Yamanashi Reunions
When we decided to go to Japan we knew that we would need to spend a least a couple of weeks in Kofu, Yamanashi, having reunions with our other friends from the area. Mr. Nakayama was kind enough to arrange for most of the stays and our friends kept us very busy. In one 12 day period we stayed in eight different homes and we were dined, wined, entertained and fed in unimaginable ways.
Upon arriving in Tokyo we
had been invited to stay at the home of Sayaka's grandparents for two days. And so
the wonderful reunions began. Sayaka's grandmother was the one who fitted us with the
kimono pictured on our homepage. We remembered her and her husbands' kind spirits from our
earlier visit at Minobu but this would be the first time we would visit their home.
During the couple of days we were in the Tokyo area, prior to taking the train to Kofu,
Sayaka took us to see some of the sights and to visit her university, International
Christian University. We took a boat ride along the river, spent hours in an
impressive Edo museum, went to several nice restaurants and took in Asakusa, among other
activities.
From the time we arrived in Kofu we were kept really busy. Mr. Nakayama picked us
up at the train station and drove us directly to the resort area of Kiyosato where we
stayed in the most impressive villa that we ever expect to see -- all marble (imported
from Europe) and glass with original paintings on the walls. Our hosts, the Aikawas,
had a daughter who was an exchange student in Pennsylvania at the time and was grateful to
us for the opportunity even though we were not directly responsible for her stay. We
were offered a fantastic sukiyaki dinner, lots of wine, much laughter, .... and karaoke
singing and dancing in their entertainment room of the villa. What a welcome!
Our next stop was the
resort city of Suwa where we met Akiko and her mother for lunch at an elegant traditional
restaurant. The food was superb, served by a formal kimono-clad woman in a private
room, with more courses than we could count. We felt humbled by the whole
experience. Akiko's mother said that she was worried that the food wouldn't be good
enough because Akiko had told her Marie was a good cook -- based on her memories at our
home. Akiko was such a good exchange student, enthusiastic about everything,
learning as much she could about our culture and wanting to teach others about her culture
-- everything one could ask for in an exchange student. Now she has become an avid
traveler with a great sense of adventure and a serious student. It was wonderful to see
how well she is doing. What a delight to see her and what a nice time we had getting
to know her mother.
On to the Nakayamas for a visit
with Tom's brother of more than 25 years and his family. After a whirlwind visit, and a
meal of Kobe steak to celebrate Yasoji's 60th birthday we went to Palm Sunday services at
his church. We are always touched by the humble surroundings and simple reverence
at this church where Yasoji's brother is the minister. There were 18 at the Palm
Sunday service. As always, we were warmly welcomed and introduced to the anyone who
may not have known us. Tom made a speech that left Marie in tears. Then,
after the service, off to a Batik exposition at the Yamanashi Prefectural building where
we were introduced to a famous Indonesian batik artist -- and then it was time for
our next visit -- with Fumiko.
Ms. Enomoto is also a friend of Tom's of
more than 25 years and now she is a friend of both of us. She is a world traveler,
dedicated to life-long learning and a delightful person. She was kind enough to host us
for several nights and also gave us time to do some exploring on our own, which we greatly
appreciated. The first evening we had dinner with her parents and friend and caught
up on the news. We were especially interested in catching up on the news with her
aunt and looking at old pictures. Her aunt is the one whom we were pleased to be
able to reunite with an acquaintance from 50 years ago and we continue to have
heart-warming feelings about that opportunity. (To read more about that you can go
to the last chapter of our Letters section.) Fumiko is a gracious
hostess and a good cook, conversation flowed naturally and the whole evening was like
"coming home".
We had one free day in our Kofu schedule and
planned to wander around the old neighborhood and visit with the Marumos, our very special
friends. Unfortunately we spent most of the day traveling to Shinjuku and back to
trade our rail pass coupons for the passes since we couldn't get them in Kofu. We
also could find no ATM machine in Kofu so we needed to get money. Consequently, most
of our day was spent on a train -- severely cutting into our time with our friends.
As we approached their home we were greeted with their broad welcoming smiles and Diet
Coke (they remembered!) and sweets. We discovered that they had spent most of the
day looking for us - traveling to the train station, the Japan Travel Bureau, calling
other friends, etc. How frustrating for all of us and none of it could be helped --
In the little bit of time we had to spend with them we were so pleased to hear that
their daughter, Hisae, is now at a university studying to be an English teacher.
We were saddened to hear that another good friend of many years was in the hospital and we wouldn't be able to see him and his wife for dinner as planned. Instead, Yasoji and Fumiko took us to one of the best restaurants in Kofu for dinner, owned and run by Ms. Enomoto's cousin's best friend who is also a former Eiwa student. All these connections! We had a good time and we definitely want to go back. There aren't enough superlatives for the Japanese food that we experienced there. We had a relaxed evening, lots of teasing from Yasoji, and much laughing.
Next morning -- a trip to Eiwa where we are introduced to the teachers with a nice little speech. But we have mixed feelings because we are so sad that the exchange program has been discontinued. We just don't feel the warmth there that we feel so many other places. The honeymoon is over for Tom.
The next day we were supposed to have massages compliments of
our great friend, Mrs. Hanawa and then dinner with her, Mrs. Naito, and Fumiko. Some
of that had to be rearranged due to some unforeseen events, but when we did see each other
there were hugs and many tears. An evening of great food and lots of laughing.
The massages had to be another day but didn't disappoint and we still wish we could bring Mrs. Hanawa back home with us as our own personal doctor. There are many days when we are struggling with this ache or that pain and we just know that she could work her miracles with her acupuncture and massage.
