sucked down by the current as everyone was dumped out. He didn’t resurface until five minutes later. It’s hard to say what happened, but he was probably pinned under a rock or debris at the bottom of the main drop, where the water pressure is greatest. The guides on the scene did everything they could to rescue and revive him, but he was under water too long. Very sad.

It was all a bit surreal for me, hearing about the accident, then suddenly not having any more work while the investigation was going on, and then being surrounded by activity but not being able to help out in any substantial way. I ended up simply taking time to sort out some business, pack my bags, and have a quick holiday before heading home to Australia. For me, the accident just reinforced a lesson I’ve learnt in training up as a guide this year - that the river will always get you in the end. The very challenge of rafting that makes it so wonderful is understanding that you’re taking on an unpredictable force of nature that can turn on you in the blink of an eye. It’s what you do then that makes the difference between coming back to raft another day, or not.

I reckon I will be back to raft and canyon on the Yoshino again next year. It just remains to be seen if there is a job for me or not. In the meantime, I’m back in Australia. Packed my bags, sold the car, handed in my gaijin card, cancelled the visa, and got on the plane. In many ways, the early end to the rafting season made the transition a lot easier for me, just in having time to do everything. And I made the most of it by spending a few days on beautiful, world heritage Yakushima, an island off the south tip of Kyushu. It cost a pretty little penny to get there and back, but it was well worth it.

Getting to Yakushima can be done by plane, but the hydrofoil from Kagoshima is much more authentic. Starting my day in Fukuoka at about 10 o’clock, I finally arrived in Miyanoura, on the island’s north-east coast, at about 3:30 on a Thursday afternoon. The guy at the information centre was very helpful, sorting me out with a map and a hire car, and I promptly set off down the east coast in search of my hostel accommodation and some sightseeing.

The guy at the hostel wasn’t nearly as helpful, but it was cheap, decent accommodation, and I soon found that there was plenty of good company to be had with the other guests. I managed to fit in a visit to Senpiro Falls before zipping off to the west side of the island to catch the sunset.

That evening, several of the girls staying at the hostel told me about a hiking tour they were joining the next day to Yakushima’s most famous tree, the 5000-year-old Jomon Cedar. I thought about joining them, but they were getting up at 4:30am and not coming home until six in the evening. I ended up getting up for breakfast at the reasonable hour of 7:30, hitting the mountain at about 9, seeing the girls as they were coming back down near midday, reaching Jomon at 1400 metres at 1pm, and then passing the girls again on my way down at 1:30pm. I ended up finishing the hike in 6 hours, though most groups take about 8. Definitely better off doing it by myself, if only for being able to sleep in! Of course, the scenery was spectacular, too, but I have to wonder about the claim that Jomon Cedar is Japan’s biggest. There’s a sizable cedar in Ootoyo-cho, where I’ve been living this year while rafting, that makes the same claim!

     

The typhoon that had been threatening over the past few days ended up skittling off to Tokyo on Saturday, and it duly sucked away all the clouds to leave stunning blue skies for the remainder of my time on the island. I did a full lap of Yakushima in my car – there’s a road running around the entire circumference of the island, but nothing except hiking trails crossing the steep terrain in the centre. I stopped off at a couple of lighthouses on the way, for a quick paddle at a beach on the South China Sea side of the island, and then again to take in beautiful Ohko Falls further down the west coast. There were too many people around for me to take a dip under the falls in the afternoon, so I resolved to go back late that evening. In the meantime, I drove up a forestry road to the canyon some two kilometres upstream of the falls, to check out what the canyoning might be like – I think it’s got potential! I finished off the day with an onsen as the sun went down.

