Firefly in Japan

So heres what happened. A really good friend of mine came to Tokyo. It can be easy to go a bit stircrazy in Tokyo without being able to speak English and being able to see your friends, so those of us in Tokyo LOVE IT when friends come to visit us. Anyway, we were excitedly planning out our week.

"Hm, I suppose I should take you somewhere that has something to do with culture." I mused.

My friend sipped a beer, and looked at me.

"I know, I'll take you to Kyoto! It's the cultural centre of Japan, and it's a beautiful place. You'll love it." I said. I made a phone call, booked our bullet train tickets, and booked a hotel in Kyoto.

A few days later we arrived and unpacked. We left our belongings in the hotel, and went out to explore Kyoto. We had a blast going to the different temples, taking in the culture, and waving to all the school kids, who seemed to think we were foreign celebrities.

We woke up early the next day. "What should we do today," I wondered out loud. Then I realised that Japan's second biggest city, Osaka, is a short train ride away. "I'm gunna take you to Osaka!" I told my friend, and we were underway.

Osaka city is pretty big. It's a huge metropolis actually, and we became lost almost immediately. This was not a major problem, because we didn't have any fixed destination, so we wandered around. After a while, we came across a really interesting looking shopping centre with a massive ferris wheel sticking out the top. We walked in to check it out. After looking about the shopping centre, I looked over my friends shoulder, and suddenly froze.

I've seen that guy somewhere before. Surely thats not possible, I've only ever been to Osaka once before. I don't know anyone here. But somehow I know that guys face. I was racking my brain trying to figure it out. All of a sudden, things almost audibly clicked into place. That guy bears a striking resemble to a small photo I saw of Azrael on his website, Outpostnine, before it moved to Gaijin Smash.

No way, I thought. The chances of meeting Azrael are so infinitesimally small, it's ridiculous. Even if we both lived in Osaka (and we don't) the chances are still ridiculously small. But it really looks like him. Crazy. Lets go talk to him.

I walked up.

"Excuse me," I said. "This might seem like a really weird question... but are you Azrael?" I looked at him expectantly.

He looked at me. "Uhhhhhhh," he said.

Oh, shit. It's not Azrael. And this guy thinks I'm nuts. Then I noticed a girl standing next to him, who was looking at him with a confused look on her face.

"Actually," he coughed and cleared his throat. "Um, yeah. Thats me."

Wow. I wasn't expecting that.

"Seriously? Wow. I didn't know you lived in Osaka." I said.

"I don't, I'm just here for the day." He replied.

We made some small talk, and then parted company.

Once again, let me pause here to re-iterate the low chances of this event taking place. On the same day, Az and I both independently came to Osaka on a day trip from completely different parts of Japan. We both happened to go to the same district, at the same shopping centre, on the same floor, at the same location, at the same time, and he happened to be facing me so I could identify him. I was floored.

Then I realised I might have put him into a weird situation. If I was shopping with a girl, and some guy came up to me and said "Hey dude! Are you like, firefly? You are, right?" I know I would feel a bit awkward. I can only imagine the conversation Az and that girl had after I walked off.

"Um, who was that?"
"*cough*, who?"
"The guy, who just asked if you were 'Azrael' ?"
"Oh, him? Um, nothing. I've never met him before. And, um, it's nothing to do with a website about my personal life. And it's not like you've been mentioned on that website and labeled with an embarrassing nickname or anything. Don't do a web search for Azrael btw. Thanks."

I later checked the forum at Outpost nine, and I found Az had wrote a post detailing our encounter. I went back to try to find it, but it wasn't there. Looks like Az upgraded the message board and lost some of the older post (this happened May 2005).

Japan, the land of coincidences.

PS - More Saga coming soon !