We had just finished our delicious handmade soba and Tanakazu Nishimori san returned from hunting.  He had a lotus root in his hand.  He sat down, with some shochu, and told us a story about his mother.  She was well know for being kind and generous to strangers.  In the past, when homeless people turned up at her door she welcomed them, fed them and let them use the bath.  Tanakazu san smiled as he recounted her funeral; so many people arrived they had difficulty find places for people to park.  Women in Japan typically had very few people at their funeral, so to have so many was quite extraordinary.  Tanakazu san and his wife said that they try to continue this legacy of being kind to people who turn up at their doorstep; their generosity (like everyone in Kamiyama, actually) is almost too much to bear.  Tanakazu san gave us some boar meat, 2 days old, a beautiful cut of meat with a thick fatty bit curled around.  He recommended we roast it over charcoal and sprinkle it with salt mixed with pepper.

We still have a lot of charcoal from Higashitani san in a big rice bag so that was perfect.  We found a nice little hibachi for roasting some sweet potatoes.  The meat was still just slightly frozen to make it easier to cut; it was pinned on bamboo skewers and roasted directly over the charcoal.  The evening was cold and clear and hard.  The sake helped a little.

English Parents dealing with fish cakes.

The meat was really delicious.  English Parents state that this is the best meat they have ever eaten.  Later we roast some mochi and a squid.  The squid is bubbling and stiff.  Since I can no longer chew it I have to suck it instead and the fish taste intensifies to the point where I gag slightly in the dark.

We take a group photograph but the long exposure turns us into smoke, so we exploit this.