Yann flew back to Switzerland from Kagoshima, we went back south for another WWOOFing experience.
Further south than Yakushima, but not quite as far as Iriomote, not even Okinawa.
To get there we took a plane from Kagoshima to Amami airport, then a bus from there to Setouchi, via Naze – basically across the Amami-Oshima island from north to south.
Not quite there yet, then a ferry across a fairly narrow straight to Seso on Kakeromajima island, from here we were picked up by car by our new host Rie (a lady) – their place is on the other side of the island, a little village by the name of Ikomo. (that last part did not take long, crossing this island is much easier than trying to go from one village on the coast to the other!)
So our new WWOOF place is totally different than the first one, from a farm to a guesthouse: Gomairu Guesthouse
Gomairu => Go + mairu or ５マイル => 5 miles
As you will see our work there is mainly to help with the guesthouse, and mostly with their vegetable garden, but also as little hands in the kitchen. On busy days also with cleaning the guest rooms ( only once) and other odd jobs.
They Guesthouse is on water front in a small sheltered bay, walking distance to a very small village ( aren’t they all small villages on this island??).
The hosts: Rie (in her 39) and her husband which we will call Ōto-san (meaning father, but we never got another name for him. 65). Kazuyo – Rie’s mother, but we only heard her been called Obasan (grandmother, 67). Their 3 kids, Mashio (a girl 13), Nagie (a girl 8) and Shin (a boy, 4).
+ Mocchi a helper (young lady ~30-35 maybe…) who will be looking to settle somewhere in Kyushu and open her own guesthouse…
Nagie
But before we dig in with our Gomairu odyssey, let’s just rewind for a bit with our crossing of Amami-Oshima …
On recommendation from Mimiko we stopped by the island museum, … not so much for the information on the island, but this museum also has a part about a Japanese painter Tanaka Isson (1908-1977). Maybe nothing new to some of you… we were really impressed, even more maybe by his early paintings, at age 13! He seemed like a promising painter and had been noticed as such at a young age… but then something must have gone wrong and he isolated himself and went to live on Amami-Oshima. He seems to have developed his own style… some of those paintings had an echo of Gaugin’s colourful works, maybe… Check him out on the net, or if his paintings are exposed nearby where ever you may be. (Simply search Isson Tanaka, e.g. https://pin.it/i5vgawbw5cwucn )
His paintings only became appreciated and himself famous after he had died…
