Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
Vietnam
Chapter 2
New Home
in Kofu
Chapter 3
Hong Kong
China,
&
Korea
Chapter 4
Yamanashi
Chapter 5
Society
Chapter 6
Hospital
Chapter 7
Nikko
Chapter 8
Holiday
Greetings
Chapter 9
Culture
Chapter 10
Holiday
Trip:
Kansai
&
Kyushu
Chapter 11
Mores
Chapter 12
Hankos
& Brush-
writing
Chapter13
Friends
Chapter 14
Festivities
Chapter 15
Okinawa
&
Nagasaki
Chapter 16
Hong Kong
&
Australia
Chapter 17
Special
People
&
Events
Chapter 18
Coming
to
Japan
Chapter 19
Letter to
Editor
Chapter 20
Teaching
English
Chapter 21 Hamamatsu
Chapter 22
Women's
Relation-
ships
Chapter 23
Reflections
on
Education
Chapter 24
Nephews'
Visit
Chapter 25
Thailand,
Korea
&
Home
Chapter 26
Taking
Stock
Chapter 23
Reflections on Japanese Education
June 1996
Dear Friends,
Soon our year in Japan will be over. When we first came we were able to go for a walk together almost every night. Now we have something scheduled almost every night. Rituals of saying, "Good-bye," activities related to Eiwa, and more involvement in people's lives in general. Even as we are preparing to leave, we are making new friends, learning more about Japan, and trying to spend as much time with the exchange students as possible. We know it will be impossible to do all the things we want to do. In addition, Marie has begun a support group for young women who are interested in psychology and social work professions, and she initiated a conversation hour for staff at the YMCA once a week -- so we are busy.
We will only be here a few more short weeks, and before we leave, we are excited about showing our nephews Japan. Other plans include climbing Mt. Fuji (only open to climbing during July and August, due to hazardous conditions - ice and snow - the other months), and taking trips with some of our students and friends. Therefore, we will be very busy, and we are not certain if we will find time to write more newsletters. So this will probably be the last one..
As we are getting ready to return home, we are becoming more reflective about Japan and our year here. We are more than ready to come home to our family and friends and to Tom's garden. We have reached a point where the high prices in Japan are no longer an adventure, and we have sampled just about every type of Japanese food available. We will never be tired of all the gardens, flowers, festivals, and rich history and culture that surrounds us. Nor the view of Fuji as we walk to school everyday or walk around town -- or into the mountains surrounding the town. Relationships with old friends have been enriched, and we have made new friends for life. Those will always be part of our lives and our memories, adding new richness to our life as we continue our journey at home.
Recently we celebrated our 3rd anniversary and wanted to do something special. We decided to go to a steak restaurant that we had heard about earlier in the year. One of Tom's former students at Eiwa (8 years ago) reintroduced herself to Tom and invited us to her family's restaurant. Since then we heard through several of the Eiwa teachers that it is a very fine, very expensive restaurant, but no one could tell us exactly where it was (Most streets are not named in Japan). Therefore, we kept putting it off. The youngest Nonaka daughter goes to Eiwa and happened to see Tom at school. She made our reservation, took our order, and personally made our dessert for us. (Dessert is not part of the normal meal.) She did all this in spite of being snowed under with mid-term exams at the time. Mrs. Ogawa drew us one of her famous maps, and as it turns out, the restaurant is directly across the street from Mrs. Ogawa's studio, where Marie had been walking every week for her calligraphy lessons!
The day of our anniversary, we received a beautiful bouquet of 60 red tea roses from the 9th grade homeroom teachers at Eiwa, and that was only the beginning of several surprises for us. When we arrived at the restaurant, Mrs. Nonaka presented us with an antique plate that dates from the Meiji Era (1868-1912) and is more than 100 years old. We ordered the best beef they had to offer for 12,000 yen (about $120) per person for our shabu shabu, and it did melt in our mouths! Throughout the meal, Yumi (the youngest daughter) and her mother hovered over us and gifted us with sake, wine and beer, as well as entertaining us with conversation, and making certain we were enjoying the many courses of fine food. The only awkward moment came as we were putting raw meat into our mouths, and we were told "That is horse meat." It is a delicacy in Japan. (Another double bind! And, more and more, at least one of us is closer to becoming a full-fledged vegetarian!)
