Kiyotsukete, Chibi-chan
After a few weeks of traveling in the big cities of Japan like Tokyo and Kyoto, I decided to go to the Japanese country side for a change from the city life and a breath of fresh air. I also wanted to visit the island of Naoshima, home to four contemporary art museums which was located in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea, part of the Kagawa prefecture.
I started my travels in Japan, a shocking decision even for me. See, Japan was never on my list of countries to experience, that is until September 2020. During Covid, I was introduced to the world of Haruki Murakami by a nice man that I went on a few dates with. While the three dates didn’t materialize into a relationship, the book he introduced me, Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami, opened a magical world that got me completely entwined into Murakami’s non existing reality. After this book, I went on read seven or eight more of his books including his best seller Norwegian Wood. I imagined Japan through his books and was completely in love with the land that inspired his imagination and art, so much so that I decided to start my journey around the world in Tokyo to see Murakami’s Japan.
After exploring the big cities, the busy metro stations, the bustling streets of Shibuya, the beautiful Mt. Fuji and the amnesia inducing Aokigahara Jukai forest around it, the super busy yet stunningly well preserved cultural streets of Kyoto, the explicitly well curated and tear jerking Peace memorial museum in Hiroshima for the victims of the atomic bomb attack in 1945, I wanted a change of scenery, a whiff of freshness through the Japanese countryside, which all led me to the quaint little village of Hayashima, situated an hour away from the Okayama JR station.
Upon arrival at my humble guesthouse which was an old traditional Japanese house and had a beautiful zen garden, I was given a paper map of the city and explained that it would take me 30 minutes to walk around the city. If I reached the Lawson convenience store, I reached the end if the town. I was enthralled to explore this little town with my paper map. I headed out ready to see Hayashima. I walked along the neatly lined traditional houses interspersed with little farms of homegrown organic vegetables and rice, stopped for an onigiri (a delicious rice snack stuffed with tuna and wrapped in nori) from a grandma at a small corner shop, and was taking in the fresh air, the Ghibli movie like views and the Japanese countryside calm. I saw a small school, probably the only one in town, and as I was walking past the building, I was greeted by a little girl standing shyly outside the school building.
She was probably 4 or 5 years old. “Hi” she said, smiling brightly at me. “Hi” I replied, smiling back warmly. Her tiny little body which she held in a straight posture, thick black straight hair that gently hugged her shoulders, and her sweet smile that created two small dimples in her little cheeks filled me with love and pure joy. She said something to me which I couldn’t hear, so I crossed the street, walked towards her and squatted down on the street to reach her height. Her curiosity and bright smile were infectious. She walked boldly towards me and touched my face with her little fingers. I could tell that she was meeting someone with my features and complexion for the first time. She kept smiling as she touched my face and once again said, “Hi”. Hi, I replied, more gently and smiled at her with the same warmth that she filled me with. It suddenly occurred to me that it probably is the only English word she knew.
After a few minutes of interacting through our smiles and gestures, I waved goodbye and said “Sayonara, Kiyotsukete” using all the Japanese I knew. It meant “goodbye, take care”. Her face lit up finally able to understand what I was saying. She happily yelled back “Hi” waving her little hand in goodbye as I continued my walk and turned around the corner and lost sight of her sweet little presence.
In the past 3 years, I returned back to Japan two more times and learnt more Japanese. I often think about this sweet little girl and hope I get to meet her someday, so I can talk more with her this time.
Mia
© Dear Dhuniya 2026