When you come to Japan as a "gaijin," it seems there is always a Japanese person who adopts you. This person makes sure you have all the things you need, informs you of important events and perhaps even takes you sightseeing. I've had several people take on this role during my time in Japan, and I'm beginning to think that every few years the island holds a meeting to determine who is going to take care of the gaijin for the next few years. First it was my neighbor Ueda-san, who introduced me the basics of island living. After she died, her daughter-in-law took over, encouraging me to join in cultural events and teaching me about some of the Japanese arts. Then the Buddhist priest spent a good few years educating me about Buddhism, Shinto and the roots of Japanese culture.

This year, the job has gone to 75-year-old Rikimatsu-san, an ex-commercial fisherman who has taken me under his fin, determined to teach me how to fish.

And he must be doing a pretty good job, because I'm beginning to be able to actually recognize my food. The other day, when I passed a Japanese restaurant, I could name every fish in the aquarium in the window. Woooooo! Not only that, but I had eaten, not just merely had a taste, of every kind of fish in the aquarium. Double woooooo!