King Kong!

The sun was now above the tree line and beating down on my exposed skin. Sweat beaded up on my skin and my shirt dampened. Standing in a good location near a gas stand and the freeway entrance, quite a few slowed but to read my sign but quickly speed of when considering Hiroshima too far a destination. I was in good spirits, however, and new that someone would eventually come along.

At the gas station across the way, travelers would eye my sign, squinting as they tried to make out the kanji. About the time some green tea and a shade break sounded appealing, a lean and well groomed man in a white Toyota Land Cruiser waved me over. After discussing the destination, he cleared some things in the car making room for my presence.

Indemu-san was a very quite man. It might have been his personality or my lack of Japanese that made for a quite drive. The inside of the newer cruiser was adorned with fishing figurines, car figurines, and some odds and ends. I tried a few different strategies to start conversation, but all I got were vague responses: What do yo do for a living? I work in Kagoshima and travel to Osaka. What are you doing this summer? Going here and there. Where are you going? North.

The only thing that got him talking were the figurines in the car. He liked to fish. There was also a figure of a King Kong with a woman in his fist. I asked if the girl in King Kong's fist was his girlfriend and if he liked the movie...He laughed and said, "Sure...take the figure back to the USA." He told me to open the glove box and he took out another King Kong stamp he had

stashed there.

We stopped once at the bridge linking Kyushu and Honshu islands. I bought a couple souvenirs, and he offered to take my photo with the bridge in the background. Leaving the viewing area and with little conversation, my eye lids turned to lead. I dozed off for the last 3 hours to Hiroshima. I woke once to catch an amazing sight of Mine-shi, Japan. It is an emerald green area of hills, woodland, and rice fields. Spread out among the fields were very large, nice Japanese style houses with orange and shiny clay roof tiles.

At the rest area, he took my bag from the car and gave me a paper fan to keep cool in the heat. I wasn't sure how to thank hims, so I bought him some cold tea he seemed to be enjoying during the drive.