Sayonara for now: The ride home

Wedding Anniversary

Michiyo and I had our Japanese wedding ceremony four years ago on November 20th, 2004. Our plane flight home was on that day, but a few days before that, we enjoyed some anniversary memories. We stopped by the restaurant where our ceremony took place, called Kiraku. Michiyo's sister, Masae, still works there part time, and the staff was excited to see us and the new family addition.

Sakae-san and his wife, Sayumi-san, are the owners of this family business. Sakae-san (left) was the Master of Ceremonies for our Japanese Wedding Ceremony, and did a phenomenal job of staying reverent while keeping things moving along. He threw in plenty of jokes, too, keeping the mood light and enjoyable. About 90% of the content was incomprehensible to me at the time. I told him about my own successful foray in the American wedding industry, and after I explained that I am a reception DJ in St. Louis, I told him, "You were my inspiration." Not entirely an exaggeration. He broke into a HUGE smile, stuck his hand out to shake mine, and said, "Thank you!" They spoke highly of our wedding ceremony four years ago and how much they enjoyed it. I wish I could say this was the room where we were married, but this room is brand new--they renovated a supply room, expanded a little, and debuted this spectacular room four days before we visited them.

We went up to "our" room, which looked quite sparse without any decorations. We posed on the same spot where we were married in 2004, before Hiroki was but a gleam in our eye!

Speaking of four years ago, have you heard about the pink bike lock? At the top of Mount Kinpo, which overlooks Kumamoto, and from which you can see Nagasaki, I proposed to Michiyo and used a pink lock on the railing to seal the deal. (That's the short version--I'm proud of the whole story, feel free to check it out here.) We took Hiroki to see the weather-beaten and discolored--but still solid--bike lock.

What a beautiful day it was, and what a tremendous four years it has been!

Just a bunch of cute Hiro photos

What can I say, I'm partial to this picture.

Hiroki is sitting next to Kyoko, Michiyo's former boss at Jelly Bean preschool.

This guy is Isaac, Kyoko's son and present owner of Jelly Bean. Hiroki digs the purple T-shirt, which says, if you cannot see it, "Cheer Princess." Isaac has an appreciation for odd English T-shirts in Japan as well.

At a local mall called Hikari no Mori, we went to the arcade and took some pictures of Hiro on some of the rides. I love Japan!

Here he is on the "AnPanMan" train. AnPanMan is a character made out of bread, with rosy red cheeks not unlike Hiroki's.

I don't know these other characters, but they're quite interesting.

Hiroki got to re-enact a scene in one of the greatest films in the history of man. You know, the scene where officer Jack Travin puts the throttle on the subway train to "Maximum" and runs it through a construction site, soaring onto a Los Angeles street, and saving his woman in the process. Give up? SPEED. Fortunately, Hiroki is all ready a better actor than Keanu Reeves.

Hiroki peeks between the seats on the plane ride home.

More fun people

Michiyo keeps in touch with some of her former students at the English-speaking Jelly Bean preschool. One day in Kumamoto, we had lunch with two of them, Mina and Nana and their Moms.
Mina is on the left, Nana on the right. Nana's English is very impressive, and she won first prize in the city-wide English competition. She herself calls Michiyo when we are in town. We encouraged both of these girls, like we did so many of our friends and family in Japan, to come stay with us in America sometime. Hiroki was showing off his huge baby biceps.

Nana's Mom Kazumi, on the left, and Mina's Mom Rina, on the right, invited us out to join them at a great Chinese restaurant in downtown Kumamoto.

Can you see the cockroach on the table? I brought this fake cockroach with me, and got a LOT of mileage out of it. Nana and Mina were disgusted, but could not get enough, constantly asking me in Japanese, "Where is the Goki buri?"

Michiyo studied in Eugene, Oregon for two years, 1999-2001. One of the friends she made there was Yoko. She and her husband Koji came down to see us from Saga on the last weekend.

We had fun meeting each other and catching up. They have been married four years, and really want to have kids. They had been living in downtown Kobe, and Koji was a 'salary-man' for about 18 years. However, the goal of having kids is so important, that they uprooted their lives to live in a less stressful, more natural environment. For the last year or so, they have been studying and preparing how to run a farm. They are now living in the countryside as farmers, evaluating exactly what to grow in order to make a living. Listening to their situation and their life choices was fascinating.

Yoko's hope is to have Koji do the main work of farming, and she wants to provide a place for people to experience a homestay in the Japanese countryside. She envisions foreigners, especially kids but families too, as well as Japanese kids from city areas, living for a bit in the country. She also wants to have foreigners teach English for short periods in exchange for meals and accomodation.

