A Japanese-Hawaiian Exchange
On
the spur of the moment, we decided to take some friends and visit Narita, Japan,
where I flew many trips for United. In addition to the usual sight-seeing adventures,
we wanted to visit different friends there.
Here is the entrance to the famous Naritasan Temple. Even with the nearby International Airport, Narita City is still a small, old-fashioned town. It draws millions of Japanese visitors every year--especially at New Year's. On New Year's Day, a sort of nation-wide pageant takes place. Women dress in gorgeous kimonos, mostly heirlooms handed down for generations. With their piled-high wigs, the suddenly traditional women are the focus of all cameras. (Pun intended!) With us is Yuriko, our dear friend. I have claimed her as my adopted granddaughter. A grad student in structural engineering, her goal is to make existing stuctures more earthquake resistant and to develop improved technologies for new ones. Enhancing buildings' abilities to withstand earthquake stresses will save countless lives.
Yuriko
has visited Hawaii several times. In August, her great friend Shinji Takeda
came along. He is a computer engineer and I have learned many things from him.
Thank goodness he speaks English!
As Hurricane Daniel threatened Oahu, we enjoyed lunch at La Marina Sailing Club--known as the "poor-man's yacht club." Surrounded on three sides by heavy industry and at the end of a long runway at Honolulu International, La Mariana is a veritable oasis. It has interesting Polynesian decor from many Pacific Islands and the food is very good. Incidentally, while we ate and visited, Daniel changed courses (this pun is intentional, I assure you!).
Milton
Brown and Carol Mc Donald went to Japan this time with us. On a bright Saturday
afternoon, we met Yuriko, her sister, Sachiko, and Sachiko's daughter, Kana,
at Ueno Park in Tokyo. One of the areas in the park is a charming zoo. We love
to see the pandas and the penguins--which are on display outside. And if you'd
like this virtual experience, please continue to the next page of this website.
Sachiko and Yuriko surprised us with lunch from a nearby take-out stand and Milt rounded out the treat with ice cream. Kana, hiding behind a piece of paper, is cute, smart and very well behaved. Speaking of childen, believe it or not, Carol has seven grandchildren!
One
night here in Honolulu, we met Yuriko and her mother, Noriko, at a "Japanese"
steak house. Noriko assured us that there are no such restaurants in Japan!
This is one where the food is grilled at your table and the chef makes jokes
and tosses sharp knives around. Noriko was amused and the food was tasty, but
she said this was definitely NOT a Japanese experience.
Perhaps it was this evening and the brief discussion of what Americans imagine Japan to be versus what Japan is really like that spurred us to get on the plane and see "the real thing."
Interestingly, while we were gone, Noriko-san stayed in Hawaii. The goal for her trip was to take a conversational English course. She did reasonably well with the language when she arrived (certainly better than our Japanese!) and it has been fun for us to watch as she gains familiarity with our idoms and slang. Like her daughters, Noriko laughs and really enjoys life. We are lucky indeed to spend time with them in both Hawaii and Japan.
Tokyo--a
Random Look