Day 18 in Japan

SATURDAY, JUNE 7

On the way to the cemetery, we came up on this one-way bridge. Well, it's a two-way bridge, but only one car can go at a time. At the top of the bridge, there are "cuts" on either side. So if you see a car coming toward you, you pull over until the coast is clear.

This is our family plot in Tokyo.

All of us at the Araya plot.

Jessica paying her respects to her ancestors.

The whole gang at Hiromi and Tsnne-chan's house. The tiny lady sitting at the right in the green shirt is Tsune-chan's stepmother.

Shibuya at night. This must have been around 9:30 p.m. and it's still this crowded.



The Japanese revere their ancestors. So every time we visit Japan, we go to the Araya family cemetery. My mother is an Araya.

Again, we got up early. Ken-chan and I went to his favorite bakery and bought a bunch of pastries for breakfast. They were delicious.

The Hosaka family came for us so we could ride in various cars to get to the cemetery, which is probably an hour away from where we were staying.

When we got there, our Aunt Mizue and Kotoe were there.

There's a whole ritual involved in going to the cemetery. You buy flowers and incense. Then you "rent" a scrub brush, bucket and water scoop. In Kobe, Aunt Teruko had already purchased the flowers and incense. And it was raining, so we didn't clean the gravesite.

But in Tokyo, the sun was shining bright.

Aunt Mizue bought the flowers and incense and all the other trappings.

So Hiromi and I started cleaning the gravesite. Once it was clean, we lined up and paid our respects to our relatives who are buried there.

I'm really not sure who's there, except for Hiromi and Kotoe's father and our grandmother.

And, of course, my brother, Ichiro. I'm the oldest. He was born two years later and died after living just two weeks. Then it's Nancy, Fred, Dorothy and Patty.

By the time we finished, it was close to lunch.

We decided to go to Hiromi's house, which was the closest. She took a taxi and took my mother and Auntie Keiko.

The rest of us went to our favorite Japanese grocery store, Jusco, to buy food. It was crazy what we bought — sushi, sashimi, meat and vegetable croquettes, salad, cold noodles (both Japanese and Chinese style). What was even crazier was the quantity of food!

I thought we bought too much. But there were a lot of us.

We got to Hiromi's house, but to get there, we had to go through this park. Now, Japanese parks are a little different. This one featured a forest. A really dark forest and the sun was shining. It's really a little spooky.

Hiromi and Tsune-chan's house is gorgeous and big. It's three stories and very modern.

We got there, unloaded the cars and met Tsune-chan's stepmother, who lives with them. She was really a sweet lady. And seemed to be very happy to meet all of us. This is dumb, but I don't know her name. Except that she's Mrs. Hosaka.

After we ate, we toured the house. The first floor had the family room, dining room, kitchen, toilet room, bath and laundry room and Tsune-chan's stepmother's room. The second floor had all kinds of storage, an office and another toilet room. The third floor had three bedrooms, where Hiromi and Tsune-chan, Yuichi and Miho have their private spaces. Yuichi opted to have a traditional bedroom with tatami floor and futons. He told his parents he'd rather sleep on the floor. The others have Western-style beds.

Then we decided to split up. Jessica wanted to see where the young people congregate in the Harajuku/Shibuya areas; "the old folks" (Auntie Keiko, Aunt Mizue and Tsune-chan's stepmother) decided to stay at Hiromi's and the rest went to a seven-story 100-yen store.

So Kotoe led the way.

I'd been to Harajuku and Shibuya before. It was really, really crowded. It's still very, very crowded.

Jessica wanted to see those kids who dress up. You've seen news reports on "60 Minutes" and other shows where they dress in strange, garish costumes. I told her that even though it's been on American TV and are featured in guidebooks that were printed last year, that these people might not exist any more. But she was adamant, even though our cousins said they haven't seen them in a long time. Even our Uncle Hide said that was something from long ago. Americans seem to perpetuate the myth.

Now there are girls who dress up like strange, goth French maids and populate the Akihabara section of Tokyo. These girls "serve" the computer geeks in the electronic district. But Jessica didn't want to go there because the guidebook she had said they were in the Harajuku/Shibuya area.

Of course, they weren't. Was she disappointed? Hard to tell.

Our cousin Izumi met us there. Her husband, Keiji, has his office on Nekko Dori or Cat Street. Apparently, there are hundreds of cats who roam around this street. We didn't see a single one, though Izumi said she usually sees them.

We did see a really cute Pomeranian and a tiny Chihuahua.

At one point, Izumi went home to her husband.

We went to a nine-story mall that is the favorite place for Avril Lavigne and Mariah Carey to shop. It seemed to be the same stores — with different names — on each floor. And very loud.

For dinner, we went to place called Miss Saigon. It featured an autographed photo of the Japanese cast of the musical. I really think our Pho Vy is better. Kotoe had never eaten Vietnamese food before and liked it a lot.

Then Kotoe said she was going to take us to the Wal-mart of Japan. It was another multiple-floor store. But she is wrong. It was more like the Big Lots of Japan. There was barely any room to turn around in that place. It was close to 10 p.m., but it was filled with people. There was even a young mother with a little boy. Why wasn't he in bed?

We decided to head home.

While we were on the train, Kotoe realized that if she rode with us back to Kashiwa, she would miss the last train home. So with very careful instructions, Jessica and I made it back to the Shin Kashiwa station, where Ken-chan was waiting for us.

I love that man!