Kayak Journal Day 19 (1/13) I saw him walking along the beach yesterday as well, yet I did not approach in fear of him being some type of beach police and telling me no camping. Today, after Ive already camped here and have talked to a few locals, I feel less apprehensive and as he nears my kayak, while doing what appears to be picking up beach trash, I approach and strike up a conversation. He tells me he is a biology professor at Kyoto University, and shows me some things he picked up including shells and a coffee can. I enthusiastically tell him I clean beaches as well, and run to my tent to give him a Life Recycled flyer. Pleased, he quickly glances over it and asks if I would like to see the Shirahama Acquarium, which is only a few hundred feet away overlooking the inner bay in Shirahama. Yes, of course, I say and he tells me he will be back sometime after 1pm to get me. Being that it is still around 11am, I decide to walk into the city and head to the local Lawsons to get a milk and snickers bar, two things that really kick me into high gear and put a smile on my face. As Im drinking this absolutely delicious milk and chomping on my snickers bar, I decide to refill my expedition food stuffs and stop by the local supermarket, which resembles a connivence store in that it is surprisingly small for such a tourist driven city. I pick up some sausages, dried fish, miso soup and oranges before I start my 40 minute walk back to the beach where Im camping. At around 3 or 4, I cant exactly because I just finished reading a book and was beginning to cook dinner as he appeared from around the corner. Do you want to go? he says and I pull myself out of my cooking cave (literally a small cave cut into the back of a large rock overhang) and grab some Life Recycled flyers, business cards and run to catch up with him as he walks over to my kayak. He asks to take a quick picture of me standing next to my kayak, which Im sure will serve him as a memento of sorts for this crazy foreigner trying to go to Tokyo by kayak. Picture taking complete and were off to the Shirahama Aquarium. During this short walk I learn that he is Shin Kubota, Associate Professor of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory and famous for his research into the Immortal Jellyfish, Turritopsis Nutricula. This jellyfish can revert to the polyp stage while in the final throws of death. In essence, if it is badly injured and will die it reverts back to the stage at which it was born and copies itself, into a number of new Immortal Jellyfish. As we enter the Shirahama Aquarium together, Kubota San says something to the attendant who looks slightly puzzled but nods as I walk through the doors, now a special guest of the professor. The ironic thing that I did not mention in my previous Kayak Journal was that I had visited the Shirahama Aquarium the day before and had asked the attendant about the price and closing time but decided to enter because I needed to save money. It was only a day later that I was back with Kubota San, associate professor, and now a guest in the Shirahama Aquarium. Given this content, Im sure can imagine why the attendant was slightly puzzled. As we open the doors, a light blue glow fills the space; a glow of water being reflected off the opposing walls of these gigantic glass enclosures which are host to all types of fish from brightly colored starfish to small sharks and of course the polyps of the famous Immortal Jellyfish, which although microscopic, (literally) can be seen with a magnifying glass. As we come to the end of the Shirahama Aquarium tour, Im also offered a special tour of the surrounding woods and absolutely breathtaking views of Shirahamas crystal waters and beautiful landscape. The tour starts as we descend into a passageway, with the setting sun at one end, giving the feeling of walking into some type of alternate reality. We emerge on the other side and follow a relatively unknown path to the edge of a cliff overlooking, Shirahama and its placid waters and picturesque rocky landscape. He also points out the beach on which I was camped over to our right. As the special tour comes to an end Im escorted into Kubota Sans research facility. We quickly stop by his Laboratory and main office, where I am introduced to articles about him from the New York Times and a video made by Google. Do you want to eat and go to an Onsen (Japanese style public bath) and then Karaoke? he asks to which I respond of course, and were off to a Chinese Resturaunt with one of his colleagues and then to the Onsen in a very large hotel and finally Karaoke, before I head back to my tent and cook the rice I had left when I had started cooking dinner previously, and retire for the night.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 00:46:53 +0000
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