Our Man Hosono

Hosono-san making a HUGE snowball.

On the 22 Dec 2022, after 3 years stuck in Singapore because of the Pandemic (COVID 19), we finally left Singapore, winging our way to Japan (with a stopover at Taipei).

We flew on Scoot, a low cost carrier (a.k.a. budget airline), and we filled in the information requested by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for incoming travellers to declare their vaccination status.

I have rants about both Scoot and Japan's process (as well as Taiwan's process for transiting passengers), but I will save that for another post. 

Maybe.

This is about Hosono-san.

Hosono-san, like many Japanese is a man of indeterminate age. He could be in his late twenties. Or in his fifties.

Or maybe even 60s.

Hokkaido air and climate is good for one's skin and complexion. 

And there is also the Japanese genes, that allow a woman in her 40s to pass as a high-school girl. 

Or Hosono-san, to be, at first glance, of indeterminate age.

If you were to cross paths with Hosono-san, and it is obvious, from your demeanour, language, or appearance that you may not be Japanese, he may ask you where you're from.

And if you were to ask him who he is, or if he has the opportunity, he would introduce himself, as "a taxi-driver".

And he would say that with sincerity, quiet pride, and modest confidence. He is simply stating a fact. He is neither boastful nor embarrassed to be a "mere" (in your humble, or disparaging, opinion) taxi-driver.

He is who he is and he is comfortable and confident in his skin.

He would drop on his back in snow to show my daughter how to make a snow angel. 

My daughter is more reserved than a conservative Japanese, and it would take her a while to be comfortable to do snow angels.

Or Hosono-san might make a huge snowball, just to show us how it is done. 

Or make miniature snowmen to entertain my daughter.

He is a true son of Hokkaido, and he says that he loves to show visitors the beauty and wonders of Hokkaido. (Which is why he does what he does.)

One evening as we were waiting to check-in at a hotel in Asahikawa, I mentioned that there was a hotel nearby that had an onsen, and that the hotel offered free ramen in the evenings, as it was customary (?) for onsen users to enjoy a warming bowl of ramen after soaking in the onsen.

He knew which hotel I was talking about, but for the moment could not place the name of the hotel.

But I was tickled by our shared knowledge. 

In Singapore, Sands Casino had to spend billions building the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino resort to have some brand recognition.

The iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel of Singapore.
Billions spent for brand recognition.

But in Asahikawa, a small 3-star hotel with an onsen and free ramen had brand recognition and shared knowledge of its existence by a native Hokkaidoan (not surprising) and a Singaporean just by providing free ramen. Which I'm sure costs them less than billions of dollars. 

But perhaps it is not surprising for Singaporeans to know about that hotel, since we are ever ready to enjoy anything that's free!

Yes, I did get my free ramen from the hotel during out previous stay (2017), even tho I did not use the onsen.

What I did recall, was that you would get a queue number, and wait for your number to be called. The problem, as I recalled, was that the staff would call the queue number in JAPANESE! Of course. So I had to sort of guess when they were calling my number. My Japanese, is questionable at best, though I do have a spotty knowledge of Japanese numbers. Fortunately (by which I mean, luckily), I managed to guess as to when they were calling my number, and I got my free ramen! (Never doubt a Singaporean when it comes to free food!)

Anyway, the next morning when we met Mr Hosono, one of the first thing he mentioned was that the hotel with the free ramen is called the Dormy Inn Hotel.

It was to me, just a random, throw-away conversation.

But he took the trouble to check the information. This was an example of his attention to detail.

Another time, I had forgotten the name of the guide who had taken us snow-shoeing. So I asked Hosono-san what was her name. 

He too had forgotten.

But he took an opportunity to run out to the car, and check his booking information.

Then, when he came back, he spoke to the guide and asked her if she was the contact named in the booking information. She corrected him and gave her name as "Aki", so I got her name too.

My wife and I were a little embarrassed that my "senior moment" had meant Hosono-san had to leave the relative warmth of the snowshoe staging area, to go out into the cold, to the car to look up information I had forgotten. Aki had introduced herself at the start of the tour. 

(In my defence, I had just trekked through the snow for what seemed like hours, and fell a couple of times. I may have had a concussion! That's my excuse, and I'm sticking by it!)

Around Christmas, I asked Hosono-san if it was a tradition in Japan to eat KFC on Christmas. I had seen this in the movie, "Departure" (The movie about a Cello player who lost his job with an orchestra, and got a job as an "en-coffiner" or "nokanshi". In a scene at Christmas, for the office party, they got a bucket of KFC. Which they ate with great enthusiasm!)

Hosono-san confirmed that it was a custom, and that on Christmas, KFC would have their busiest day of the year. It would be very crowded.

(My wife asked me why. I speculated that it could be that in the West, a turkey would be the main "event" for Christmas dinner, but that it is not traditional for Japanese families to have turkey. So Chicken was probably a substitute. And KFC is a convenient substitute. Or it could be great marketing by KFC!)

I mentioned KFC at another time, but we were in Biei or Furano, and Hosono-san said that there was no KFC in that city/town because it was too small.

And probably because KFC is not an authentic Japanese cuisine reflecting Hokkaido's culture and heritage!

And because it was not on our itinerary.

BUT, when we were at Otaru, he brought us to "Naruto", a restaurant famous for their fried chicken and had been in business for over 50 years. It was popular and there was a system to wait to be seated. So the restaurant was named "Naruto" before the Anime Naruto was conceived. In any case, "narutomaki" or "naruto" also refers to the fishcake with a swirl pattern often used as a topping for ramen. So the anime creators cannot sue Naruto the restaurant for trade mark infringement!

Chicken from Naruto Restaurant.

This (visit to Naruto restaurant) was not on the itinerary. Maybe he had always intended to bring us here. Maybe he brought us because he wanted to show us that Hokkaido Fried Chicken was better than KFC. Maybe he just wanted to shut me up with the questions about KFC. Who knows? But it was good fried chicken!

Most Interesting

On the last day of our holiday in Hokkaido, as Hosono-san was driving us to the airport to catch our soon-to-be-delayed Scoot flight, Hosono-san asked me, what was most interesting about our trip. I thought about it for some long moments. 

The amount of snow and snowfall was surprising and even overwhelming. But it was not unexpected. Certainly, we had expected to see Hokkaido differently, covered in snow. And yes, to see that is different from knowing mentally that it would be covered in snow.

I liked the dog-sledding, but it was too brief and too "controlled". We ran the course within the compound.

The glassware we made at Otaru il Ponte.

Eventually, I said, "the glass-blowing" because while we are carefully guided through the various steps of glass-blowing, and I cannot honestly say that I am a glass-blower at the end of it, it was very interesting.

And now, at the end of it all, what I have come to realise is that the best part of the holiday, like the best part of anything that means anything to one's life, is the people. 

And what was most interesting about the trip was Hosono-san. 

And we miss him and his "taxi".

[We made our travel plans with Hokkaido Treasure Island Tours, and they provided us with our guide and "taxi driver", Hosono-san.]