Sue and I arrived home safely last evening at 930pm after a fairly long return journey that began on Japan’s Monday afternoon when we got on the airport bus in Shinagawa. Here I am with the Kai family (Mr. Toshiji Kai and Mrs. Shukuo Kai) in front of Makiko’s old building. We arrived wearing black shirts and the Kais also were wearing black shirts. There must have been a memo stating “please wear a black shirt for the Kai and Berg-Williams family photo”. The Kais welcomed us warmly for our last three nights in Japan. Over the next several weeks we will post pictures and tell stories of our amazing trip -- Japan 2015: The Return.
After touring some of Makiko’s neighborhood sights, we stopped in to a café for the latest Japanese trend, shaved ice. We each got the small size which was an icy feast that hit the spot on this excessively hot day. Saitama-ken, the “state” just northwest of Tokyo is known for having the hottest temperatures in all of Japan. Add some humidity to that and you get: Mushi-atsuka desu ne? (really humid, isn’t it?).
We felt like we already knew Toshiji and Shukuko. Makiko’s mom is a long time follower of the Berg-Williams blog and our friend on Facebook.
I was sporting my Hippo Club T shirt that Makiko gave me in 2009. It lists “hello” and “thank you” in a variety of languages.
The name “Kai” can be broken down into two characters, “Ka” and “I” as you can see by the family name placard near their front door. The Kais moved into a new house right after Makiko returned to Japan in 2010.
Here’s our little Makiko-chan with their longtime dog Kurumi.
And some other photos from the wall. . . We got to see Makiko’s room and we met her brother Takayuki in Tokyo. More photos to follow. . .
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