This is the first day of my slowing down and what I’m calling ‘making peace with the jizo’. I slept so well last night, with the aid of my now-familiar sleeping tablet, something I hope to become less dependent on as the time passes. But for now it helps with with my healing.
i am in oji, a town half way between the centre of osaka and nara, in a guesthouse that’s a bit over budget but very much worth it. i had the place to myself last night, and then had a beautiful japanese breakfast of rice porridge this morning.

i left the guesthouse and smiled at this cat, keeping warm.

and this was a slow day. i did very little, wandering around the town and it’s shops to start with, looking for the elusive 100Y store. my sense of space and distance was out of sync, and i’d come without a map and little idea of what the signs all said. but i managed to find myself lunch, and realised once it appeared that i was at a chinese restaurant. there was even ice-cream and tea for dessert.

my aim for the day was to get my hair cut. it was something i’d been meaning to do for weeks in australia, and i just didn’t ever get time. so i asked at the guesthouse whether it was possible, and originally she recommended the english speaking places in osaka, listed in the kansai scene english magazine. but i didn’t want to go to osaka, preferring to stay in the local area. so tomomi, my guesthouse host, arranged an appointment for me at a salon called ‘happiness’, across the road from the chinese restaurant. oji is a small town, and after one lap around i had it all under control. there was something freeing about wandering into shops and buildings not knowing what i would find.
and so the hairdresser. my 3.30 appointment for a cut went for a couple of hours, most spent drying my hair. the cut was good, and the language exchange was hilarious. those who did know a bit of english kept quiet till the end, and even then it was only a little bit. we managed to ascertain during the drying time that my roots were very bad and i needed to colour my hair.they originally though i’d do it when i got back to australia, but then i said no, can you do it tomorrow? and so i made an appointment for the next day to get a hair colour, with some extra red thrown in for good luck. i made it back to the guesthouse and then dinner was a big bowl of noodles from the place in the basement of the shopping centre.and then a beer back at the guesthouse, where i sat and chatted a bit to the americans who were also staying.

a day of wandering and wondering how this trip would go.