Part 9 - Visiting my aunt in Nagoya, Japan

Sakurajima Sunset by Cindy McLean

Part 9-Visiting my aunt in Nagoya, Japan

Our visit with my aunt in Kagoshima was over and our trip to visit my other aunt, Tamami-san, who lives in Nagoya, came fast. She has two sons that I never met and I was excited to not only see my aunt and uncle again, but meet my cousins, Kouta and Yuujiro. To travel from Kyoto to Nagoya we reserved a seat on Japan’s famous Shinkansen or what many folks know as the Bullet Train.  The Shinkansen, traveling at well over 200 mph, can speed passengers to any destination in Japan within a matter of hours, but for me, it’s just too fast! Personally, at that speed, I’m just not comfortable. Anyway, my chicken butt boarded the Shinkansen and we were whisked from Kyoto to Nagoya, Japan, to visit Tamami-san and her family. Everything went smoothly and we arrived in Nagoya safe and sound.

As a side note, language barriers and all, I must say, my aunts really make things happen. One of my foundations in life is “I don’t let things happen; I make things happen.” Well, now I know where it comes from; my mom’s side of the family. Every time I deal with my aunts they make things happen! When we arrived at the station, Tamami-san, the translator named Kazuko-san (Kazu-san, as she likes to be called) and my uncle, Koji-san, were all standing right on the platform in front of the door to our train car. I never spoke to Tamami-san prior to our visit. I just sent texts to coordinate my visit to Nagoya to my cousin, from my other aunt, Hitomi-san, in Kagoshima and he communicated our arrival to Tamami-san. Kind of freaked me out, but in a great way! What an awesome surprise and yes, Tamami-san and Koji-san were so incredible because they greeted my wife and made her feel as welcome as Hitomi-san and her family. Cannot tell you the happiness of having aunts in my life. Now, both aunts had welcomed my wife, for my mother, as they both promised. Yup, they make things happen! What my aunts did was so powerful to watch and just thinking about them both telling me, last year, to return to Japan with my wife and they would meet her for my mother, then watch them do exactly like they said they would, reminds me of how my mom kept her promises. She would tell me she was coming to watch me play a sport and bammm….she was sitting in the stands screaming at the top of her lungs. I love that I got to see where I get the ability to make it happen and make it rain!

After introductions and lunch they whisked us away to a really swank hotel. Stephanie and I were overjoyed about the size of the room and the comfort. We had a little time to rest then they returned and took us to dinner.

We relaxed and got ready quickly because one thing for sure; my aunts are always on time. Tamami-san recruited the help of Kazu-san to help with the translation. Kazu-san lived in London for a while and her English was very advanced. She worked so hard to translate everything and it was cute when she would get mixed up and turn to me and speak Japanese then turn to my relatives and speak English. We don’t know how she kept up, but she did and we have to give much thanks to Kazu-san for all her work…Doumo!

 

 We visited a Temple in Nagoya and the monk is a personal friend of my aunt and uncle

Stephanie with Kazuko-san (Kazu-san) and Koji-san

 

Inside of the temple was intricately decorated

After our visit at the temple we all went to a very nice Japanese restaurant and were joined by my aunt's two sons, Yuujiro and Kouta. Also, Yuujiro brought his girlfriend. It was exciting meeting my cousins from my aunt Tamami-san. We had a wonderful time simply telling family history, learning about each other’s lives and enjoying a delicious meal.

The food in Japan is always so appealing and delicious

We all then went to a karaoke club because Tamami-san and Kaji-san love to sing karaoke. Great night as we all took turns on the mic, but have to say my aunt and uncle stole the show.

My uncle singing one of his favorite songs 

Singing with my aunt, Tomami-san

Great night with my aunt and her family to include my uncle's mother

The next day my aunt, uncle and the translator, Kazu-san, picked us up and took us to the beautiful Nagoya Castle, built in the 1600s by the warrior and general, Tokugawa

Leyasu. As a special treat, as we were walking around the castle grounds, an actor appeared dressed as General Tokugawa Leyasu emperor of the palace. He was dressed in his battle gear. Learning about the history of Japan up close and personal is so much better than watching the Discovery Channel.

