Piglet and Modesty dreamt about a travel to Japan.
They wanted to go to Japan, because they loved anime. They wanted to see the dictrict of cosplayers and Modesty wanted to see traditional Japanese gardens. Piglet was affraid of flying and Modesty was worried about earthquakes and they were scared that they could get lost in the crowd of people. However the biggest problem was the high cost of traveling there.
One day Piglet… won a lottery! Because they really wanted to go to Japan they fought their fears.
The flight went on smoothly.
At the place they met their guide who traveled with them and took photos of them. They decided to hire a guide to feel safe.
Tokyo bewildered them with it’s sky scrapers. The cosplayers’ dictrict was also very colourful and noisy. They saw some characters but in general they didn’t feel good in there and they were a bit disappointed. So the guide took them to a famous shrine in Tokyo.
The shrine was a very traditional place located in the forest. They had the jet lag – they felt very tired because of the change of time zone – so they relaxed a little bit in the shrine. The guide explained them the difference between shrine and temple. People in Japan have two religions. The shrine is Shinto sacred place and the temple is Buddhism sacred place.
– Why do people complicate everything? asked Modesty. Couldn’t they just believe in Nature, like us, pigs?
– At least we have got places to visit, laughed Piglet.
– This shrine is very pretty and the forest around it is so beautiful, said the guide. But you must see a Japanese garden – that’s beauty and harmony!
– But now we want to sleep, said Piglet.
So they went back to the hotel to recover after the long journey and the long day.
As the guide suggested, they went to a garden the next day. It was very beautiful. They sat at a rock and watched lotuses. They also saw bamboos for the first time.
– I didn’t know that bamboos grew in the gardens, said Modesty.
– They are huge like trees, said Piglet.
– It is amazing that bamboo is a kind of grass, said the guide. Did you know about it?
– Is it? exclaimed the couple. Wow!
The Pigs sat in the shadow and admired amazing plants. The garden was around an old Japanese house. There were interesting sculptures there which were used as lanterns. They sat at different places and enjoyed the views. Next they went to visit the house. There were beautiful and hand painted cupboards and doors inside.
– The houses here were very strange in the past, said Modesty.
They went back to the garden. Then Piglet asked Modesty to sit by the water. When they were watching the water, suddenly Piglet took out a traditional Japanse bun and said:
– At the presence of four elements – water in this pond, air around us, earth under our hooves and fire in this bun I promise you ethernal love – said Piglet. Will you marry me?
There was a moment of silence, surprise and joy.
– Yes! shouted Modesty finally. I am so happy!
Then they solemnly shared and ate the bun.
After Piglet had proposed to Modesty they took a train to the mountains. It was a shinkansen, a very fast train which they loved.
There was a very fast stream in the mountains. The pigs were afraid that the stream would swep them away, so they were only watching it and listening to the sound of the water. They took some photos of themselves lying on the rocks. It was getting darker so they went back to the hotel.
The next day they took a shinkansen do Himeji castle. When they saw it, they were delighted. It was very big and and it had six levels. They didn’t want to enter it because they had heard there was nothing inside. So they went to the nearby garden. It was beautiful as usual. Piglet wanted to touch the water but Modesty was scared thet he could fall in. It was very nice, so they sat on the rock and talked for hours. They were planning their wedding and living together.
Another day they went to see Mijajimaguchi. It is a gate located in the middle of the sea when the tide is high or on the beach when the tide is low. To see it they had to take a ferry to the island. There were so many deer there. They were hungry and they wanted to get some food. Pigs had some onigiri – Japanese sandwiches made of rice wrapped in a sheet of seaweeds and stuffed with vegetables. The deer sniffed their rucksacks and drooled it. So pigs took some photos with them and run away.
That was the last point of their trip, so the next day they went back to Tokyo by shinkansen. They went shopping to buy some souvenirs.
Next morning they flew back to Gruntland. It was so hard to say goodbye to Japan. They decided to come back there soon.
Some time later they… got married.
This story was written by my student Iga to the photos taken by me in Japan. Thank you Iga.