Good times in Osaka

I arrived in Osaka on Sunday night and started of well. I stayed at Hotel Raizan, which is more like a large hostel with individual rooms. I had a television, a refrigerator, my own room, a window etc. Even got a toothbrush.


It wasn't the largest room in the world, as you can see, but it was nice to have my own personal space and to be able to sleep in without others noising around in the morning, turning lights on etc. Not bad considering the price is the same as a hostel in Japan at around 2000 yen (18 bones, USD).

The real prize of Hotel Raizan, however, was the guest list. There were a lot of people staying at this place- Japanese businessmen, English teachers, college students etc. There seemed to be a representative of every country.


The night I got there, around 23:30, everybody was sitting around the common room drinking and having a good time. I joined in and got to know everybody- all good people. The English character in the middle was probably the most interesting, if not drunk, of the bunch. Richard S Wrigley was his name.

Richard, drunk

Richard has done just about everything. He has started a small business selling his vegetables at a local market. He has traveled everywhere. He has been married twice, once to a woman from Trinidad and once to a Japanese woman. The BBC started production on a documentary about him. He has produced music in Japan, United States, South Africa and other places, including notable artists such as Takiko (something) from Japan. He produced the soundtrack for a movie using a Genesis album. He has met the members of the band Led Zeppelin without knowing it at the time. He has met the band Pink Floyd. He helped change alcohol laws in the United States that previously prevented microbreweries from being attached to restaurants (He did the same in Japan). He has started numerous breweries in Boston, Seattle, Japan and other places. He has died (his heart stopped for several minutes). The coolest thing Richard did, though, was to start a beer modeled after the 400 year old Dutch tradition of beer that was sailed to Japan in the 1600s. He had hand-made ceramic bottles crafted by a German company in the exact style of that dutch beer. He then sailed his beer on his yacht from Seattle to Japan. We were lucky enough to all share one of his beers, valued (by him, I'm sure, at $100) the other night. The beer was 13 years old, and still tasted delicious despite its lack of carbonation.

Richard, with beer.

Has he done these things? I have no idea. He was nonetheless a very interesting and good-hearted person. We had numerous conversations on politics, human rights, globalization, his divorces, his children and his various and numerous supposed exploits. Glad to have met him.