Taking a picture with General Tokugawa Leyasu

The beautiful flowers at Nagoya Castle

Kaji-san, Stephanie and Tamami-san

Tamami-san explained how to pet the fish and bammm, she started petting the koi fish...amazing!!!

My aunt and Stephanie! I love my aunts!

Kaji-san, Stephanie, Tamami-san and me at Nagoya Castle

Artwork in Nagoya Palace 

Nagoya Castle rests on large stones brought in from many provinces throughout Japan. If you look closely at the picture of the rocks above, the symbol on the rock in the middle is from my mom’s region, Kagoshima, dating back to the 1600s. 

 

Azuki (red bean paste) with green tea at the Tea Garden

Our last day in Nagoya was just as exciting as the first. For those that don't know me, I am a baseball player by trade. When I was young all I ever wanted was to be a baseball player. So, to my great surprise, my uncle and aunt are friends with Ichiro Suzuki’s parents and the father of Hideki Matsui  (Godzilla). Ichiro is from the same city as my aunt, so they took us to the Ichiro museum, which is a few blocks from their home. It was closed that day, but then they took us where Ichiro got his start.  A batting cage less than half a mile from my aunt's company is where Ichiro honed his batting skills. Also, my aunt's company is near Ichiro's old high school. Unfortunately, the batting cage was closed too, but I got to take some pictures next to Ichiro’s picture and stand in the same batting cage that he grooved his swing. Wow! What an honor especially since he just recently broke Pete Rose’s hitting record!

Standing in front of Ichiro's Headquarters then visiting the batting cages where Ichiro grooved his swings

After visiting the batting cage we went to lunch, visited my aunt’s company headquarters, then we departed for Yokota Air Base.

Me and Stephanie with Tamami-san's beautiful family on our last day

Looking back on my trip to visit my aunt’s family in Nagoya, I feel honored and blessed to have such a great aunt, uncle and cousins. Again, I have won the lottery in terms of my Japanese relatives. Everyone is so kind and fun. It is cool to finally say I have aunts, uncles and cousins.

Our recent visits with relatives in Kagoshima and Nagoya, have truly helped me, even more, to better understand my mom and therefore myself. For my mom to leave her family, her country and her culture, to come to America was a bigger deal than I ever knew. I know this now because, after visiting my relatives in Japan and living in Japan for a few months, I now understand why she held on to her culture so dearly. She missed the Japanese culture, which is so rich in history, the food, which is so diverse with great depth in flavors, textures and colors and lastly, she really missed her family, especially her brothers and sisters. It breaks my heart that my mom wasn’t part of her family in Japan and that we didn’t grow up with all our relatives, but again, I believe my journey to fulfill the promise made to my mother in 2000 has truly become my mom’s lasting gift to me. She prepared me for this journey by feeding me Japanese food, and teaching me the manners, the discipline, respect and the way of the Japanese, ensuring I would survive in the culture and lastly, she filled me with her philosophies that have given me the strong foundation to see clearly the unforeseen and the unspoken, something very important in Japan.  

Since departing Japan, we returned to Spain and believe that southern Spain might warrant another visit in our future, but first, we are going to live in Japan so I can take an intense Japanese language course, to enable me to speak to my relatives in Japanese. Truth is, there is one promise I didn’t fulfill in my life and that is the one I made to my mom that I would speak Japanese to her before she passed away. During my times caring for her while she was sick, she gave me lessons in the Japanese language, but she died in Mar 2000, before I could have a full conversation with her in Japanese. Yes, I am heartbroken. But now, with her sisters and my other Japanese relatives and friends, I believe this is my second chance at learning enough Japanese to have conversations with everyone in Japan, before it’s too late. This is a promise I’ve made to myself and one I truly want to keep as in my heart I believe my mom will forgive me for not fulfilling my promise to learn enough Japanese to speak to her before passing away. Sounds crazy, but I think it is just the motivation to fulfill this promise.

