Day Twelve

May 12th

Today we travelled to Seitama to visit Seiya & Yoriko Kagatani and their family. They were part of the same church Mom and dad went to in Shizuoka. Seiya and Yoriko visited us one time in Washington while visiting my folks. Miko and Madoka drove us the two hours to Seitama to meet Seiya. We took a different route through Tokyo this time, going over the bay. It was a beautiful drive through Tokyo en route to the Seitama area. We stopped at a Denny's for a snack and decided to meet Seiya there. Denny's was having some sort of special on mangoes, so we all ordered a mango dish of some kind. It was good. Mangoes are my favorite fruit and remind me of India.

Seiya soon arrived and we said our good byes to Miko and Madoka until Monday. Before arriving at the Kagatani home, Seiya stopped to see his 3rd son, 9th grader Jin (pronounced "Gene") who was playing "soft tennis." I had never heard of "soft tennis" so I was interested to see how it was played. When meeting Jin, I was struck by his pleasant smile and radiant face. I found out he is the number one player on the junior high team. His coach was exchanging volleys with his players and I was struck how animated he was in his playing. Jin told me later that he thought I was some sort of scout checking him out to see how good a coach he was!

Practice was soon over so we headed to the Kagatani home in the city of Hasuda. I was impressed with the neighborhood. There are several nice parks in the neighborhood and struck me as a good place to raise a family. We were met at the door by Seiya's wife Yoriko and their daughter Manna (pronounced "mah-nah") who is named for the manna of the Bible. What a cute 7 year old girl! Yoriko is a beautiful, slender Japanese woman.

Shortly after entering their home, I was asked to have a prayer of blessing for the Kagatani home. I would have several prayers for the family while I was with them. What a privilege to come before the throne of grace for this precious family!

After supper, around 7:30, their 2nd oldest son, Kan, came home from rugby practice. He is a handsome young man who reminds me of Matt Damon. He is recovering from a cerebral concussion a week ago, which would keep him out of the game tomorrow. I could tell this did not make him too happy and reminded me of the days that our son Levi would have to sit out games due to injuries.

When it came time for a bath for Manna, Seiya told me that she wanted to have a bath with Seiya and me. I guess it is their custom for Seiya and Manna to take baths together. I kept telling her that I couldn't, that I was shy, etc. but she was persistent. Finally, she got the idea that I just couldn't do that, and she and Seiya headed for their bath. Seiya told me that she was just expressing her appreciation to me and that she liked me.

After supper Jin taught me some Japanese words and I helped him with some conversation in English. He is an exceptional young man. He is very smart, number one in his class. He played a difficult classical piece for us on the piano with such proficiency. He said that he hadn't played in about a year.

The oldest son, Zen, got home some time after 10:00 pm. Even though he has graduated from high school, he was studying for an entrance exam for college all day. He was gone since 8:00 in the morning. Zen and also Kan have spent some time (at different times) in an American home in Washington which mom arranged for them. Jin's turn is coming up soon. I sure hope that it might work out for him to stay with us.

I had another time of prayer with Seiya and Yoriko before heading to bed. Mom and I were both in the tatami room on the floor. I'm getting to be a pro at this sleeping on the floor thing. Not sure I could do it permanently though!