2/23 Kitakyushu

Super special day!

Well, today we hopped on the Shinkansen to Kitakyushu. (kita = north, by the way.) It was only a 15-minute ride from Fukuoka.

Our first stop was Nakamoto-san’s udon shop. In 2018, I saw the NHK documentary on Nakamoto-san and his friends starting an udon shop after they left the yakuza (the Japanese mob). It’s very hard for an ex-mobster in Japan. As Nakamoto-san said in the documentary, they don’t start at zero. They start at “minus”. They can’t have a bank account, cell phone, rent, etc. for 5 years.

His story of how determined he was to start over inspired the main character of my Liminal Chronicles series, Umeji Tatsuya. I wanted to let Nakamoto-san know what he inspired.

When Mike and I were planning this trip to Japan, stopping by Nakamoto-san’s udon shop was the big reason I wanted to go to Kyushu. But I wondered with the COVID pandemic if Nakamoto-san’s shop was still open. Then I found a YouTube video of someone who had visited recently and they had an address with the new name for his shop! Yay!

When I was chatting with my friend, Kyoko, about the stop I wanted to make, she said the day we planned to go was on a holiday, the Emperor’s Birthday. So we looked up the shop and found out Nakamoto-san’s shop was closed for renovations. His shop would re-open just as we were leaving Japan. She was so kind and called him for me to see if we could just meet him for a few minutes. He agreed to meet Mike and I. The fact that he would take time to meet us surprised and thrilled me at the same time.

I was very nervous about finding the shop and getting there on time. But we made it with a few minutes to spare. The Navitime app got us there just fine.

This is Nakamoto-san’s shop, now called Ganso Kyoya. (The sign says Yomogi Udon. Yomogi is an herb. I think it translates to “mugwort”. Udon is a thick noodle.)

He opened the door, and invited us in. Right away, he asked if we wanted udon. I didn’t think we’d be able to try the udon, and meeting him was the important part of the trip. But he and the sweet lady (I think she is his wife - sorry I was so focused on what I was going to say to him I totally missed her name!) cooked bowls of udon for us.

I was able to give him a signed copy of my book with the note Kyoko helped me translate. So almost 5 years after seeing the NHK documentary, I finally let him know what he inspired and that book 2 will release this May.

Then his friend, Suematsu-san who spoke a little English and had been to Seattle before, stopped by and chatted with us too. The Suematsu-sans helped keep the conversation going and showed us how to eat udon.

Oh my goodness! The udon was amazing!!! There were the yummy green yomogi udon noodles, crisp green onions, super tender beef bites, and zesty ginger that all went together perfectly.

I let Nakamoto-san know I’d been searching for his book, though I couldn’t find it yet. But he had another surprise in store for us - he gave Mike and I each a copy of the book about him. I hugged my copy!

Nakamoto-san doesn’t hide his past. He displays the newspaper articles and the video NHK did about how he turned his life around. But he humbly shows in person how he’s changed.

Mike and I really enjoyed the meeting. The Nakamoto-sans and the Suematsu-sans were all so kind. We hope to go back some day. So to those reading this blog, if you’re in the area, please go try the yomogi udon and meet a great guy!

(Post trip note, Nakamoto'-sans reopening was a hit and his udon sold out that day!)

Nakamoto-san’s shop is close to Kokura castle and garden, and a delightful shrine. So that was our next stop. It’s fun to see the reconstructed castle nestled in a lively urban area.

The shrine and garden were lovely.

I also found an adorable Goshuincho (pilgrim’s stamp book) last night, so today I got my first stamp at Kokura Castle.

After a bit of shopping, it was time to say goodbye to Kitakyushu. And Mike and I found out we had swapped our JR Passes accidentally. When we tried to reserve a seat back to Fukuoka with the pass and typed in our passport numbers, it didn’t like it. It worked after we swapped our tickets. So another silly tourist moment for you.

It’s about supper time, so I’ll sign off and catch you all tomorrow.