A road trip - Tue 15 May

My first full day in Ashiya was a day as a "guest" - we had a 360km return trip from Ashiya to Okayama to collect an orchid, which bees love, and then meet with the local bosses of the apiculture group and the apitherapy group.

I had some of their home-brew acacia honey with my breakfast, yum.

Boss explained what a "Washlet" is - it's the attachment on the toilet that shoots warm water at your bum. With a pleased expression on his face, he made a slow hulahoop motion, and said "Boss, OK, OK."

In the car, there were a couple of interesting gadgets. You put a credit card into one, and when you pass through tollways, it debits the toll from the card.

The other was a GPS-enabled fine-avoidance device, which verbally warns of approaching stop sign, stop light and regular speed camera locations. It also has a ray-gun detector and beeps with increasing urgency as you approach the source.


We picked up Ono-san and a bottle of all-powerful bamboo shoot mineral extract as a gift for the orchid folks. The extract, the colour of black tea, is used as a health tonic, beauty treatment, and cleaning product!

We first dropped by a small plot of land that Ono-san had bought the previous day, and Boss checked it out for the best spot for bees nests.

On the way to Okayama, Boss stopped for directions, and came back saying the old man had been argumentative - "Shut up a minute, you." He had told him to turn at a place where there once was a homemaker centre.. Boss said old people think they know best.

I spotted this store.


Later in the day, I was extremely disappointed to miss the photo op of the store 'Godai Drugs', but at least had the pleasure of explaining it to Boss and Ono-san.

At our first destination in Okayama, to collect the orchid, there were cherry trees fruiting, and we got to try some of the fruit. Tasty, not as juicy and sweet and large as cherries in Australia.
They also put Adobe CDs to good use in the trees, scaring off birds.

They also keep bees, and there was talk of a delicious but stinky honey created when the bees make the honey from soba. Delicious but stinky?

Here, a jar of the killer bees. I don't want to meet any.


We stopped for a tonkatsu lunch. Ono-san and the Boss, right.


While driving, I saw a large sign outside a business that had needed a letter added. My camera wasn't fast enough, but it read "W ElC O M E"

We visited Takami-kaichou, who runs the Hyogo prefecure's apiculture group, and got some advice on splitting nests, making frames and attaching seed wax,

and catching wild bees. As soon as we were out of earshot, Boss launched a reprise on a theme he had been expounding on the trip up, namely that everyone hates Takami-kaichou, he loves himself, and teaches you everything saying "Don't you know this?"

We then visited Ikeda-kaichou, the head of the local apitherapy (bee sting treatment) group, and his wife, who Boss introduced saying, "My girlfriend".

Naturally enough, they keep bees.


They all had a chat and sent me off to explore the neighbourhood.

Directly behind the Ikeda house was a 700 year old bare wood Shinto shrine, now fallen into disuse.


I made a leisurely exploration inside

and outside,

until a megabee encouraged me off on a walk. I headed toward the cultivated fields and interspersed dwellings nearby.

A fancy and new-lookin home.

Mama cooked sukiyaki for dinner.

After stuffing myself full of sukiyaki, I was balefully accused by Boss of having a small appetite.