Then Mrs. Ogawa surprised us, by arriving at the restaurant with a basket of flowers, a hand-written card (which she wanted us to examine for proper English usage) and carrying her two ever-ready dictionaries (English to Japanese & Japanese to English), also staying to entertain us. (Do you remember us telling you about when she showed up at our doorstep when Tom was in the hospital? What a wonderful friend she has become since then!) When it was time to leave, we discovered that, in addition to all the gifts, including food to take home and food preparation tips, we were given a nice discount. Father, mother, and daughter accompanied us down the steps, out the door, and bowed repeatedly as we walked down the street and toward home. We are still overwhelmed, thinking about it, although you would think we'd be used to Japanese hospitality by now.
While we are here our grandchildren are growing and changing and we are eager to see them and share in their lives. When we left home, Alyssa was 6 months old, and it was a tearful time saying good-bye to her. Now she is 16 months old and saying, "I love you, Grandma," (really!! - well the "Grandma" part is not so clear!) when she calls on the phone once a week. And this week we received a picture she drew for us (Mrs. Ogawa said it was a portrait of Marie. Other students had other ideas.) Of course we haven't seen Beowulf, since he was born after we left, but we are looking forward to getting to know him, and from pictures it looks like he is really growing. Another grandchild is due in October (Jan and Mike). So it is clear we can't stay here for another year. We're missing too much. However, we have vowed to bring all our grandchildren back to Japan for the Hamamatsu kite festival in 10 years.
We're enclosing some of the prices we have been paying (or not paying!) that are current in our local stores. Often they are even higher in Tokyo. Mail order businesses are big here, and several of our friends buy their children's clothes through U.S. catalogues. Some companies are trying to get around the regulations (and traditions) that require a number of middlemen (thus jacking up the prices), in order to be competitive. They are also opening their stores more than their allotted number of days. However, that is still rare and those companies keep bumping heads with the government.
We have been told that it is illegal to post gas prices at service stations (though some do it), and rice is just beginning to be sold in 7-Eleven-type stores. Rice (but only imported) has been sold in supermarkets for a couple of years. Before then, only domestic rice was available, and that was sold only in rice stores. A discount chain, similar to K-Mart, is going to experiment with selling gas at some of its outlets. A few months ago, there was a big flap about stores selling imported cosmetics at a discount rate. The way the government finally got around that was to discover that none of the cosmetics met the government standards, and they contained ingredients that were not allowed in Japan! That way they could be taken off the market altogether. Very typical problem-solving for Japan.
People are fed up with the cost of things here. It is one thing that the Japanese citizens are open in criticizing, and they are well aware of how their cost of living compares to other countries. So, there is some evidence that it will change, albeit slowly, as all change seems to in Japan. (The Aum trial will probably last 10 years according to the papers. One article was headlined, "Japanese justice moves as quickly as a glacier.")
As we get ready to leave, we are more and more suspect of people who consider themselves experts on Japan. Even though Tom has been teaching Asian culture for 35 years, with a focus on Japan, and has made about 11 trips here -- living here for a total of more than 3 years, he is the last person who considers himself an expert. (This is in spite of people's opinions to the contrary. When we were in Kamakura during one of our trips, Mrs. Inoue told Marie and Carolyn that Tom knows more about Japanese history and culture than most Japanese, and she requested information from him on several occasions. Her respect for him was obvious.) Another friend with an MBA in international business, who has lived here for 4 1/2 years, and has her own successful business, says, "I don't know anything. And every day I am surprised even more that I don't know anything."
Many of the things we have read in the U.S. about education, the workplace, etc. just aren't compatible with our observations or experience. Tom has always said that the more he experiences Japan, the less he would consider himself an expert, and both of us have gained new awareness during this stay. Tom's political scientist observations, coupled with Marie's insights as a psychologist, and discussions with many Japanese friends, have led to many an interesting conversation and new understanding for both of us. (Teaching each other and learning from each other was part of our wedding vows, and we take those vows seriously.) But neither of us pretends to really know anything!
We keep rethinking the Japanese educational system. We have read many things that compare Japanese and American education. Often the U.S. is presented as inferior. We have some strong feelings about that, and think one needs to look beyond test scores, and other stereotypes advanced by some "experts". One of the things that disturbs us is the low self-esteem that is pervasive among students here. More than one exchange student has told us that she liked herself for the first time when she went to the U.S. to study, and one said she felt she was "dying inside" before she went to America. Tom gets frequent feedback in students' daily diaries, indicating that students have extreme negative views of themselves. This seems to be due to the pressure to get good grades and not deviate from the norm. (Hair color, length of skirt, thinness, etc.)