On a much less somber note I hope that many of you visit Japan and experience the culture, food and spirit. The food in Japan is so seasonal that whenever something is offered, take it. In a few weeks or months it goes away until the next season. Anthony Bourdain has said the country with the richest foods, in all the lands he has visited, is Japan. You must go off the beaten path though. This means avoid the big cities. Visit Kyoto, Nagoya or Kagoshima. Yes, Japan is so foreign to many, but isn’t that why we want to travel? Not to see the average, the normal and familiar, but to experience the land, the people, the culture and food of a foreign land.

Truly looking forward to this next adventure in our lives and to the excitement it will bring. Truly hope my kids or some friends can join us during our stay in Japan. We will help you navigate the unfamiliar, but won’t hold your hand forever because adventure starts by simply letting go.

To all my relatives and friends in Japan, Doumo for the great visit and matane!

Part 8 "Returning with my wife to Japan"

Pink Sakuras by Cindy McLean

Part 8 "Returning to Japan 10 months later"

Part 7 of my “Journey to fulfill a Promise,” ended when I departed Japan, June 5, 2015. At that time I made another promise to myself (always making promises to myself) that departing Japan was not the end, but the beginning of my relationship with Japan and all that comes with it.

Last year, while departing, my aunts asked me to return in 2016, during Sakura season, with my wife, because they wanted to meet her, for my mother, their sister. So, yes, my wife Stephanie and I returned, 10 months from when I last visited, arriving the last week of March 2016, the beginning of the Sakura season in Kagoshima, Japan. This is about our visit.

Sakura, or cherry blossom season in Japan, is one of the "don't miss wonders of life." The flower itself is small, beautiful and delicate but the significance of what it brings to each and every Japanese citizen is enormous and heartwarming. Sakura season in Japan only lasts a few weeks. Then, the petals from the flowers are blown from the Sakura trees creating a snow flurry like effect of light pink and white Sakura petals, which is an amazing sight to see.

Sakura in Kirishima, Japan

During the Sakura season all Japanese take the time to have a Hanami or a flower viewing party, which entails throwing a blanket down amongst the Sakuras, inviting friends and enjoying food, or simply walk amongst the hundreds of thousand Sakura, in Japan, looking for the perfect blossom. As a foreigner, to Japan, it was amazing to watch how such a small flower can almost bring an entire nation to stand still and celebrate the simple beauty of the Sakura.

So, it is no small wonder that in Japan, the season of the Sakura is an important time for all Japanese, celebrating the season with family and friends.

If you read the first 7 parts of my “Journey to fulfill a Promise,” you know then that this trip, 10 months after I departed Japan, is simply a continuation of the gift left by my mom when she passed in 2000. The gift of new found family, friends, love and finding more about my mom which in turn has helped me  understand myself even more.

This visit had a whole different dynamic because my wife was accompanying me. I was raised Japanese, eating Japanese food, understanding the custom, the people and the culture. Would my wife like the food, the people, the culture and pace of life? It was important that she enjoy Japan, like me, because it is so much a part of me, but also would she enjoy my new found relatives?!? So, needless to say I was a little nervous taking my wife to a land she never visited with a culture so foreign to Americans.

We arrived at Yokota Airbase on a military flight, on 26th March 2016, stayed one night at the base then departed to Kagoshima. We took a train to Tokyo, then flew to Kagoshima.

During my visit in 2015, I only visited Kagoshima. This trip, with my wife, we visited Kagoshima to see one aunt, Hitomi-san and her family, then flew to Nagoya to see my other aunt, Tamami-san and her family. During my visit in 2015, Tamami-san flew to Kagoshima with her husband, Kaji-san, from Nagoya, the city where they reside. They visited me in Kagoshima, last year, without their 2 boys, my cousins, and I was excited this trip to meet them, because one of my cousins was a Sumo wrestler.  

