Snapshots I Wish I Had Taken

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  I’ve seen a few things in Japan that are now just snapshots in my mind because I did not take a picture at the time.  So, I guess the thousand words will have to do for these.  I hope the words I choose will adequately convey to you  what I saw, so that you can feel what I feel when I see them in my mind’s eye.  I’ll give it a “shot!”

1-      One day, about a month ago, we were over in Sakata (about 30 minutes from our home in Tsuruoka) hunting an address.  We do that a lot, as finding people’s homes is one of our biggest challenges.  We had pulled over to the side of the road and Ken was studying the map.  It was a cold, grey, and drizzly day.  As we sat there, a little old lady (Obaachan, as they are called here) came riding by on her rusted bicycle. Her face was wrinkled and reddened by the cold.   She was wearing an old brown raincoat and her head was covered with a black scarf.  On the back of her bicycle was tied tonight’s dinner- a daikon- a very large Japanese radish.  I can put a picture of that here:

How I longed to follow her home and see what she was going to make with that daikon.  It is one of the staple vegetables here, along with cabbage.  I now wish I had pulled out my camera and snapped a picture, but the picture I didn’t take remains in my mind.

2-      Last week, we had a blizzard- well, really two blizzards one day after the other.  The amount of snow they dumped was absolutely unbelievable.  In preparation for the snow, we had purchased a snow shovel, but soon realized it was inadequate for the job.  Ken was out doing his best with that little shovel when the snow plow came down our street.  He had anticipated their coming and asked me to prepare a bag of treats for them.  When he saw them coming, he came running in and grabbed the treats I had left in the genkon.  He ran out and waved the huge tractor down.  There were two men inside.  He climbed right up on the tractor and gave the treats to them.  The look on their faces was one of utter astonishment.  Then they broke into huge grins as Ken thanked them profusely for their service.  I watched it all from inside, but I was making potato salad at the time, and my hands were covered with gook.  How I wish I had rinsed my hands and taken a picture of my husband up on that tractor with those two happy Japanese faces, grinning at him.

3-      One of the things we do for service is go into a privately owned pre-school/ Kindergarten and teach English.  I can’t even tell you how fun it is.  Those little Japanese children are so cute.  We love them.  They just cannot resist touching us, grabbing our legs, and reaching up to us.  Because of privacy rules, we aren’t allowed to take pictures of them- well, we can, but we can’t publish them.  But the snapshot in my mind is of those darling two and three -year- olds at the end of class on Thursday.  Grandpa Ken (who is a kid magnet) was down on his knees and had about 15 of them in a big group hug.  They were all giggling and reaching. Ken was reaching back, encircling as many as possible in that hug.  It was just the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. 

4-      And the last happened just last evening.   We were both needing to get out after some intense Japanese study (I am speaking in our branch Sunday and Ken worked hard to translate my talk, so I can give it and he will translate as I go.)  We finished that and decided we needed to get out, so we drove to a nearby sports park and walked around.  It was very cold and dark, but there were still many people there, jogging and walking, ice skating, etc.  We went inside what appeared to be a gymnasium.  Even in a public place like that, you remove your shoes and leave them in the genkon.  So, stocking-footed we went to the door of the gym as we could see activity in there.  There was a group of about 20 boys and girls running barefoot around a gym with karate-style clothes on.  We watched them run for a minute.  Then, all of a sudden, one of them broke ranks and ran over to us, bowed low, and said “Kon Ban Wa” which means “good evening.”  Then, the rest, following example, came over in groups, each bowing low and saying, “Kon Ban Wa!”  We also bowed and returned their greetings.  It was a cacophony of sound.  They told us that this was a Judo class. These were pre-teens and teenagers!  Do you think that would happen in America?  Tears sprang to my eyes as each of them greeted us politely with sweat dripping from their faces.  One of the littlest ones broke tradition and said, “Hello!” instead.  The others shoved him good naturedly.  I was too stunned at the time to take a picture.

We just can’t help but love the Japanese people!   I hope you enjoyed these snapshots I wish I had taken.                                               ‘