     

But there was more to come in the evening. We all got together at the hostel to watch Princess Mononoke, a famous Japanese animated film that draws partly upon scenery on Yakushima. Suitably inspired, I headed back to Ohko Falls to take that dip – refreshing! – before meeting up with the others at yet another onsen. On the south coast of Yakushima, not far from the hostel, is a natural onsen by the sea that is only accessible when the tide is out. For a two-hour window, every 12 hours or so, people can head down there to bath in comfortable warmth, by the sea and under the sun or stars, depending on the timing. On this particular day, the best timing was around midnight. I hadn’t realised until I rocked up that it was both a fully mixed onsen and one where everyone was expected to be naked. Despite the late hour, there were a surprising number of people there, too, but it takes more than unexpected nudity and an audience to dissaude me from a great onsen. An hour of soaking and chatting later, truly one of the best hot spring experiences I have ever had in Japan.

I got up and away pretty quickly the next morning, knowing it was going to be a long journey back to Fukuoka and then Shikoku. But I reckon I’ll go back to Yakushima one day. That canyon is just too good to miss...

I had long since planned to go home to Australia on October 11 with an Awa Odori team doing a tour to Sydney, but I made these plans without telling Mum and Dad. Even now as I write, they are away on holiday and not aware that I’ll be welcoming them back. Hopefully it won’t be too much of a shock! Anyway, coming back from Yakushima, I had a couple of days to spare in Tokushima before flying out. I managed to fit in a lot of farewells, some of them very difficult, but I guess going back to Australia with some Japanese friends in tow made the transition a little easier to handle. A major festival of Japanese culture was being hosted in Sydney on October 14 as part of this year’s official Australia-Japan Year of Exchange program. Tokushima sent a team of Awa Odori dancers and musicians along to perform, and since the timing was excellent, I was able to join them. We touched down in Sydney on the 12th and proceeded to dance, eat, drink and gamble our way through a fantastic weekend!

     

We performed in Campbelltown, Martin Place, and Darling Harbour. We managed to get ourselves an invite to the Consul-General’s house and a cameo on national breakfast TV – I don’t think Mum and Dad saw me! We ate at one or another of Darling Harbour’s top restaurants every day and jumped on the Showboat cruise on our last night. And the boys had me take them along to Star City casino practically every evening – no casinos in Japan! It was great to see Sydney in a way I would never have done by myself. The company of so many great dancers from several different groups was wonderful. And it was nothing short of a dream come true for me to dance Awa Odori in Australia. There’s already talk of trying to organise a gala performance at the Opera House within the next two years. We’ll see, but all in all, a top weekend.

Of course, seeing the team off on Monday morning was my final farewell to the Tokushima I have lived and loved for the past five years. There were a few tears. Even knowing that I will probably go back there before long, it was a little lonely to say goodbye and see the bus off before making my own way across town to see friends and relatives in Sydney. I do miss Tokushima and I expect that adjusting to life back here, God’s own backyard though it may be, will take a long time. Truly, it’s hard to believe that I’m back.

Six years ago, I failed to even get an interview for, let alone win, a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford. Going to Oxford had long been my dream, so in failing, I found myself planless and a bit lost. It was a good lesson in flexibility, in not putting all your eggs in one basket, and sure enough, something new came along. A friend at International House told me about the JET Programme. It wasn’t Oxford, but it appealed to me because of my time at IH, because I’d once studied Japanese, because the backing of Japan’s government gave the programme legitimacy, and because it was the change of scene I was looking for. I applied, went through the process, and got in, and off I went to Japan that next August. Five years of teaching, AJET, dancing, rafting, living, learning, laughing and loving hence, I’m sure it was the right move.

What am I going to do with myself now? Get a bus license – useful in rafting. Get back into swing dancing – it’s been five years! Get in touch with the local Japanese community, maybe try to start an Awa Odori group here in Australia. Possibly get a part-time job with my Japanese skills, help Dad out with his business, maybe head up to Cairns for some rafting in the summer. Catch up with old mates. Spend time with my family. Have a break. I might head back to Shikoku next April, but we’ll see how that goes. I don’t really have a plan, but I didn’t have one six years ago either. I reckon things will work out. In the end, they always do.

Thanks to all the people who made my time in Japan so wonderful, and love to you all,

Dave