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Plane is Leaving!!
Well Kids, It’s Monday evening here in Tokyo. The bags are packed. The refrigerator is clean. The wash is done and we are headed home tomorrow. Yesterday the whole Kono clan including Ken’s brother and sister and their children and grandchildren and Ken, Yumiko and I traveled to Haramachi to say hello and good…
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The Fishermen – Part Two
A few weeks ago I wrote about my dilemma with the fishermen in Arisugawa Park. They were upset with me because I had taken a few pictures of them without asking permission. I felt terrible about it and at the recommendation of Ken and friends, I made a 2010 picture calendar on my computer…
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Our Last Wednesday
Yesterday was another incredibly full day – our last Wednesday in Japan. It began with a trip to Musashi-Kosugi where my photographer friend Katsuko Nakamata lives. She invited Yumiko and me to come to her house for the day. She wanted to photograph both of us in full kimono. We took the train in…
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We Are Back
It’s late Monday night. Yumiko and I had a TRULY wonderful time in Takayama and Kyoto. I will be back with a fresh brain tomorrow (not likely) but at least some fun stories to tell. In the meantime here’s a picture of us in Kyoto at one place where “Memoirs of a Geisha” was filmed…
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Foot Pain
Ken’s walking is still very painful. The three of us were to go on a final five day trip to Takayama and Kyoto beginning tomorrow morning. We decided it would be too hard for Ken, so he is going to stay home by the telephone and Yumiko and I will venture out on our…
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High School Reunion
On Sunday Ken’s high school friends had a wonderful lunch together in a great Japanese restaurant in Kagurazaka. It was a happy/sad occasion saying goodbye to all these good people. The only problem was that after the lunch the street where the restaurant is located was closed to traffic. Ken needed to walk a…
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Last Day of School
Friday was Graduation and the last day of school at Nishimachi. Eleven 9th graders graduated and each gave a speech in both Japanese and English to a gymnasium full of proud parents. The girls wore kimonos and the boys wore haori hakamas. Each one was so articulate and funny and poignant. Yumiko played in…
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A Peace Offering
Well, dear reader, thanks to my good friends Kate and Maryann and my dear sister Nancy, I feel SO MUCH BETTER today than I did yesterday. I turned over a new leaf and put together a calendar for 2010 using photographs from Arisugawa Park. I ordered five copies – one for each of the…
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Arisugawa and the Fishermen
I’m not sure if I am going to be able to articulate what happened yesterday, but let me try. This story began when we first got to Japan last August. Yumiko goes to a school two miles from our apartment. At first she took the train, but one morning Ken’s brother Tokuya San showed…
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The Graduation Dance
It was pouring rain (again) at 6:30 last night when Yumiko left to go to the graduation dance. She looked beautiful – even if I do have “parental stupidity” as my brother in-law says. She wore her new dress and a pretty silk shaw. Her hair was up with a thin gold necklace around…