Blast From the (Sort of) Past

Perhaps appropriately marking my halfway point in Japan, my parents and brother visited me this week and frolicked around Tokyo for a few days, courtesy of my dad's frequent-flier miles. I shoved as many must-see spots in three short days as possible, and in a sort of Jetsons-meet-the-Flintstones moment, my real family even came to Inzai to have dinner with my Japanese host parents.

Of course, I, the constant tourist struggling to learn the Japanese language through immersion, played the role of translator. Which really meant that everyone at dinner spent most of the time laughing -- at me.

Naw, it wasn't that bad. But Mr. and Mrs. Hirao were amazed at my younger brother's height and curly hair, as well as my family's ability to use chopsticks. Yes, host parents, we have chopsticks in the United States. If only I knew how to say that in Japanese.





And Mrs. Hirao even showed us all of her kimonos (a first for me, too), and let my mom try some of them on, including the most expensive one, which may cost about $8,000, if I interpreted that correctly.



We ate a bunch of sushi with our hands for dinner, and then oranges and tea afterward. Mr. Hirao gave my brother a Mercedes-Benz watch and my dad a Jaguar flask, and Mrs. Hirao meant to give my mom chopsticks but forgot. (I'll bring them home in April.) As gifts for my temporary parents, the Negrins brought Barack Obama T-shirts (he's pretty much Jesus here), an inauguration magazine and a box of chocolates (pretty much what Jesus would have eaten here).

I also took my parents on a grand walking tour around Ginza and to the Imperial Palace, Akihabara, Shibuya and Harajuku on the first day. We also visited Asakusa Shrine, a beautiful Buddhist area of worship that is precluded by a long street with what seems like hundreds of fun, cheap shops. I had been there in the summer, but apparently as springtime nears, they put pretty cherry blossom imitation flowers above all of the stores.





Also, I feel obligated to post these next two photographs. One is for my Obamabot friends, and the other is for you Final Fantasy freaks:





And finally, my brother tried Takoyaki (fried octopus in dough balls) for the first time. It was pretty epic. He spilled all over himself, but we actually got the tasty treats in Ginza for free, because the octopus chef felt that it was crucial that my brother try it. (Good thing I knew the Japanese word for "first time.") I think, all in all, my family had a very fun, if very brief, time in Tokyo.





As they left Japan, I readjusted back into my somewhat normal life on the other side of the world. The extended Hirao family came over Friday, which was great because I hadn't seen Kohei and his kids in a couple of weeks. I spent a lot of time talking and playing with Misto and Shoa (5 and 2 years old, respectively). Also, since I taught them how to "fist bump," they've become obsessed with it.

Interacting with them basically turned out to be a combination of boasting my conversational Japanese and performing elementary magic tricks that spooked the socks off of the kids -- and even Kohei.

In case anyone is worried about my job prospects in journalism, I think being a magician is a fall-back career I should seriously consider. At least, in Japan. I'm huge in Japan.