When the students are not in school they often are at jukus (cram schools). Thus, for many students, school occupies them 7 days a week. We know of several students who speak and understand English better then their Japanese English teachers, but must go to Jukus to pass the English entrance exams for college.These cram schools have proliferated in the years since Tom last lived here, and the Y, alone, has over 200 elementary students taking English classes after school.
When learning English, the emphasis is on grammar and technicalities that we doubt have much usefulness in everyday language skills, but are deemed important by the powers that be. Does the end justify the means? Schools that want to change their programs to give more emphasis to conversational English are in a bind. While they might give their students a better working understanding of English, they would also penalize their students because of the entrance tests' concentration on technical English
It is not uncommon for families to send their children to Japanese schools overseas in order to bypass the entrance exams for the universities in Japan. We don't know exactly how it works, but we know one Eiwa teacher who has sent her son to a Japanese high school in Kentucky for that reason. We don't completely understand the system, but we do know that it is easier for graduates of high schools outside Japan to get into a Japanese university than it is for a graduate of a Korean high school in Japan. Korean high schools are not classified as high schools by the Ministry of Education.
Since we started this letter, news reports indicate that the government has recommended the teaching of English in elementary schools, and is looking at changing the emphasis on grammatical English, to focus more on conversational English. Time will tell whether any real changes occur. Or whether these changes will be reflected in the entrance exams. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education regulates everything that is acceptable in the schools. (A teacher at the Y informed Marie that the government has even dictated what kind of paper the students must write on when learning English. It has four lines, with one of them red.)
The students we know are so tired all the time and so are the teachers! Both at Eiwa and other schools, with which we are familiar. It is not uncommon for students to fall asleep in classes, or to go without any sleep for several nights before tests, and, in every meeting, at least some of the teachers are sleeping. Some of the teachers have it down to a science. One told us how he falls to one side as he dozes off, and makes certain to fall to other side the next time! One student told us she gets up at 4 a.m. to complete her homework, on a regular basis. This is not due to lack of organization. It is simply the load of homework students are given. Even during vacations, and at the end of the school year, they have numerous homework assignments. For example, one 9th grade student told us she had three book reports, a critique of a piano concert, and other readings to complete during her 2 week break between semesters.)
Some former students told us that Japanese students spend their whole life preparing for the college entrance exams, and know deep down that something is very wrong with the system, all the while feeling very badly about themselves. When they are finally admitted to the university and have some free time, they don't know what to do with it. They don't know who they are, and they end up feeling empty and depressed. There's a lot less pressure at university, so many students fill up their time pursuing nonacademic interests....ballroom dancing, drama, martial arts, left wing politics. Students realize that once their university days are over, the pressure returns....jobs, marriage, family responsibilities, and a further stifling of any individuality.
Now there is a trend to have children start learning English, math, music at ages 2 or 3 in special schools. One student in the Y, who is pregnant, expressed concern about whether she should enroll her not-yet-born child in one of those programs. The discussion was lively, with the women voicing concerns about the need for recognizing individual talents of children, the need for free time, etc. It was the same as many a discussion in the U.S. That was surprising. The women also expressed strongly how they felt when they were forced to take English classes, piano, etc. at an early age, and said they don't want to do that to their children. However, their sentiment seems the antithesis of what actually happens. The reality is that the pressure that is put on students here to excel, and blend into the larger group, rather than be different in any way -- seems to be the heart of the serious problem of suicides from bullying in the schools all across the country, as well as other serious problems.
Taeko's 10-year-old daughter took arduous exams to be admitted to kindergarten at her school, but once she was accepted, she is guaranteed to attend her school through college - an exclusive women's university. (Although Taeko thinks it might be better for her to go to a coed university when it is time!) As part of the deal, Taeko is also committed to the school for those years as an active member of the PTA. Her job at present is head of the cultural committee. That is her full-time job....without pay. All of her many talents are funneled into her work with her daughter's school and taking care of her husband, and his elderly parents. Thus, she told us, she has no free time.
Her daughter travels by herself throughout Tokyo, taking several trains and buses before arriving at school each day. She has been traveling by herself in that manner after going to school for about a week since she was 5 or 6. It is official school policy that the parents may accompany their daughters to school only for an allotted number of days, when the girls first start school. After that, the girls must make the trip alone. (Taeko does have her daughter phone her each day to let her know she has arrived at school safely.) One could argue that it is much safer to travel in Tokyo than in New York, but we are not so certain, since so much of what happens is not reported in the news. We do know that there is a serious problem with women and girls being fondled and molested on trains and subways. (And the sarin gas attacks of last year were at Taeko's train stop.)
