Day Eight

May 8th

What a surprise to see the Seattle Mariners on TV again this morning! I'm not sure why they were playing a four game series unless they were making up a game during their horrendous road trip earlier in the year. Regardless, I was so glad to see them playing again.

I didn't get to see much of the game, however, since we would head out on our trip to Kofu today. We got on the road around 9:30 am for our 2 hour trip to Kofu. Kofu is in a valley and close to Mt. Fuji. Grapes and other fruit is grown in Kofu.

We headed straight to TEL (short for Tokyo Electron, Ltd.) where Ken worked for many years. We toured several of their facilities. TEL makes the machines that make the liquid in LCD and plasma screens. They also manufacture the machines that make computer chips. When I mentioned that we live close to Micron in Boise, Ken said that he had sold many machines to Micron when he worked at TEL. I'm sure that many of the machines used at Micron today come from TEL. Small world, huh?

From TEL we went to visit Yatsuko Ogawa. Yatsuko fixed us a tasty lunch that was almost more Western style than Japanese. The best part of the meal came with dessert when she served an upside down apple pie. Yummmm! It was soaked in caramel sauce and tasted SO good. Mom and dad knew Yatsuko and her husband Kuni when they were here. Kuni has since passed away. Kuni taught English in the University in Kofu and also was on television (NHK). Dad helped him with his English and they struck up a friendship. I would find out later while we were visiting with Yatsuko that they lived for some time in Utah and also in La Jolla, California. One of Yatsuko's daughters is in the Los Angeles area and the other one (Emily) had lunch with us. Emily is trained in massage and does some work out of their home. She is planning to visit California this year for a year or more to study English. Emily was born in the United States while her parents were living there. We hope she will make contact with my sister Miriam who lives in San Diego while she is in California. She gave me a short massage as I was putting on my shoes to leave. She's good!

From the Ogawas, we went to Ken and Miko's old house there in Kofu. They still own it and, unfortunately, haven't found a buyer yet for it. It is a beautiful house overlooking the city. On a clearer day, we could have seen Mt. Fuji. Mom and dad had many happy memories at their house, so I was glad to see it.

We had some coffee and cookies at their neighbors. The neighbor gave us some items used by her mother (now deceased) when she taught tea ceremony. It was good to visit with her and experience more of what a "typical" Japanese home is like.

We left Kofu around 4:00 pm and headed back to Kawasaki. We took a more scenic route home, closer to Mt. Fuji, and I FINALLY saw this beautiful mountain called Mt. Fuji. I reminds me a bit of Mt. Rainier in Seattle, yet different. I was so glad to finally see it and get some pictures of it. They tell me we should have an even better view of it when we head to Hakone on Thursday.

By the time we got back to Kawasaki, we decided to eat at "Royal Host." I'd heard so much about Royal Host when mom and dad lived in Japan. They serve more American style food. It is a step up from Denny's which is quite prominent here. I also noticed Coco's Restaurants here and actually saw a Bob's Big Boy. I hadn't seen a Bob's Big Boy in years. Anyway, we had a light supper (salad bar) before heading home. We've been eating so much here, it felt good to have a lighter meal for once.

Tomorrow will be a busy day for us. Madoka bought us a sightseeing tour of Tokyo. She will be here at 6:30 in the morning to get us to Tokyo in time for the tour. Every day provides a new adventure and a new experience. I'm trying to soak it all in and treasure every moment.