Ishigaki, Japan (south end of the Japanese chain of islands) was our first stop out of Hong Kong. We were there 5-10 June. There are a couple of blog entries back on those dates. There was though, one more adventure at Ishigaki, that did not make it onto the blog at that time. The day before our departure, we were in a local hardware store, trying to get some bits and pieces for the boat, but having little luck as little English was spoken, and our Japanese was no-existant. A nice-looking Japanese woman, carrying a broken toilet seat, stopped where I was trying to communicate by drawings and hand motions with a clerk as asked in American English if she could help. Which of course she did, walking around the store with us, translating for us as we worked out way through our errand list.

Fumi (the woman's name) it turns out, had grown up on this island, but left in her teens, married to a US serviceman she met on Okinawa. She'd lived for 30+ years in either Cleveland or Cincinatti, divorced, had her own business, and had come back to Ishigaki for a visit and met her current husband, a local fisherman. We enjoyed talking with her, and she was interested in our voyage. We invited Fumi to come by the boat, and to bring her husband, which she did. After doing the boat tour, and visiting a bit, Fumi asked how long we were to be on Ishigaki, and if we had a chance to see the island, then arranged to borrow a van and took us on a tour of the island, complete with snacks and beer.

Ishigaki is beautiful. It reminds me of rural Hawaii, the Big Island - Hawi, Waimea, Hilo -- without the tourists. Green, green, green; white sand beaches; a Club Med. The locals consider it boring and wish to move away to more interesting and sophisticated places. We stopped at a lighthouse just a sunset and watched the fishboats come into harbor; the following day we passed by this same lighthouse on our way out and up the chain of islands.

The following morning, as we prepared to leave, Fumi and her husband came by with gifts for us and for Rusty. Like so many people we've met in the past 3 + years in SE Asia, they went out of their way to help us out and make us feel welcome.