Then, in addition to her school activities, her daughter attends a school for English classes and piano lessons, as well as listening to a 45-minute English tape every day. Taeko explains that she wants her daughter to be "international."
So at what price the academic excellence?! Several weeks ago, the 9th graders at Eiwa went on a two-day "retreat." While preparing for the retreat, Tom asked one of the teachers, whom we both respect a lot, and who is a student of Zen and has a lovely, soothing spirit, whether the students would have any time to reflect on the experience. The answer was, "Yes, during the lectures." She really didn't understand the question, even though Tom asked it several ways. Meditation, as we know it, does not exist in the lives of most of our friends and is certainly not a valued part of a student's life, even at a "retreat". This is contrary to what we think of when we think of the Eastern way of life.
What is the objective of a good education? Is it to turn out academically trained, model, conforming citizens to perpetuate the system as it is? Or is it to help develop well-rounded, academically trained, students who have the ability to think, create and make necessary changes for growth? The first represents "Wa." The second....something else.
While Japanese students are exposed to a lot more information (except for a highly selective history of their own country), we are not convinced that the actual teaching, academics, or level of education is better than in the U.S. and, based on our experience and observations, we might just conclude the opposite. What the students learn here is all learned through memorization, and they don't know how to process the information. U.S. teachers enter the classroom better prepared to teach and to expose their students to a variety of teaching strategies.
Two former exchange students just told us, "In the U.S. the teaching style is more interactive --conversation style." They liked the Japanese style better "because in U.S. schools you have to think". They said, "The Japanese style is easier, but I would want my children to have American style -- they have to think instead of just taking notes."
Student teachers will come to Eiwa later this month -- for three weeks. More time will be spent observing than teaching. We have been told of several cases at Eiwa where new teachers were told to "shape up" or were not rehired. One was told he was having too much fun in class. (The pressure came from the faculty, not from the administration.) Former students tell us that there are no individual teaching styles at Eiwa. Everyone has the same style. We're hoping the more recent students will say that is changing, but we are not too optimistic.
Many of the teachers we know personally are depressed, harried, and under great pressure with their responsibilities, as well as being expected to have no family life. We only know two teachers, out of 45, who tend to have pleasant expressions on their faces. They also are harried, but seem to have some kind of inner peace which keeps them going. And as we mentioned in previous letters, Eiwa teachers are supposed to have it better than those at other schools in Japan.
We are not certain that this system, that they say can't work in the U.S. because of "individuality," is working here. It depends on what one defines as "working". Is the death of students as a result of bullying, or the death of company workers from overwork (there is an official word for it in Japan -- mumbai --and the wife has legal redress), or the continual harassment of women, or pressure to stay in abusive marriages worth maintaining "wa"? Is that "working"? Does a person have the right to individual dignity rather than just group dignity? Obviously we have some passionate feelings about the subject and this sojourn in Japan has been quite an eye-opener. If you are interested in more pontificating just ask when we get home!!
(Now, as we continue, it is reminiscent of the Australian bus driver/tour guides who would talk endlessly and then say, "I am going to shut up for awhile," only to continue a few seconds later.)
Some of our friends here openly express their concerns about the state of Japan and indicate that it comes from being an "island country", and others have told us that they can talk to us, but not to other Japanese. Some are very concerned about the discrimination of Koreans, Ainu (minority people), and women in this country, and are very frustrated. Others are concerned about rampant child abuse and spousal abuse. They read a lot and are very informed but don't feel safe speaking freely about the problems they see. One young woman told us that she was very interested in learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. in school, because she thinks that the discrimination towards blacks in the U.S. is similar to the discrimination towards Koreans in Japan. However, she said that she learned from elementary school through high school that Japan is a racially pure country, and it is not emotionally safe for her to express her views to more than a few like-minded friends.
The punishment for speaking up (telling the "family secrets") is akin to what happens to the Amish. Shunning. It happened to Nomo when he came back to Japan during the winter. (All of his interviews and some public appearances were canceled when he was critical of Japanese baseball. He had said that management does not take care of their players like they do in the U.S., and that Japanese players do not have the support of unions.) It happens frequently in politics. (This week the acting chairman of a committee of the major opposition party publicly criticized the party leader. The next day he was forced to resign his post and asked to leave the party, for speaking out of turn. Other members of the party urged that stronger steps be taken "to make Funada understand what he should do and what he should not do as a member of Shinshinto.") It happens to students daily, and throughout the business community. We hear of enough incidents that it is clear they are not isolated.
