“Run! Run! Run!” we shouted because the external temperature was below minus 20 C and I felt I was almost dying when I ran through the path with naked. But the sauna worked as a very good stage to boost our friendship with the business partner.

“You have to do the same thing as we are doing now if you want to get more discount on our machine”, Mikko, the president of the company said and he suddenly jumped into snow his head-first on. My accompanies were in pause but I dived into the white and freezing snow.  I was thrilled and got very excited to have this first experience.

After staying a night, we headed for Helsinki again and flew to Aarhus, Denmark.  I’m writing this in a hotel room on the way to Copenhagen. Here is a video when I was taken to Rantasalmi and the driver is Jens, an export manager of the manufacturer.

Experiencing a drastic temperature change, it was quite difficult for me to adjust myself to this heat and humidity. One of my friends in my town in Hokkaido reported me on his text message that it was – 20 C.  Here,  its 27 to 30 C and I sweated a lot.  But this is the 3rd time I come to this tropical city so I knew my constitution well and  brought many extra shirts

After the business talk with the JCB Sales Asia and Pacific, they took my boss and me to the China Town.

It’s one of my most favorite places on this globe.

Luna New Year is just around the corner and there are tremendous people walking on the street.  I picked up 3 personal seals and got my kids names curved on them. Asking a shop clerk for discount was quite funny and adventurous.  I had very tasty steam bowl with my business friends and went to bed straight after that.  I’m overwhelmed by their hospitality every time I visit Singapore.

Being advised by my Ham Radio friend Atsu, JE1TRV, I have tried to reach John, 9V1VV but could not trace his email address.

My boss told me to be in charge of this business transaction from this summer and there will be more chances to come to this beautiful city, so I may have another chance to meet with him.

Gonna take a taxi to the airport to catch a flight back in 30 minutes.

Only 24 hours stay, but it was very nice.

I love Singapore.

Every day, even on weekends and holidays, we have chatted using Morse Code.

He was just a beginner when he started but he achieved his “head copying” with 30wpm now.

Today, I tried to make a video of our QSO and uploaded it on YOUTUBE.

I put some sentences in English on the video so that some young people will get interested in having conversation utilizing Morse Code when they see it.

He was born in Nagasaki, Japan in 1954 and moved to Guildford, England due to his father’s business when he was 6 years old.  Graduating from Kent University in 1978, he studied literature in the graduate school of East Anglia University.

He became a naturalized citizen of England in 1982 and married to an English lady, Lorna MacDougall.

<Quote from Wikipedia>

Ishiguro is one of the most celebrated contemporary fiction authors in the English-speaking world, having received four Man Booker Prize nominations, and winning the 1989 prize for his novel The Remains of the Day. In 2008, The Times ranked Ishiguro 32nd on their list of “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945″

<End of Quote>

I knew him for the first time when he appeared on TV about 6 month ago. He visited Japan for the campaign of his work “Never let me go” which is turned into a movie and he got interviewed for a TV program.

Listening to the interview talk which was spoken by this quiet and stable man, I became really interested in him and wanted to read his works in English.

Ishiguro seldom speaks his mother tongue, Japanese.

Borrowing his words, his Japanese has been held at the same level since he was a kid.

I could have a chance to buy his latest novel “Never let me go” when I visited Birmingham last October. At the book store, I saw a lot of his books were on the shelf and it made me pleased and there was no denying that I felt a little sense of pride in his success as Japanese.

I finished reading the novel in this Christmas holiday season. There were some difficult terms I didn’t know  the meaning and had to check them with a dictionary but most of the sentences and text were plain. It was easy to read compared to the works of Shakespeare or Dickens.

What is a good novel?

This is a good question for us and we have to keep thinking of it.

Ishiguro’s works can answer you.

Of course it was the first time for me to read his text but I was taken on an absent-mindness for a while when I finished reading it.

Reading between the lines, you can see profound implications and sceneries. And you can even feel some kind of wind pressure which is radiated from his words and sentences. And above all, you can bask in the afterglow of the story.

I really appreciate his work and would like to keep reading his other novels. I’m very happy to know this novelist.

Actually, as my another hobby, I write essays and novels.  Some of my works have won prizes in my local committee of literature and appeared in the news paper.  I’m not trying to boast though.  As an amateur writer, the experience to read Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel encouraged me a lot and I was highly-motivated.

It’s a great video.

Me?  Staying home and take some naps, watching TV, reading books, exploring YOUTUBE and take some naps again. But today…It was the first time that I went out for shopping in these holidays and it was to buy a special spanner to remove a fan from the kitchen ventilation. What a vacation I have!

My brother and sister came along with their family members and spent the night of New Year Eve together. In Japan, there is a well known music program on TV which is named Kohaku- Utagassen and a lot of singers appear on NHK. At my mother’s house, they were watching that program after we enjoyed the traditional dinner my mother and my wife made and I was bored with watching the TV program so I came home alone and watched another one, the Beethoven Symphony #9, which is held and broadcast every year-end.

