After the last few weeks of planning and eager anticipation, I am now sitting in the JFK airport enroute to Tokyo, where I’ll me meeting my two sisters and my new brother in law! This is going to be the trip of a lifetime.
A few exciting things have happened since I last posted:
1) Kiyoshi, my grandmother’s 87 year old nephew, spent some time coming up with a family tree, so we could understand who is in my family (with the help of our translators Tomi and Daisuke, whom I have come to love). I never new I had so much family! After a night in Tokyo, we will be heading straight to Owase to meet Kiyoshi and Daisuke. Our first stop will be to the home my grandmother was born in.
Kiyoshi has put a call out to a bunch of our relatives, who will be meeting us on our second day in Owase. They all seem so kind and hospitable, and will even spend a day taking us to the nearby area of Ise to do sightseeing.
I can’t wait to see the area my grandmother grew up in. My aunt used to tell me stories of how she loved climbing the beautiful trees in that area, which is known for forestry, and swimming in the ocean in her youth.
I’m still figuring out where I can do a day of surfing in the Mie Prefecture – there are definitely some spots for surfing – and a trip would not be complete for me without getting a session in. I have a feeling I’m going to discover more about why I’m so drawn to surfing.
2) We made contact with more relatives, including Yasunori, who is the grandson of one of my grandmother’s brothers. Yasunori and I have been exchanging emails over the last few weeks, and he will be picking us up at the airport, following which we will be having dinner with him and his three sisters.
According to Yasunori, my grandparents actually met in Japan while my grandfather was doing medical training, and not in Taiwan — which is inconsistent with the story we know from my grandmother. Not sure if something was lost in translation, but we’ll find out more when we meet him as we piece this puzzle together.
Also, it turns out Yasunori was on the Olympic Rowing Team in Atlanta and Syndey! How cool that I have such amazing talent in my family. And perhaps the penchant for water sports is genetic. Here is his beautiful family:
3) Joyce got married! My little sister Joyce got married last week. It was a beautiful wedding, and I am so happy for her and her husband Jon. The trip to Japan will be part of their honeymoon. Joyce knows how important this trip to me, and decided a while back that it was important enough for her and Jon to join, so she can help document the whole thing (Joyce has become an incredible documentary film maker).
Joyce has been my sidekick my whole life, and one of the things I love about her is that she makes the things that are important to me important to her. I’m super excited her and Jon are going to be on this trip, and due to a fear of missing out, we also convinced my older sister Nancy to join as well. Nancy is very scrappy and is good at getting things done, so she’s going to be a useful partner for us on this trip…assuming we all don’t drive each other crazy. This is the first sisters trip we’ve ever taken!
I can’t wait to see what the next 9 days holds, as I come to understand my grandmother’s history – and come to understand myself better through the process.
Katchan 