We have even experienced a bit of shunning ourselves, when we were avoided by some people who we had thought were friends. We found out later that it was because it was the second marriage for both of us, and that is not accepted by most of Japan. When a mate dies here, that person is revered and even prayed to, often at an altar in the house. (One student we are close to lost her father to death 2 1/2 years ago. She makes a pilgrimage to the family home every month on the anniversary of his death.) A second marriage is not considered normal or right. A second wife is treated as a concubine. That is making it very difficult for one of our young friends who is in love with a divorced man, and another who is considering divorce after years of extreme abuse.
As our friends talk to us, we try to listen, observe, support and not judge. Only the people who live here can decide if it is working for them, and if not, what they want to do about it. We can decide that we like the freedom of speech we have in the United States, and the freedom to look at our own country honestly -- find fault with ourselves and try to change. We know others in Japan who want to do the same thing. It is much harder for them.
Meanwhile, we both believe that serious change will come to Japan and it won't be easy. If for no other reason, Japan must change because it cares so much about saving face in the international community. Recently we saw a segment from a Dan Rather report on sexual inequality here, relative to the Mitsubishi problem. In introducing the story the reporter said, "The American media is focusing on Japan in a rather unusual manner." After the report, the TBS reporter commented, "Keeping in mind, that even though the Japanese wife walking several paces behind her husband sounds a bit outdated, the eyes of foreign correspondents are focused on things we don't even think of." In fact, we do continue to observe many women walking behind their husbands, and not only older women, but perhaps that is beside the point. ("Seku hara" the word for sexual harassment was only introduced into the language in 1989. Only 43% of women and 37% of men said that sexual abuse is a violation of rights in a recent survey of Japanese adults.)
We have been asking former Eiwa exchange students what was the most important thing they learned from being an exchange student. We were surprised when some told us that it was learning about Japan. They said that they learned more about what it meant to be Japanese. They began to understand why things that are done in the U.S. make sense according to the culture there, and things in Japan must be the way they are here because it makes cultural sense here. They came to appreciate their culture more as a result of the experience. The same thing is true for us. We have a heightened appreciation of our culture and especially for freedom of speech..
Something we have noted is that we in the U.S. have a habit of beating up on ourselves and publicly denouncing things that happen in our country. It is part of the beauty of a working democracy to be able to do that. However, other countries love to get on the bandwagon, so you would be amazed at what is extracted from the U.S. press to be put into international papers. Others take advantage of our openness and often distort the facts, to distract people from what is going on in their own countries. Here in Japan we experience that quite a bit with some other gaijin, not just with the Japanese.
As we write about our observations of Japan, we are reminded of one of our favorite columns in the Japan Times. It is written by Karen Hill Anton, a black woman from the United States, who has lived in Japan with her family for many years. The column is entitled "Crossing Cultures." In one piece, she wrote that she was once asked at a lecture, "Why do you live here, if you don't like Japan?" after she had made a negative observation. Her response was, "I probably like Japan better than you do. I choose to live here because I like it. You were born here and didn't freely choose to live here." So as we comment, sometimes critically, don't forget our deep love for this place and our many friends here. (It is sort of like the love we have for friends. We may not like everything they do or stand for, but we still love and respect them as people.)
This letter has been more philosophical than most because of our anticipatory grieving about leaving and much introspection about what the year has meant to us. In that process, we want to thank you for inviting us to share our experiences with you. The correspondence from you and your enthusiasm regarding our letters has encouraged us to reflect more about the country and our experience here. So thanks for liking our letters and telling us so! We also have enjoyed this joint project. (Please thank Robin if you have the chance, because it has not been a simple task for her to copy and send 30 letters every month or so.)
During the year, we have been fortified by the care packages that have arrived. We decided that the two things we would have missed the most if they hadn't been sent - were books in English and chocolate. Both are available here, but are very limited in choice and quality, and exorbitantly priced. Jackie has also appreciated all the paperbacks that have been recycled through her, so thanks from her, too. (Most will be left at the YMCA when we leave.)
