Yokie from Muskogee: Green Uraga and Ham.

I had my last hike with the Uraga people. These trips have all been pretty similar. The same group leader identifies local flora and sometimes tells a related anecdote or some trivia. There was a new group co-leader on this one. As always, with a new group, since I'm the token white guy, I have to say that I'm from America and that's I'm very happy to meet everybody. As this was the fourth time with this group, I felt kind of silly going through it all again. The new guy pointed to a dandelion and asked me, "What is this?" I said, "Tampopo?" He said, "No! No! In English!" I said "Dandelion." He agreed and said something about French people using the leaves to clean their teeth (maybe). He ended our act by delighting that the walking group was now international.

I heard the word for "bug" during this identification. Some kind of insect is born inside this "fruit/seed" and eats its way out.

I heard something about a toothbrush and from watching some people mime, these little cone things can be used as a primitive toothbrush (I think!).

This scene is typical. Our leader scampers up a rock to identify a sprout of green and the rest of us take notes.

Here's a picture of tsurana. It has a naturally salty flavor and during my first Uraga hike we ate it, tempura style.

We took our lunch break and the little groups and loners all did their own thing.

What's my thing? I roam around the rocks peeking into all the nooks and crannies. Does anybody know what exactly the thing in this picture is? It looks like it could be pried off the rocks with a sharp knife (which I don't have in Japan).