[SEL] Japanese Engine meets

[William Young]

Peter-san,  I had just about given up on getting anything from the link you sent.  I thought something was wrong.  When I came back with a cuppa, the movie was underway.  The comments I made in previous email were made before I saw the movies.  Here are some more.
(1)  For all of you who don't know Wakahara-san, he is the young guy handing the P.A. mike to an older guy.  Waka is a professional bicycle racer -- a frequent winner as you can infer from the size of his engines.  He also appears in front of the big oil field engine, an import from Canada, I think.  He, and his partner, have bought several engines from me.  
(2)  The Japanese date, as you probably figured out, (actually Western calendar date)  is given year, month, day.
(3)  Some of those guys drive their trucks, loaded with engines and gear,  all day and night from home to show -- and back.The local lads will always provide fork-lifts and boom trucks for unloading and reloading.  Ditto the food.  Beer and sake flow copiously, a real No No Stateside and insurance wise.
(4)  One of the standard dishes, perhaps bowls would be more apt, is made in the big, wood fired caldron, filled with any mixture of vegetable and, hear this, either chicken or pig entrals, meticulously cleaned of course.  One year, yours truly decided enough was enough and got permission to bring 7kg of chicken breasts, no bone, no skin,  instead of the gut casings.  Real gourmet style.  One problem.  There were several complaints that the stuff didn't taste so good that year.
(5)  Someone mentioned the smoking engines.  Did anyone notice how many were boiling?  Cold day, no load, boiling.  Why?  All of you probably did notice the things being stuffed into the water jackets.  Yep, that's how we cook eggs and other goodies.
(6)  Many of the local lads like to have engines running as slowly as possible.  Killing two birds with one stone, they retard the timing to the point where the engine will barely run and get boiling water as a bonus.  The smoke signifies samurai machismo.
(7)  I don't personally know the guy in the suit who addressed the group.  Traditionally, he would be the local mayor scrounging a few votes for  next time around.
(8)  Remember the scene with the guy flailing away with the huge wooden mallet?  He was pounding steaming sticky rice.  After sufficient pounding, the rice becomes a viscous mass, which can be broiled, eaten as is or put in soups as would Amercan dumplings. ( Better than chicken guts. )  It takes a  good man to keep that mallet going for ten minutes.  Traditionally, there will be two guys, swinging consecutively and a woman moving tha mass around between strokes, hopefully.  She will have a pail of cold water in which to dip her hands, as the rice mass is still very HOT! 
  Suggestion:  On your next trip to  Japan, instead of climbing Fuji-san, go to an engine meet.  If you see a Gai-jin, it will probably be me. 
 
Peter-san, Was it Wakahara-san who sent you the movies?