15 minutes before the midnight, I went back to my mother’s home again and counted down the new year with my family. We ate soba, a buck wheat noodle waiting for the new year comes.. Having it with family members at the last moment of new year-eve is kind of a typical Japanese culture. Eating noodle means having a long life in the future.

When new year comes, we greet each other saying ” A Happy New Year” and we adults must give some money to the children,  Including my 3 children, there are 6 kids so my wife and I had to prepare the money beforehand. Insert the money into pretty envelopes and hand them to the children. This is the happiest moment for kids and staying up late until new year comes is worthwhile for them for that reason.

Coming home, I rushed to my bed and had a sound sleep.

The dinner we had on the 2nd day of the new year was okonomi-yaki, which is also a typical Japanse dish. My daughter is very good at making it and she served us as on the photo.

It was tasty.

I enjoyed the dinner she made and drank a couple of glasses of sake, rice wine.

I’m having good holidays.

Hope you are the same.

I had taught everyday English to people for over two decades then I met my current boss, Kazuo Oshima who came to my class with his wife and daughter.

Last year, I changed my job and moved to this company. Since then, I have traveled in UK, France, and Germany. Accompany and I extended our trip to Austria, Switzerland and Luxemburg last month.  It was amazing for us Japanese that one can get across the border of 5 nations by car during that 3-day-trip!

Being away from home for 7 to 10 days every other month, I got used to flying long time but the degree of jet lad I suffer is getting severer. Actually I got a serious cold while I was staying in Germany last month and it was really tough for me to travel around those European countries. It took me 2 weeks to get over the cold and fatigue from the jet-lag I was suffering.

I think everyone who travels abroad should have extraordinary experiences in the unknown countries and this is why I love travelling. It’s obviously better than sitting at a desk in front of the computer screen. Stunning sceneries, tasty local food and drinks, fresh air and feeling those distinct cultures are the best part of travelling even though the trip is on a business and the schedules are tight.

I’m a little excited with visiting Finland and Denmark for the first time and the trip will be from 23^rd January to 10^th of February. It will be the longest business trip for me.

What will I miss the most when I am away from Japan?

Yes. They are miso-soup, rice, sake and my 9 year-old daughter.

Stay a night there and will take a flight to Seoul, Korea. 12th Nov

Transit there 1 hour and will fly to Hanover, Germany. 12th Nov.

Staying in Kassel for three nights. 13th to 15th Nov.

Attending the world largest Agricultural Machinery show in Hanover. 13th to 15th Nov.

Leave Kassel for Munich by car 16th

Visit Agriculture associations in south Germany. 16th to 17th

Stay in Munich f16th to 17th

Head for north and see farms in Germany. 18th to 19th

Stay somewhere near Frankfurt. 18th to 19th

Visit Frankfurt 20th to 21st.

Stay in Frankfurt 20th to 21th

Take a flight to Japan 21th

Arrive in Japan 22th

It will be an adventurous trip!

When he arrived in Japan, he seemed to be exhausted with the long flight and was suffering from a jet lag. He said he couldn’t sleep at all on the airplane even though his seat was in premier economy class.  Yes, he is right.  I flew the same course as his which is from Birmingham to Paris and Paris to Japan. As we get old it becomes difficult to sleep in the economy class on flights. I usually take business class but occasionally I have to compromise to spend long hours in the economy class which tiers me a lot.

The next day he came was a national holiday in Japan and my boss Kazuo and I took him to a national park which is located about 100 kms northeast of my town, Memuro. We went their with our wives and daughters on a brand new Ford Explorer that Kazuo has just bought a couple of weeks ago.

The weather was nice and we enjoyed the scenery.

The photo above was taken at a lake named “Onneto” which is well known for its beauty. The girls are my daughter Noa (front) and Towa Kazuo’s daughter. The background mountain is an active volcano named ” Me-Akan” and “O-Akan” which means ” Female Akan and Male Akan”.

The volcano provides very nice hot spring and we took a bath in them.

Richard didn’t know that we Japanese enjoy bathing in those Spa with “naked” and he was surprised to know he can use only a small towel to hide his front.

But it was an enjoyable time for him to dip himself into the hot natural spring.

He will be with us until 18th October.

Today, we have to visit a farm around 6:00 AM to see how the Dowdeswell Plough works on the field.

He fell into the eternal sleep without any pain surrounded his wife, my brother, my wife and myself.

As his first son, I didn’t have much time to grieve and had to arrange the funeral.

A lot of people attended the funeral service and especially, there are several relatives who have not met with us for over 20 or 30 years. At the funeral wake, I enjoyed talking with them until very late.  We all met with tears at first and said farewell with smile at the end of the funeral.

This reunion must have been a surprise gift from my father.

Requiescat in pace, Dad.