Ryokan
Ryokan
Sentences preceded by * are
in Japanese.
************************
"Seong-hwan-a! Look at that!"
"Wow... it's really big."
The first thing we saw when we arrived in Hakata-gu was Hakata Station.
Perhaps because the railways in Japan were privatized,
the station was on an entirely different scale from Korea's.
It felt more like
a huge department store than a station.
Though it was hard to call it a station in any sense.
The basement had a subway operated by Fukuoka City,
the first floor had a passageway and station connected to the underground,
and the second floor housed the platforms of JR Kyushu and JR West, two of Japan's most famous railway companies.
And aside from that,
the rest of the space was packed with shops, like an outlet-style shopping mall inside the station.
"The subway's here too?"
"Yes, if you fly from Incheon International Airport, you can take the Airport Line straight here."
"Heeh... It feels quite different from Korea."
She looked up at the building, saying it was fascinating.
Anyway, most of the Koreans who got off the boat must have come this way.
I could see many people pulling their suitcases around.
They gave off such a strong Korean tourist vibe that instead of feeling anxious about being in a foreign country for the first time,
I felt a kind of exhilaration.
"Shall we go in?"
A-ra smiled broadly.
Was I that obvious?
I lowered my flushed face and nodded.
"What's a man got to be shy about? It's only natural."
A-ra took my hand and went inside Hakata Station.
*
Since we had already booked the 'Yufuin no Mori' limited express train to Yufuin online,
we could pick up our rail pass on-site right away.
I asked them to match it to the closest arrival time,
and they took care of it smoothly.
"It departs in about an hour... and we can use it three times a day."
"We'll be in Yufuin today, so we won't need it much."
Since it was a week-long schedule, we didn't need to rush around.
If we wanted more, we could always extend our stay, anyway.
*
"Rather than a train... it feels more like a bus?"
The 'Yufuin no Mori,' with its wooden floors and yellow lighting,
felt more like a bus than a train.
Maybe because it had a two-row layout.
And maybe because it was a diesel engine train, the rattling was really fun.
After the conductor finished checking the tickets,
I opened my bag and handed a snack to A-ra.
A-ra gets really cute when she's hungry, so I had to give her snacks.
"By the way, why is this here?"
I had gone to the shop earlier to see what drinks they had.
They were selling Korea's Ssyeok Ssyeok orange juice in cans, so I bought one.
It was hard to find even in Korean marts.
I tried to show her the can, saying how interesting it was,
but she was laughing with her mouth full of snack crumbs.
I took out a handkerchief, wiped her mouth,
opened my snack and the Ssyeok Ssyeok drink, and handed them to her.
"Here, noona, have this."
"Okay!"
A-ra now obediently accepted what I gave her.
Watching her nibble the snacks one by one like a hamster, I stroked her head.
After we'd eaten enough snacks,
we admired the scenery outside.
"Wow... the view outside is crazy..."
We were passing through a rural stretch with small valleys and coniferous forests.
Reed fields swayed in the wind, and water trickled along the riverbank.
Chimneys emitting steam
created a cozy and warm atmosphere.
Korea had plenty of countryside like this too.
Still, maybe it was because of the wooden houses.
The Showa-era countryside, the kind you often see in games and pop culture, was really nice.
"......"
A-ra pulled my head onto her shoulder
and gently stroked my back.
For some reason, my heart felt even warmer.
It was so warm I thought I'd melt from the sweetness.
I lifted my head from her shoulder
and looked into A-ra's eyes, and for some reason, her eyes were moist with tears.
"It looks a lot like my hometown..."
A-ra gently dabbed at her eyes with the handkerchief I'd used to wipe her mouth earlier.
So the countryside where she lived with her parents
had scenery like this.
Perhaps because I was an orphan, A-ra didn't often bring up stories about her parents.
If she didn't want to talk about it, that was fine,
but I hoped she wouldn't suffer alone and let it fester.
As a married couple, I wished we didn't have to worry about things like that.
Then I looked out the window at the scenery,
and although it had been mountains and valleys just a moment ago,
the atmosphere suddenly changed, and endless rice paddies and fields came into view.
The rice growing under the hot midsummer sun
would soon become the flesh and blood of people.