They asked what I did for a living, and naturally requested to see some magic tricks. Koji really enjoyed my world-famous finger-in-the-box surprise, which countless folks in the Midwest have been shocked by.

We met Aki, a former roommate of Michiyo for tea one day.

In the same cafe, unbelievably, one of my first co-workers in Kumamoto approached me and said hello. Fukuda-sensei helped me teach English for three years at Jonan Junior High School. She is retired now, and when I asked her for her email, she said she doesn't use a computer. Oh well. It was great to see you Mrs. Fukuda! I'll have to write her a letter.

Nabe Night Happiness

Some meals are prepared and enjoyed on special occasions. We were thoroughly spoiled by our time in Japan, because the entire month was a special occasion. Instead of one unique meal per week, it seemed like we were having three or four. Between family and friends, we were very lucky to enjoy these times and this food. At the Ishizuka house, we had numerous memorable feasts. The night that had to be my favorite was Kimchi-Nabe (NAH-bay) night. Take a look:
The white bowl sits on a heated grill pad, functioning sort of like an open crock pot. The ingredients on the side, as you see, from pork and mushrooms to lettuce and tofu, are sliced, diced, and neatly stacked to enable easy handling with chopsticks. For the most part, Michiyo's Mom Chieko managed the progress of the meal, inserting the uncooked stuff, rearranging the food all ready inside the bowl, and instructing us when things were ready to be consumed.
This plate held the tofu, and the interesting edibles behind it is a plate of Lotus root, one filled with Japanese mustard, the other with a fish-egg paste--they were delicious. This nabe meal, however, was "spiced up" with kimchi, the firy Korean red plant that adds tingles to all areas of your mouth, and takes dining to a new level of enjoyment. For the record, when I moved to Japan seven years ago, I could not eat spicy food. After about two years, I had acquired a taste for it, and now I look forward to enjoying meals like this.

Of course, the food was only half of the reason why this night was absolutely perfect. Well, the food and Japanese beer was only half. The other half was the phenomenal company of Michiyo's family.
Hiroki was thrilled every day when Aunt Masae came home while he was still awake. Michiyo's sister had plenty of time on this night, as Hiroki stayed up and kept himself busy on the outside of the family circle around the table.

I love this picture of Hiro. Chieko and the rest of us were sitting around the (kotatsu) table, and Hiroki spent the duration of dinner crawling, clawing, squeaking, and standing (always briefly) at a safe distance from the boiling pot of nabe. He did not need Grandma Chieko to be facing him while he stood up, he just needed her body for support--he knew she was there for him.

Lots of fun memories

Friends and family are always a huge focus when we are back in Kumamoto. Even if we only had an hour or two together, we always tried to take the time to re-connect.

Masako and Manami, Michiyo's former co-workers, loved Hiro!

Quick story: Michiyo finished high school, then graduated from Japanese junior college, and started working at an insurance company. These two women, Masako on the left, and Manami on the right, were two of her co-workers. Manami had kids and a family, continued working and has moved on from the insurane company. Masako and Michiyo were not happy with their jobs. They talked to each other about their dreams. Michiyo wanted to live abroad studying English, and eventually be a Mom. Michiyo ended up studying for two years in Eugene, Oregon, before returning to Kumamoto with very good English, eventually became a Fingerhut, and now lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Masako quit, and worked in a cafe for a while, then decided she wanted to open her own dessert shop. Within a few years, she OPENED UP HER OWN CAKE SHOP. She actually made the cake for our Japanese wedding on 11/20/04.

This picture was taken in 2006 when we visited. I love the name: Please cake shop

Masako and Michiyo: two girls who pursued and captured their dreams!

Michiyo's sister, Masae, works at a company in Kumamoto that provides cleaning kits for offices. She had told her co-workers about her new nephew, and they all wanted to see him, so we went by for lunch one day.

Hiroki was like a magnet in Japan. After the weekend spent in Nagasaki with Michiyo's relatives, one of Grandpa Minoru's brother's decided to visit us in Kumamoto (that's about 3 hours, one way). Uncle Hitoshi is Minoru's younger brother, and lives in Nagasaki city with his wife Yoshiko and two daughters, Mikki and Akiko. When they joined us on the orange farm two weekends before, Miki did not join them. So they wanted Miki to meet Hiro and me, plus they all wanted a little more Hiro time. Uncle Hitoshi likes to fish for squid, and every time we have a barbecue, he provides the most incredible, fresh, deluctible squid, and I always let him know I enjoy and appreciate it. I cannot believe this, but they visited us on a Saturday--Uncle Hitoshi TOOK FRIDAY OFF WORK so he could catch squid and bring it because he knew I like it. Unbelievable.