At Kagoshima airport we were picked up by my friend Cindy and her husband Niang. If you read the first 7 parts to this story you will understand how big a part Cindy and Niang played in my first visit, helping me immensely in finding my relatives, sharing in the emotional reunion, but also you can see Cindy’s beautiful art. Seeing these two was like seeing my relatives because they were both with me every step of the way, my last visit, translating every word and every emotion during my initial meetings with my aunts. If you ask Niang he will say Cindy and I cry too much. I admit it, I cried like a baby my last visit because of all the emotions involved in finding relatives and meeting them. Add the fact that my mom no longer walked this earth and meeting her sisters, my aunts, was like seeing my mom again. Their mannerisms, appearance, voice and the way they hug me, all remind me of my mom, who yes, I miss dearly.

Once in Kagoshima, Cindy contacted my aunt Hitomi-san and layed out plans for them to visit us in Kirishima, a small city outside of Kagoshima.

Plans were set. We would meet Hitomi-san and my uncle, Nakae-san, in a few days. We now had time to visit with Cindy, Niang and the friends I made in Kirishima.

Awesome time with Niang and Cindy. We enjoyed eating at an Indian restaurant, in Kirishima, catching up on the past few months.

Stephanie finally meeting Cindy

We also went out with my friends Ryuji and Tomoyo. They both played important roles in helping me with my relatives, the previous year because Ryuji is a golfer, like me and my uncle, Nakae-san. Tomoyo can’t golf, but she speaks English, so, her and Ryuji golfed with me and my uncle, helping me to communicate in Japanese. Plus, they have become very good friends, just helping me enjoy my time in Japan. 

Dinner with Tomoyo and Ryuji

We ate Nabemono, which is when you take many different vegetables, meat, seafood, tofu and things, then boil them, at the table, in a clay pot of broth. Absolutely delicious!!

Nabemono is taking all these ingredients and stuffing them into a clay pot of boiling broth at our table….mmm!

Yes, we had tempura too!

The city of Kirishima is a small city on the outskirts of Kagoshima. It is nice sized city because it’s not too big and there is a small river that runs through the city all the way to Kinko Bay. Kinko Bay is the body of water that surrounds the beautiful and majestic active volcano, Sakurajima, which spews smoke and ash neary every day. The river is great for running or biking, but on beautiful days, it is just a nice place to stroll because of all the birds and the smell of the sea.

The day finally came when we met Aunt Hitomi-san and her husband, my uncle, Nakae-san, at the Kyocera Hotel. They greeted me just like last year, giving me heartfelt hugs, then they met my wife for the first time. My aunt welcomed Stephanie with open arms. Wow! The power of an aunt is an amazing thing. She immediately treated my wife as family, holding her hand and just showing her the love my mom would have shown if she were here on this earth. Because of the craziness of things with my brothers, sisters and father, this was the first time in our relationship that Stephanie met any relative of mine, besides my two boys, so this was huge!

Uncle Nakae-san, me, Aunt Hitomi-san, Stephanie, Cindy and Niang 

My aunt Hitomi-san meeting Stephanie, for my mom

Niang, Cindy’s husband, working hard translating for us

                                     Happy day!                                                                        

Must say, all went well with the meeting between my aunt, uncle and Stephanie. Now, we all went to lunch at a very traditional Japanese restaurant. My aunt ordered all the foods that I love, but would my wife love the same food? Many of you have seen me eat and laughed at some of the things on my plate, but in Japan, all the stuff I like to eat is quite normal. Well, proud to say, my wife enjoyed every bite of food at lunch and during our entire stay in Japan. Sorry to say but many of you couldn’t hang with some of the stuff set before us:) To us though; delish!