We plan to leave Japan on July 30th, and will go to Thailand for almost two weeks. We'll visit Bangkok, Ayuthaya, Chiang Mai, and Krabi, before going to Korea to spend a couple of days with the Lees to tell them, "Good-bye." We'll come home via Los Angeles (hoping for a short visit with our friends, Ken and Mike) and Pittsburgh. We should be back at our home on or about August 20th.
Recently we asked our new friend, Susan, what she will miss when she moves back to the U.S. (California), after living in Japan for more than 4 years. She said, "The people and safety." She is a hiker and general out-doors person. She said she is terrified of the guns in the U.S. Perhaps that response is the same as we would give. It has been nice to walk anywhere we want, and explore the countryside without fear. However, until we are actually home, we won't know for certain what we will feel, what we will miss, and what we will welcome.
We definitely won't miss Japanese toilets! Tom won't miss wearing Japanese slippers in public places....too small and impossible for going up and down stairs. We won't miss the scatological humor or tasteless TV
Before we came to Japan, we both knew that we would be changed by this experience and we both are. However, time will tell in what ways, and how much. It is something we will continue to process and more fully understand in the years to come. Meanwhile, please be patient with us as we go through the culture shock of readjusting to the U.S. We are certain that it will happen.
Hope to see you September 7th for our "return to U.S." party! Several people have been asking for food requests. It is easier to think of negatives than positives right now. No white sticky rice. No miso soup. No seaweed (we don't care how rich in iron it is!). No raw fish (sashimi) or meat. No live lobster or any fish that is moving around! No squid or octopus. No ume boshi (unripened plums, soaked in brine). No natto (fermented soy beans.) No mochi (pounded rice.) No raw eggs or half-cooked omelets. No lotus root. No bamboo. No tofu. No dashi (fish sauce that is the base sauce for many dishes.) We are divided on sembei (rice crackers). Tom says, "No," Marie says, "They aren't so bad."
It is not that we are completely turned off by Japanese foods. We still get hungry for yaki soba, tonkatsu, and donburi, and we will prepare those at home. Shabu shabu, yakitori, sukiyaki, and tempura still appeal to us. But we miss good old simple American food, and. we've missed having Chinese food and real Italian food. Amazingly, our favorite place to eat here has been the Mexican/Peruvian restaurant we mentioned in earlier letters. And one of the best meals we've had lately was homemade fajitas, refried beans, and other Mexican foods prepared by a friend, who brought back many of the ingredients from the U.S.
What sounds good? Real potato salad. Macaroni salad. Pasta salad. Any kind of pie. Real ice cream (we hope to make homemade ice cream for the party, if we can remember how). A $2 watermelon, (or whatever they cost, but we know it is not $30 - $50 as it costs here). Hot dogs with Indian relish and potato rolls. Diet Coke. (Do you believe Marie has gone almost a year without "Real" Diet Coke?) New York cheesecake. Philadelphia steak sandwich. Hoagies. Weaver's ham (we will try to buy one for the party....before we left they seemed expensive.... now they will seem cheap). Sloppy joes. Baked lima beans. Corn on the cob. Anything chocolate (even though people have helped Tom get his chocolate fix while in Japan). Diffenbach's potato chips with dip. Honey mustard, ranch, or other salad dressing (anything other than thousand island, the only recognizable kind available here) with a fresh vegetable salad. Coleslaw made with real mayonnaise. Carrot raisin salad. Any kind of real cheese. Soft pretzels. Etc. Etc. (Tom is salivating....) It has been so long, we have forgotten what American food tastes like.
Our party will start at 2:00 p.m. and last until 9:00 p.m. or so (or until people get sick of the videos, pictures & slides!!) We don't know what our phone number will be, so you can call information to get it, to let us know if you're coming. We won't have a chance to send invitations -- so if you're reading this letter, just consider yourself invited.
Until we see you, we wish you Peace, Love, and Laughter. Please send us positive energy through the rest of our journey.
Love, Tom and Marie
Update 1999:
Surprisingly, we are frequently hungry for Japanese food and have a difficult time finding the things we crave. We go to a Japanese grocery store in Pittsburgh to stock up when we go to visit family. It seems to be the only one in the state that is authentic and has Japanese food that is not outdated.
It is another "small world" story that we found out about the grocery store from Tom's long-time friend, Mrs. Inoue, in Kamakura. The store is owned and operated by acquaintances of her husband.
By this time we hope that we have whetted your appetite for Japan and things Japanese. We found this site to be a gold mine of information and hope you will check it out yourself to learn even more about Japan.
