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Niigata - Oita, Japan, September 1993
When we flew into Niigata we were met at the airport by a friendly, well-organized contingent from the club. With Japanese efficiency we were paired with our host families and whisked away to our respective homes. My brother Steve and I were very fortunate. Our host was an innkeeper of a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn). We were given a real taste of the ritualistic life in Japan. The ryokan had an onsan (hot springs bath) and each night before dinner we indulged in a bath, an incredibly relaxing experience! The group met later in the week at the ancestral home of Mr. Itoh, the president of the Niigata club. The estate had been converted into a museum called the Northern Cultural Museum. It was there that we began an overnight bus tour. We visited a Russian Museum, a lacquer factory, a sake factory and an ancient temple before stopping for the night at a coastal hot springs resort owned by one of the members. The Niigata club felt that we should all experience a hot springs resort during our stay in Japan. The next morning we traveled up the rugged coastline and turned inland through the mountains over extremely narrow, twisting roads. We were treated to a barbecue at Mr. Itoh's magnificent mountain retreat. After several enjoyable days with our hosts the group met to enjoy the performance of traditional Japanese theatre. Many of the ambassadors had the rare privilege to go backstage before the performance to meet the actors and watch as the makeup and elaborate costumes were adorned. Later we returned to the Northern Cultural Museum for an extensive tour of the facility and the scenic gardens. The evening was completed with a farewell barbecue and party. Two days later with great sadness, we left Niigata for the southern island of Kyushu and the small mountain town of Taketa City. The countryside surrounding Taketa City was absolutely spectacular! Every turn in the road revealed another postcard-perfect, tree-shrouded scene. The valleys were terraced with the yellowing rice fields and provided perfect contrast to the dark green of the pines. Taketa City itself had many streets with tunnels which led through the rock. Our hosts made certain that there was something planned for us each day. We were treated to a bus tour of central Kyushu. We traveled to the highest point on the island, an active volcano named Mount Aso. We traversed the scenic mountain ridge to the Sea of Japan coastal city of Kumomoto. There we toured a majestic samurai castle and shared a picnic lunch in the incredible city gardens. It was actually Japan on a very small scale. Mount Fuji and the islands were represented and the waters were alive with colorful koi fish. Before we realized it, it was time for our "farewell dinner". The host club had a unique idea, the ambassadors were to create the dishes for the potluck supper. American dishes with unusual Japanese twists. Cay Lacey prepared octopus fritters which were very tasty. Steve and I decided chili might be an interesting menu item. Have you ever tried to find chili powder in a grocery store where no one speaks English and the labels are unreadable? Somehow we concocted and interesting combination of beans, tomatoes, beef, rice and cayenne powder (not chili powder). Tex-Mex it wasn't, but someone ate it all! At our farewell dinner, a ceremonial drum corps. performed. Their syncopations and rhythms were almost machinelike in perfection. It was a concert that was felt as well as heard. The Taketa City Friendship Force performed several traditional songs. Lincoln ambassador Jo Knight found the sheet music to Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable" and we serenaded them. All too soon our wonderful exchange had come to an end. It had all seemed like a very enjoyable dream, from which we did not want to awake. The onsans, the tea ceremonies, the sake, the gardens, the mountains, the ice cream, but most importantly the dear people and the friendships that blossomed from them made this experience truly "unforgettable." A postscript to this wonderful experience, almost one year later I married Cay, one of the ambassadors on the exchange. Little did I know at the time that the woman in the seat beside me on the return flight would be my wife. |
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readfully early on Sunday, September 12, 1993, ten ambassadors boarded a plane bound for the "Land of the Rising Sun," Japan. In San Francisco we were joined by another ambassador from New Mexico. Spending our first night in a pleasant hotel near the Osaka airport gave us an opportunity to recharge our batteries before flying into our first host city of Niigata. 