The next couple of days we were pleased to stay
with the Naitos, meet their daughter and greet their new (and first) grandchild, Mana, who
was born on her great-grandmother's birthday. With all the proud relatives around
Marie was grateful for the opportunity to hold Mana for a few moments and she is looking
forward to watching her grow -- through pictures and letters.
The following day, after a
meal of yaki soba at a Chinese restaurant, we took a trip to the Fifth Station of
Fuji-san, bundled up in winter clothing to ward off the arctic-cold weather.
We were pleased to hear that the Naito's son, a physician in Tokyo had recently been informed that he was offered the opportunity to study AIDs research at Temple University and would soon be living in our area. We are looking forward to the opportunity to get to know him and also to visits from his parents.
It was a tearful good-bye but we left with promises of seeing each other again before too long in the US.
For those of you who read our
"Letters" on the net you know that Kaoru Ogawa is Marie's sister. You also
know how much she enjoyed learning kanji and the challenge that calligraphy lessons were
to her. So you can imagine that it was very emotional to visit Mrs. Ogawa for
several days and the calligraphy class for a couple of lessons -- (where Marie was
embarrassed to write so abominably). We discovered that the children are growing
up. Marie was overjoyed to see them. 
Kaoru took us to a Yamanashi flower park and shopping for the couple of things that were high on our list. We knew that we could count on her to help us find yukatas which we wear every day and which are favorite gifts among our female relatives. We also needed new carp flags. All we can say is that her ingenuity, devotion and tenacity never cease to amaze us. We were reminded of the many times that she came to the rescue while we were living in Japan and the warmth with which she filled every moment.
It was also great to have an opportunity to
visit with the whole Ogawa family, to eat at the great Italian restaurant where they took
us for dinner, and to see Mrs. Noziri. Mrs. Noziri was the one who arranged for us
to have the carp flags within a day when there were no more in the area and they had to be
ordered from Shizuoka.
There are no words that can express the warmth, kindness and generosity of these wonderful people.
We had an exquisite meal served to us by a good
friend, Sayoko who, according to her daughter, Sayuri, had practiced cooking and serving
the meal to family for months before our visit. Each item was perfectly prepared and a
delicate treat for the eyes. Above all, however, we appreciated the loving care that
went into the planning and preparation. Sayuri made the supreme sacrifice of giving us her
apartment for two days so that we could have the privacy and comfort of being alone.
We can't thank her enough.
The next day, Sayoko and
her friend, Sachiko Miyazawa, gave us a tour of Kofu so that we could see the restoration
work at Takeda Shingun's castle, visit the Takeda Shingun's shrine, visit the new
prefectural building for a calligraphy and art show, and then to a meal at an Italian
restaurant.
Another old friend we were grateful to see again is Mr. Kawabe whom we had written about in our Letters, and whom we respect as much as any person we have ever met. We knew that he was no longer a teacher at Eiwa and that he had gone back to school to become a counselor. Now he is working with families and children in a practice with a pediatrician -- quite revolutionary in Japan. We were pleased to hear that his counseling practice has thrived and that he is beginning to get some recognition. He was featured in an article in a Tokyo newspaper which led to a book offer. Now he is writing a book that will primarily be geared toward an audience of mothers who want support and ideas for child rearing. Common in our country. Very unusual in Japan. We are eager to hear more about how the counseling profession develops in that country and so pleased that Mr. Kawabe is using talent in this way.
Back to Minobu - perhaps our
favorite place in all of Japan. This is the place where our picture from our homepage was
taken by Mr. Endo, a priest at the temple complex. The famous cherry blossom
festival and a great deal about Minobu-san are covered in our Letters
page, so we won't go into all of that again.
Suffice it to say that this is a place where people come from all over Japan to visit. It is the center of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism and most of the visitors are pilgrims. We would stay there for days on end and meditate and simply enjoy the beauty and peace if we had the time. Here is a place where we could totally relax.
However, it is the Japanese way to entertain and outside pressure was put on the Endos to take us somewhere. And so we went to a paper museum and factory where we learned to make paper and enjoyed this old art form -- one that we could never master but which we enjoyed seeing.
While staying there we took the cable car to the top of the mountain where we had unexcelled views of Fuji, saw other spectacular sights, and reveled in the quiet. We also had time to visit with the Endos, catch up with Sayaka who had taken a few days off to be with us, see her scuba diving pictures, and go through the photo albums of the Endos many travels throughout Asia. A warm, charming family with natural grace and pleasurable humor made it a wonderful visit.
Upon leaving Minobu we were met at the train
station by the Kasais, also old friends, whose two daughters both call Tom
"Dad." Both studied in our area for a year, and both have special
relationships with us.
We didn't have a lot of time to spend with them, but were able to see the incinerator plant which Tom had requested seeing. At first they thought he was joking when he insisted that is what he wanted to do, they were happy to oblige. Mr. Kasai was in charge of the design and building of the complex and the whole operation was quite impressive.
A farewell in Kofu included a Chinese dinner, compliments of the Kasais and a send off at the train station that included thirteen people coming to say good-bye. Many tears, hugs and smiles.
And then we were off to the Kamakura, Nagoya, Hamamatsu and other points in Japan
before returning to Tokyo for a night on our way to Australia. During the one day
and a half that we were in Tokyo we were delighted to meet with Sayoko Tanaka who had
studied in Pennsylvania prior to our trip and to spend time with Michiyo -- a very, very
special friend. We are so pleased with how well she is doing.
Our time in Japan began with visiting with friends from Yamanashi and ended with a visit with a friend from Yamanashi - coming full circle. In between we had many great experiences and wonderful reunions. Unfortunately, there were some people we were not able to see due to schedule conflicts or a lack of time. For them there is "next time".
There are some people who come into your life and are friends for a lifetime whether you ever see them again or not We are blessed and grateful for all of them in our life. And so, "Bye for now." Come see us in the US when you can.
