Lunch Lady

I don’t know her name, but her presence was unforgettable.

We had just arrived in Onomichi (hat tip to Craig Mod, who recommended visiting there). It was perhaps two in the afternoon and we were craving something to eat. The Shin-Onomichi train station is a few kilometers north of the city itself, and there aren’t too many lunch options nearby when you step off the train. We did find a small sushi place down the main road a bit and popped in. It felt very lived in. There was nobody there except a reserved older woman behind the counter, whom I took to be the proprietor. She seemed a bit surprised to see us, a couple of gaijin, in her place, but she nonetheless led us to a table the far corner of the dining room. With a lot of awkward back and forth and pointing to pictures on the menu, we managed to order something to eat.

As we were waiting for our lunch, Lunch Lady walked in. She spotted us sitting in the corner, and evidently delighted to see us, waved broadly and called out across the room kon’nichiwa! She continued talking to us in Japanese, which we couldn’t understand, and she didn’t speak a lick of English. But she carried herself with such vibrant ebullience, that the language barrier didn’t matter. And her sartorial sensibilities… I mean, just look at that zebra-striped mock turtleneck! Check out that lavender shawl echoing her purple hair! (I love the safety pin at the bottom holding it closed—sensible!) That turtle brooch pinned to the shawl! It’s all a wonderful expression of her vibrant individuality. She was positively delightful.

She was evidently a friend of the proprietor, as they got to chatting like old friends do while we ate our lunch. When we finished, I asked them both—with the help of a translation app—if I could take their pictures. The proprietor declined, but Lunch Lady was absolutely game, delighted by the idea. I snapped off a few shots, showed them the photos, and we all shared a laugh over the experience.