After our lunch we set a date, with my aunt, that we would drive a rental car to my aunt's home and introduce my wife to my cousins.

So, needless to say, my aunt Hitomi-san and uncle met Stephanie and “did” meet her for my mom. They were so welcoming and loving. Makes me tear up just thinking of how awesome my aunt and uncle treated my wife. Aunt Hitomi-san and my uncle departed after our lunch. We had a few days before our visit with them, so Stephanie and I got to enjoy Japan at our own pace, taking in the beautiful land and our friends in Kirishima. We visited grocery stores, buying breakfast, lunch and dinner. Visited restaurants, had a Hanami party, hiked and just enjoyed being back in Japan, meeting with good friends. 

We also got to visit my mom’s hometown, Uchinoura, and pay our respects. Aunt Hitomi-san’ best friend, Sakemoto-san, still lives in Uchinoura and she and her husband hosted us during our visit. She is like family, treating us with such kindness and love.

We visited my mom’s home, walked the beautiful beaches near her home, met Kosou Usui, the son of my grandmother’s sister (When I met him last year he was the first cousin I had ever met in my entire life) and the temple in Uchinoura, where we paid our respects.

Sakemoto-san and her husband hosted us during our visit to Uchinoura

Stephanie meeting the first cousin I ever met in my entire life

Enjoying tea and treats at Sakemoto-san’s house

Stephanie standing where my mom was raised

Cindy and Stephanie enjoying the beaches of Uchinoura

During our entire stay in Kagoshima we were besieged with the beauty of the Sakura. They were every where!

Cindy said to me something that will stay with me forever. She said that I won the jackpot when it comes to my aunts and uncles. I agree 100% and am so happy and proud to have them and my new found cousins in my life.

After a few days, Stephanie and I rented a car. We carefully drove to my aunt’s home so Stephanie could meet my cousins and their children. Driving on the "other side" of the road, with the steering column on the wrong side of the car, was a challenge, but we made it. We had a great day with my aunt, uncle and all my cousins. We played ping pong, had a delicious dinner that my aunt made and just enjoyed the time with my aunt, uncle and their family.  

Our trip to Kagoshima couldn’t have been better. We departed on 14 April at 8 am headed to my other aunt’s home, Nagoyo, so she could meet Stephanie and we both could meet my other cousins (A few hours after our departure, the island had a massive earthquake, but all our family and friends were ok; just shaken up).

We stopped in Kyoto, Japan, for a few days, prior to visiting Nagoyo. Let’s just say our trip to Kyoto and Nagoyo were just as awesome as our trip to Kagoshima. My aunt Tamami-san and my uncle Kaji-san were great hosts too and it was awesome finally meeting my cousins, Yuujiro and Kouta. Will provide our trip to Kyoto and Nagoya in separate parts in a few days. Please enjoy the rest of the pictures from our Kagoshima visit. 

Teruo, who won #1 bartender in Kyushu, serves the best drinks in Kagoshima

Me and Ayami going fast 

Shrine in Kirishima

The beautiful poppies of Kirshima, Japan

We ran into a Japanese high school dance team

Me with Yukari, a friend of Cindy's who  
helped out with my last visit

Fuuka, daughter of my cousin (Itoko means cousin in Japanese), Kouji

Delicious dinner made by my Aunt Hitomi-san

From l-r: Kumiko (wife of my cousin), Fuuka, Stephanie, Aunt Hitomi-san, Rinka (daughter of my Itoko, Sayaka, me and Shunya (son of my Itomko 

From l-r: My Itoko, Kouji, his daughter Fuuka, Stephanie, Aunt Hitomi-san, Rinka, Sayaka, me and Shunya

Aunt and her daughter, Sayaka

My grandmother at 100 years old (left side) and 93 (right side)

Stephanie with my Itoko, Kouji

Golfing with Uncle Nakae-san and my Itoko Kouji