Meet The Totoro Maker

After retirement, Mr Fukushima moved to the countryside from the city and dedicated his life to making Totoro. And all I can say is, his Totoro hobby-house is SURREAL. Because he has put in so much work and it is all so noticeable. Everything is lovingly handmade and utterly magical. Entering his home is no different to entering a fairytale. I told him I want to get married there. He said, dozo (go ahead).

In addition to carving Totoro, Mr Fukushima is a master soba (Japanese buckwheat noodle) chef (having installed a 40m well in his home just for making soba), painter, vintage collector and Jazz musician of all sorts.

Ponyo Town

Tomonoura (鞆の浦) is a port town at the southern end of Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture. Situated at a bay facing the Seto Inland Sea, the picturesque port town features an endearing old-fashioned fishing townscape, with a calm and laid-back atmosphere. Tomonoura is part of the Setonaikai National Park.

In recent years, Tomonoura has been picked as a filming location for several international and local movies, such as “The Wolverine” starring Hugh Jackman and “Ponyo on the Cliff” by the popular Studio Ghibli. The port town portrayed in the beginning of “Ponyo on the Cliff” was modeled after Tomonoura (from Japan-guide.com).

I went to visit my friends Anees (the male version of my name) and his beautiful wife, Amy this weekend in Fukuyama (about 2.5 hours drive). They took me to Tomonoura the port-town that inspired Miyazaki’s Ponyo and it was unreal. Though I  wish you too could have been there. Or at least, been there for the road-trip. Though I am used to living and travelling alone, I am still human. I wish I could have been there on a romantic date. Speaking of dates, I took them raw truffles. For lunch, we had local snapper (not pictured). For dinner, soba (pictured). I stayed the night. For breakfast, homemade sourdough with natural yeast (made by Anees) and fresh vegetables and herb (basil – homegrown on their balcony).