Memories of Ashikawa 2001

It was in 2001. Kumiko and I were about to have the best 3 days of our life. When I look back, this is how I remember it: Kumiko was so kind to prearrange everything. She bought the train tickets, she called the onsen and asked wheather they had free rooms for two and if they were ok with a Westerner staying at their facility. The owner, later known as mr. Tomodo, was a very kind man and was very happy that we we're headed to his very far off village of Ashikawa (芦川). He didn't expect a guest from as far as Europe.

We met at the train station the next morning, waiting for the train from Tokyo via Maebashi to the beautiful mountain village of Ashikawa. It was quite cold, yet Kumiko was all perky and really behaved in a in way I haven't seen before. She hugged me right infront of all the people, even kissed me and couldn't hide her blush. She said she was so happy to go on this trip with me, her eyes were amazingly glowing. At that time it was very hard for us to be somewhere together and alone. Infront of her father, we always had to behave as if we were only friends. I couldn't offend the head of the family, so I had to restrict myself as much as I could. I knew he disapproved of me, because I wasn't Japanese. Why is it so hard to be with the person I love, I was wondering, while the beautiful Japanese mountains passed by. There was a time, when we argued because of this. Kumiko cried and I was angry, because she wouldn't even allow me to hold her hand infront of the father. The mother never said anything... She was very kind and pure-hearted like Kumiko, but she had no effect nor any will to change her husband's mind regarding me. I know she wanted us to be happy. Kumiko knew it, too.
That's how my mind kept slipping away while Kumiko was sleeping. Time passed by very fast. After few hours we've finally reached in Maebashi, the closest big city near Ashikawa. We knew our final stop was not far away. So I woke up Kumiko, who in the meanwhile rested her head on my shoulder. When she opened her cute eyes, she immediately smiled and kissed me. I felt so happy. With her Japanese kindness and dilligence, she always made me lose my heart again and again. It felt like I fall in love with her everytime she opens that radiant chestnut eyes of hers. It was electrifying.
She said with her sweet Japanese flavoured English: "Niko-kun, ale you happy?" I smiled, looked deep into her eyes and replied: "Yes, Kumiko, as happy as never before." Suddenly the train came to a halt: "Ashikawa station, please alight!" came out of the loudspeakers. I grabbed our luggage and we stepped out of the train. She took my hand, gave me that unforgetabbly joyful look and said: "Thele is de onsen, Niko-kun. Please hully, I want to enjoy wit you." So I sped up my pace and we reached there in less than ten minutes. The whole village was full of wooden Japanese-style houses. The nature was so beautiful. It was a mix of green and grey, including the sky. The gloomy and cold weather was a bit harsh, but that wouldn't stop us in any way. We were so determined to spend a beautiful weekend in this onsen, we forgot that everything else exists. Our world was only Ashikawa.
We scrolled back to reality when we reached the porch of mr. Tomodo's onsen. It was a small onsen, just big enough for the village, the few hundred people living there. Seldom tourists would come from as far as Tokyo, said Mr. Tomodo, who politely bowed and welcomed us. We bowed back and Kumiko spoke in very polite Japanese with him. After she signed the papers and payed the bill, mr. Tomodo brought us up to our room. He was a very reserved man of soft features, with a small moustache and a smile sometimes hard to notice. He walked very slow and kept asking about me, where I was from. He concluded he was very happy and honoured to have me as a guest and if we needed anything, he will be at our service day and night. I remembered Tokyo. People in Tokyo are polite, but mr. Tomodo was something else.
After he showed us the room, he quickly left and we threw down all the bags and hugged. We stayed that way for a minute at least, because Kumiko kept us stuck together with a big kiss. How can we make that kind of magic disappear? We had to! Beacuse we were eager to soak in the warm water of mr. Tomodo's onsen. So we changed clothes and walked off downstairs, turned left and there we saw it. A beautiful outside pool of water, literarly immersing itself into the valley below, into the purling river, the trees and rocks. It was magnificent. More so was Kumiko. Her white bikini was extremely sexy. It made her curvy body look voluptuous and made it even harder to restrain myself. When the water covered her body and messed up her hair, I (just for a moment) couldn't believe that there can be a woman as sexy and sensual as her. Luckily there was no other people around, so we had a lot of privacy. She wrapped her legs around my waist and kissed me, smiled and whispered in my ear: "I love you, Niko-kun. I want you to make me happy tonight."
Outside was night. All was dark. Inside the room was warm. Getting hotter and hotter. I remember clearly: Kumiko is all over me. We can't stop. She can't. I won't. What she was doing with me, no woman ever did to me before. All the prejudice of Japanese women... well, it was true! True and beyond that. Words cannot describe how she did it and what she did with me, but after a while we stopped counting and we were slowly losing our minds. We were like drugged. Literarly.
The next morning. Kumiko was sleeping with a smile on her face. Her hand touched me, her skin was so soft, it gave me goose bumps. It was 10 o'clock, the sun shone in very brightly and painted a pair of red cheeks on Kumiko's face. I spoke softly in her ear: "Wake up, baby. My Kumiko-chan, wake up..." She smiled again, my goose bumps increased. She whispered: "Arrigato!" I said:"Why?" "Fol yestelday, Niko-kun. You make me so happy. Arrigato!" I hugged her and told her, I will never forget yesterday's night. I went to put on some clothes, I turned around. There she was, so beautiful, sitting on bed. The bed which was our playground the night before. So I took my camera and snapped this memorable photo.
It is this photo I cherish the most, it is this moment that is forever engraved in my heart. The latter days in Ashikawa were also unforgettable, the latter months in Tokyo, as well. And even after her father managed to separate us, after all the tears, after all the broken and partly-mended hearts... We still love each other.
Everytime she calls me all in tears, broken and hopless, I tell her: "Kumiko, remember our weekend in Ashikawa few years ago. Remember how happy you were, sitting on that bed. Our bed. I will make you happy again. Be strong." That's the moment when her tears stop and she gets a grip of herself. But the only thing she manages to say is few softly spoken words with a shivering voice: "Niko-kun, I love you."

[Photos: Source]