Miki (big sister, in white) and Akiko (holding Pooh-chan, the Pomeranian) are Michiyo's cousins; the last time Michioy saw them before this trip was more than 10 years ago. Akiko met Hiroki in Nagasaki, and Miki got a kick out of him on this day.

Big Lebowski, anyone (PG-13)?

Dude: You brought a Pomeranian to Kumamoto?

Walter: What do you mean, "I brought a Pomeranian to Kumamoto? He's not taking your turn, he's not eating your basashi, he's not holding your Hiroki."

Back to the blog. . .

Happy times. Who's that tall guy?

Most of my friends from JET and my time in Japan are gone. One good friend who remains is Jason Wians. He runs his own English school, teaches classes at a high school, runs his own wedding business, and has a brother who sings the blues. Jason and I spent the same three years in Kumamoto, and shared lots of good times. Jason is your prototypical, larger-than-life Texan, and Minoru LOVES him! We spent a lot of time together during this trip, and right before we left, the Wians family joined the Ishizuka's for another special dinner of Sukiyaki.
Jason married Maki last year, and they recently welcomed Randihma Ryou into the world. She is adorable, and has a Texas-size voice all ready.

Clockwise from bottom left: Keito (Maki's daughter), Satomi (Michiyo's old friend), Jason holding Randi-chan, Minoru, the Fingerhuts, Chieko, and Maki (Jason's wife).

Let's enjoy the happy time with each self!

Renewing Old Ties

While my brother Mark and I lived in Japan, a big part of our life was our host family. We both stayed with them during our first week in Kumamoto, then saw them often for dinner, baton-twirling exhibitions, festivals, etc. Our host mother, Kinuko Murayama, spent a year in Illinois when she was a high schooler, and that year had a big influence on her life--an American influence. Her English is extremely good, and she has emphasized to her daughters Kaori and Mami the importance of studying and speaking English. We also got to know their neighbors, the Yokohamas, and shared lots of good times with Chiyaki and her kids, Chinami and Kiichi. Everyone was extremely excited to meet Hiroki!Here, Chiyaki-san (Mrs. Yokohama) holds up Hiroki as her daughter Chinami looks on behind her; Kaori has a big smile on her face, while Kinuko is happy in the background.

All of the kids have grown up so much. Mami (holding Hiroki), is now a 2nd-year Jr. High School student/ 8th grader, her sister Kaori (holding Hiroki's left hand) and Chinami (with the peace sign) are both 15-yr olds in high school, and Kiichi (only boy, on the far right, is a 6th grader. None of them are little kids anymore.Eating is always a focus of visits to the Murayamas. On this day, another host-daughter, Carrie, and her husband David, joined us. We shared lots of memories, laughs, and updates. Kaori told us about Kaori being on the news with her school for some biology project. "I'll show you!" Kinuko happily said, then pulled out HER CELL PHONE, on which she had viewed and taped this TV show. You gotta love Japanese technology.


Although I taught at several different junior high schools, I was employed by the Kumamoto Board of Education. These days, about 25 JETs work out of this office. I make it a point to visit the office whenever I return to Kumamoto.

One of my favorite guys in the office is Mr. Mihara. We always had fun at the enkai's (eating/drinking parties), and he greeted Hiroki with a big smile.

During our short office visit, Hiroki let it be known that his diaper needed changing. Typical of Japanese hospitality, everyone INSISTED that we change him right there, on the conference table. I'm not sure, but this picture is proof of possibly the first time a baby was changed in the middle of the Kumamoto Board of Education office. Good times.

This is Yuji Higuchi, the supervisor for English teachers. He has gotten a promotion now, but still oversees the activities of the JETs in Kumamoto. Yuji helped me and others deal with countless issues, from speeding tickets and backed up apartment toilets to SARS quarantines and driver licenses. We even invited him to speak at our Japanese wedding ceremony. Without him, my time in Japan would have been far less smooth.

Catching up with Michiyo's high school friends: Yuko on the left, Kayoko (nickname "Tomei") on the right. We enjoyed a meal with them at Tome's house. Yuko is not married, but Tomei is pregnant with her first child, and looking forward to joining Michiyo as a first-time mom.

This house was the second of three visits, after Murayamas and before Tomei's house. Eiko, standing next to Michiyo and holding her daughter Yuri, attended grade school, junior and senior high school with Michiyo. Eiko's husband, Masaki, is holding up their son Hiroto, who has his head down. The other kids are from the neighborhood, enjoying the street entertainment of a strange foreigner.