The Message I Thought Was Spam

Yesterday morning, I received a message in English.

It asked whether there was an opening for a “walk” that day.

When I looked at the phone number, I saw that it had a South African country code.

The wording was also slightly unnatural, so to be honest, my first thought was that it might be spam.

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Still, I decided to reply, just in case.

After exchanging a few messages, I realized that “walk” was simply a typo. He wanted to book a session that day.

I did not ask for details about his condition.

I happened to have an opening, so I invited him to come to my salon in Meguro.

Until I actually saw him, I was still slightly unsure whether he would really show up.

But he arrived right on time.

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The first thing I asked was how he had found KaradaNaoru.

“Through an internet search,” he replied.

That answer surprised me as well.

As we talked, I learned that he travels around the world.

He spends about half the year in South Africa and the other half moving between different countries.

This was his first visit to Japan.

Even before the session began, we found plenty to talk about.

What surprised him most was the Japanese summer.

Even though he was from South Africa, he repeatedly said,

“I didn’t expect Japan to be this hot.”

“The humidity is incredible.”

It was not only the temperature.

The combination of heat and humidity in a Japanese summer seemed to be taking quite a toll on him.

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After asking about his physical condition, I began the session.

When I touched his body, it reacted quite strongly.

He then said quietly,

“I’m a very spiritual person.”

Perhaps he had some idea of what might be behind the reaction.

He travels constantly, stays in many different places and encounters a great number of people.

With that kind of lifestyle, he may be affected not only by climate, food and jet lag, but also by the atmosphere of different places, the condition of the people around him and other influences that cannot be seen.

Of course, I cannot say with certainty what caused his reaction.

I simply observed his body and worked through, one by one, the areas that felt out of balance to me.

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When the session was over, I asked him how he felt.

“Really good,” he replied.

We continued talking for a while afterward.

One thing he said left a particular impression on me.

“I never imagined Japanese people would be so kind.”

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When I think about it, Japanese people often instinctively try to help someone who appears to be in trouble, even when that person is a foreign visitor.

They give directions.

They help carry luggage.

Even when they do not share a language, they try to make themselves understood.

Of course, kindness is not unique to Japanese people.

During my own travels around the world, I have been helped by people in many different countries.

Every country has people who cannot simply ignore someone in need.

Still, Japanese people may initially appear a little reserved or distant.

Perhaps that is why the kindness he encountered felt so unexpected and refreshing.

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A traveler from South Africa found a small salon in Meguro during his short stay in Japan.

He contacted me on a day when I happened to have an opening, and then arrived exactly on time.

Without that particular combination of circumstances, we would never have met.

It seemed almost entirely coincidental, and yet it also felt like a curious connection.

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At first, I thought the message was spam.

But on the other side of that brief message in slightly awkward English was a traveler who had come all the way from South Africa to Japan.