When Yamazaki stepped off the small plane, he was stunned.
He couldn't see a single house, let alone a streetscape. Runway built in the wilderness
What made me even more worried was that the female owner, who was supposed to come to pick me up, did not show up even after a while.
From Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, a mining town of Lightning Ridge in eastern Australia, via Sydney
I moved to this town alone in September of last year.
If I can sell the rainbow-colored gem opal widely in Kyushu and Yamaguchi, I hope to go to Fukuoka in the future.
I want to set up a base building. It was a buying trip with such a dream in mind.
No matter how long he waited, no one approached the runway, so Miss. Yamasaki carried his luggage on his back and the pilot drove to pick him up.
He started walking in the direction he had run away. Life is strange because this turns out to be okay.
How many hours did you spend walking along the road that stretches out into the wilderness? I ended up at a private house.
I had a taxi called for me at the house of the town security officer, and I was finally able to get into the hotel.
done.
Lightning Ridge is known as one of the world's finest opal mines.
On the same day, I visited the office of the female owner, but the price of opal was too high, so I couldn't negotiate.
Still unorganized. As I was walking through town on my way home from the tour, I bumped into a security guard.
When I told him how it happened, he said something surprising.
Two of my friends work together on mining and cutting, so I thought I'd introduce them to them.
We visited early on, hit it off, and was invited to dinner with one of the families.
``A woman from Japan came to visit me for the sake of opal, and she seemed to be interested in me because I was willing to do whatever it took.
She seemed to understand my feelings because she herself had struggled early on to pursue a career in opal. ” he says.
By chance, their relatives were in Tokyo and dealing in opals. Such good fortune overlaps
Lightning Ridge Tokyo (Japan) - Miss. Yamasaki's purchasing route was established.
Born in Shimonoseki, after graduating from a local high school, he worked for three years at a department store in Kitakyushu. Due to extended business hours and late return home
He quit his job and continued working part-time in Shimonoseki. Afterwards, he worked at a camera company and also worked on cosmetics, which was sold by the president's wife.
Her first encounter with opal was when her brother, who was a tour guide in Australia, gave her and her mother two beautiful stones.
It was a gift. ``It's a wonderful opal with a deep green color that makes my friends jealous.
I wanted to go there after hearing about the local stories from his brother. ”
Then he attends an English conversation school. He learned by working at a camera store, selling cosmetics, and working late into the night.
Last September he traveled to Australia to see it for himself. Then I saved up some money and went on a buying trip.
Another route was established through his brother in New Zealand, and he sold on consignment at a famous department store in Yamaguchi, Kyushu.
Opal changed my life because I had a purpose. I want many people to wear this stone.
And I wish we could have a rainbow-colored dream together. With this in mind, Miss. Yamasaki continues to walk today.