The typhoon missed Niigata and is now just a tropical depression but that didn’t stop it from bringing the heat and some crazy winds. I met some old friends (the three Kawasaki siblings) and they showed me around the city. We kind of took it easy because we weren’t sure about the typhoon until it truly petered out. And then when we went out we weren’t sure about the heat and the winds. Anyway, I started out the day at Toyoko Inn with their usual free breakfast.

I complain about the thin walls, but I had one of the better nights of sleep on this trip.

I met Dr. Masaru Kawasaki (the middle sibling and eldest son). Sho (the eldest, daughter) and Dr. Takashi Kawasaki (the youngest, son) met us in a car. If I recall correctly, Sho is about an hour away by car. The other two live in Niigata city. We did touristy things, like going to this temple I can’t remember the significance of. I think it’s quite old, at the very least. The temple guard dog statues are unique: you’re supposed to make a wish and rotate them (they’re on stone turntables.)

We also went to the old customs house, saw the river, and did lots of little historical things places that Masaru had mapped by hand. I told them I wanted soba and we tried a bunch of places until we went back to the half-dead shopping street near the hotel I got on short notice.

The place had a waiting list which felt weird because no one out in the shopping street. I guess this is the only destination in the entire shopping arcade. I see why people still make the trek through the ghost arcade – the food was tasty. They serve special Niigata edamame, and the edamame were surprisingly better than “regular” edamame. More fresh too.

After that it got even hotter and the wind died down a bit. We went to an old temple area with the first public central park in Japan, right next to a soccer stadium. (I don’t have any pictures but we peeked into the stadium at some point.)

After that went to an old viewpoint where you used to be able to see the Japan Sea, but now you can only see the neighborhood they built on infill. There’s a very new temple at the old viewpoint and you can see the new viewpoint in the distance.

We got to the hotel I’m staying in for a couple of days and woo is it different. It’s a Dormy Inn, but the rooms don’t have any bathing facility at all. Just a toilet and two sinks. There’s a bath on the top floor and that’s what you’re supposed to use. We walked around the neighborhood a bit looking for a coffee shop and it appears that the hotel isn’t in the greatest area.

The Kawasaki siblings left me on my own for dinner and by that time the wind had picked up again with a vengeance. Sand was blown in my eyes as I walked down the road so I figured I’d just go to the closest convenience store and eat in my room.

I’m sure it wasn’t good for me, but it was tasty enough.

I watched Netflix, took a bath, and did my laundry. Dormy Inn’s are cheap for laundry (plus it’s cheap to stay at this particular Dormy Inn). The washing machine was free and the dryer cost ¥100 for 20 minutes. I did have some difficulty – a drunk guy had put some of his items in my washer and I couldn’t figure out the dryer for a while – but it all worked out. In any case my clothes are cleaner than before they went in the washer.