Whether in Japan or Korea,
people run on rice, after all.
Rice is the best.
"Looks delicious..."
A-ra licked her lips, seeming hungry.
Licking her lips at rice paddies...
She was amazing in many ways.
"Come to think of it, they say when you see the rice paddies, Yufuin Station is near..."
Before I could finish,
the pre-announcement chime rang, and the microphone static came through.
- * We will soon arrive at Yufuin Station.
"Look at that timing. Amazing."
A-ra giggled.
*
The train came to a stop, and following the crew's guidance,
families crowded off the train.
Yufuin is a hot spring town, so it attracts a lot of families.
Since a couple is also a family, did we count as a family unit?
"What are you doing? Get off."
As I looked down at the slightly high step,
A-ra reached out her hand.
I took A-ra's hand
and jumped down onto the platform.
***
* "I have a reservation under the name Kinoshita."
* "Let me check the register. Please wait a moment."
As soon as we arrived in Yufuin,
we headed to our reserved ryokan and checked in.
A-ra's company had made the reservation,
but since it was a bit awkward to use the names Song A-ra or Yoo Seong-hwan,
they booked it under the name Kinoshita.
* "Yes, I have confirmed the reservation under the name Kinoshita-sama. I will guide you to the Plum Blossom Room."
A staff member, a man who was oddly wearing a colorful yukata,
led us to the reserved Plum Blossom Room with our suitcases.
It was impressive that it wasn't in the main building but in a separate detached building outside.
This place must be quite expensive.
I made a mental note to check the price later.
The whole place had a strong forest atmosphere, and in the center there was a fountain of sorts gushing hot spring water.
When I peered into it,
there were dozens of eggs inside,
and a sign said we were free to take them.
* "These are hot spring eggs provided to our guests. You are free to take them."
That was very generous.
These weren't fake hot spring eggs made just by adjusting the temperature to make them soft;
they were the real thing, made by putting them in actual hot spring water.
They were popular items that usually sold for about 300 yen at restaurants,
and in bundles of three or six at hot spring towns.
But to give them away for free...
Was this place much more expensive than I thought?
Anyway, was this misty, forest-like atmosphere
natural, or was it artificially created?
Even though it was summer, the quiet, goosebump-inducing atmosphere felt addictive.
* "This is the Plum Blossom Room where you will be staying."
The staff member inserted the key, turned the knob, and opened the door.
"Oh..."
"Are ryokan usually this beautiful?"
"I wonder...? This place seems too beautiful, though..."
I'd been letting out exclamations ever since we arrived in Japan.
But this time, it genuinely came from the heart.
It was so spacious it hardly felt like a room for two;
it was a Japanese-style ryokan furnished with an entirely different level of class.
I'd been watching ryokan videos on Qtube for a while,
but this was on a completely different level from anything I'd seen in those videos.
* "Dinner is available at 6:00 PM or 6:30 PM,
and breakfast at 8:00 AM or 8:30 AM.
Which times would you prefer?"
* "On the hour, please."
* "Understood. Please enjoy your stay.
For your reference, there is a private hot spring on the balcony,
and the public bath can be used at any time if you let us know ahead of time."
When we nodded, the staff bowed and left.
I brought the suitcase from the door, placed it neatly in a corner,
washed my hands, and when I returned, A-ra was undressing.
I saw the mound of petals outlined by her pink panties
and got turned on for a moment, so I wanted to push her down.
But I barely held back, using reason, and approached her.
"Huh? Why are you wearing that, noona?"
I pointed at the yukata A-ra was about to wear and asked,
and A-ra tilted her head, as if to ask what I meant, then replied.
"Because it's for women?"
"Anyone can see it's for men."
What A-ra was holding was a hot spring yukata of mixed gray and brown,
something a man would wear.
It looked like the kind of clothes the 'oyaji' from 'Like a Dragon' would wear.
It was clearly men's clothing.
But A-ra, finding my stubbornness cute, smirked and stroked my head.
"What are you talking about? This is the men's one."
Saying 'stop joking around,'
what A-ra showed me was,
by my standards, a fluttery yukata with flower embroidery
that looked like something women would wear.