Little Bo Peep & Dracula

Whether I’m driving down the street, slurping up ramen, or scouring the supermarket for the right kind of detergent, people always stare at me. I never get mad about it, or go so far as to ask them what they’re looking at, but I can’t help but wonder. It wasn’t like this in Tokyo.


Four years ago, I lived amongst the other 18 and some odd million. And when you have some freak dressed up as a Japanese Dracula, or a Little Bo Peep sitting next to you on the subway, suddenly the foreigner sitting next to them doesn’t look so strange.

In fact, I didn’t know that Miyakonojo, or better yet, even the entire prefecture of Miyazaki actually existed. I was put here randomly, totally by chance. Actually, when I applied for this gig I was asked to put down my top three choices of where I would like to be placed. All of which were somewhere close to a big city. In the end, I got Southern Kyushu: Hundreds of miles from bustling streets where the foreigner is just another face in the crowd.

I’m in a basin, known here as “The Bonchi.” Surrounded by mountains, highlighted by the beautiful volcano of Kirishima off in the distance. As the mountains keep Miyakonojo and its surrounding cities well insulated, the winters are chilly and the summers cook. After about 45 minutes of driving too fast, I can be on my surfboard in warm waters that are back dropped by misty mountains. In 30 minutes, I can be hiking a volcano where at the summit on a clear day, one can see the dotted islands off the rugged Japanese coast.

Miyakonojo is no Podunk hillbilly town of one noodle shop and general store. There are 180,000 people within the city limits. But for some reason, it still maintains a friendly, laid back atmosphere that I’d be hard pressed to find in any other city of equal size. The people are still very warm and outgoing, and yes, as I said before, they like to have a look.

Although I’ve gotten comfortable being the sour thumb walking down the street, sometimes I can’t help but wonder, “What are they looking at?” I talk to my friends and coworkers about last night’s episode of 24, CSI, and Desperate Housewives all the time (In case you were wondering, yes, they are dubbed, and the voices are hilarious). Why is the color of my hair still so strange?

Maybe I haven’t done enough staring. How about some of the strange things that I see?

So you may get some stories about some bizarre t-shirt I found in the infant section with a camouflage swastika printed on the front (the store selling the shirt was completely unaware of it’s historical significance). Or maybe I’ll tell you about my boxing sparring session, where my nose was split wide open, turning the gym into an absolute bloodbath. Or maybe I’ll tell you about how I climbed Mt. Kirishima and had instant ramen on the top with a total stranger. This place is full of tales. I hope you like em.

So here I go.

From now on, they stare, and I’m going to stare too. This is what I see.