CELEBRATION OF LIFE -- MAY HE LIVE FOREVER

Rio Imamura; Sandy Brown; Asa Jonishi

Believe it or not, this is the only picture I took during the Celebration of Life dedicated to the memory of George Woodworth.  This shows Mr. Rio Imamura, intrepid blogger in the English language.  At his immediate left is Sandy Brown, looong time employee of Kyocera and still going strong.  To her left and with his head turned toward Mr. Imamura is the one and only Mr. Asa Jonishi, President emeritus of Kyocera America.  I was present and I was invited to deliver the opening blessing.  It was a very great honor to be there in the presence of the people whom I love and respect very much.  I had the joy of sitting next to Mr. Kasey Hasegawa at the same table as Mr. Shirai, both of whom were accompanied by their loving spouses.  I too was accompanied by Belle, my loving and caring spouse.  Directly In front of Sandy and Mr. Imamura sits Mr. Mike Kawamura, accompanied also by his spouse.
This quiet but respectful fraternal gathering is one that I, personally, will not forget.  I had to leave early because my spouse and I had to attend to putting our auto back in roadworthy condition before leaving for home, 100 miles away.  The battery and the motor decided to flip and flop in strange ways at the very moment that we arrived at the venue.  Since it was Saturday, we decided that it was better to be safe than sorry.
I think I have drawn your attention to Mr. Imamura's blog before, but just to be sure that I have done my duty, I give you the information one more time.
http://riosloggers-riodan.blogspot.com/
Rio writes in clear, carefully crafted English.  He presents solid and interesting facts about a number of cultural aspects of Japan and other countries that he has visited.  While I was having lunch with Mssrs Shirai and Hasegawa, they were praising Rio's writing ability.  They were mentioning that he writes very well in Japanese also.  That is really a compliment.
It was a very pleasant and joyful experience.  It is reassuring that George will not be dead in the minds and hearts of those who know him for a very long time.  As it is said in some places, "The King is dead; long live the King."

WISDOM FROM THE EAST

The flowers are wisteria

INTRODUCTION
I have never lived in Japan.  Not physically.  I have have carried it in my heart and soul for many, many years now.  It all started when I took my first secular position in my adult life.  I was hired by Kyocera International [It's name back then].  This was a Japanese company founded in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori in Kyoto, Japan.  The company laid down its manufacturing roots in San Diego in the late 1960's/early 70's.  When I started to work for the company, Mr. Rio Imamura was the Director of Administrative Services.  Mr. George Woodworth was the "Personnel Manager."  [Pre-HR days]  George and I swiftly forged a lasting fraternal love relationship.  It was quite a couple.  He an Engine Room mechanic in the Navy and I a Missionary.  He had never lived in an off-shore country.  I had lived in Italy and the Philippines for fifteen years before landing on Mr. Inamori's doorstep.
You're perhaps going to think that this is strange but I guarantee you that it is true.  George had graduated from the Jesuit University in Milwaukee, Marquette and I had graduated from St. Thomas Pontifical University in Rome, Italy.  Here we were side by side in a very traditional, conservatively managed Japanese company.  The personality of the company was so spiritual, you could feel it.  Even with our religious institution backgrounds, and my long time international experience, George and I made tons of cultural errors.  Along the way, the Japanese leadership showed enormous patience and forbearance.  They were mostly gentle and generous.  Mr. Imamura was our main direct contact.  His English was practically flawless and his patience endless.  Slowly George and I acculturated and became very comfortable in our new surroundings.  Our paths diverged after five years.  This is one of two mistakes for which the Voice from the Kitchen [My Dear Belle] has never been able to quite forgive me.
Lately, thanks to the Internet, George, Mr. Imamura and I have come closer together once again.  I read every word of  http://riosloggers-riodan.blogspot.com and Mr. Imamura reads "365 Thoughts..."  and sometimes when he likes it, he forwards it to our other mutual friends.

THE POINT FROM THE NORI SNACK
This is a live link to yesterday's post

EHOU MAKI

Yesterday I wrote about the seaweed snack that our children loved so much as they were growing up.  I am happy to share Mr. Imamura's comment with you.  It is an insight into the spiritual connection that we all wish would exist among all the peoples of the earth.  It is my hope that you will take the opportunity to click on the link that is included in the comment.  


Paul, read your Japanese Sushi Roll article. 

February 2 - the coldest day of the year - per weather forecast.
The Japanese archipelago is frozen. Even southern Japan below zero in centigrade.
Just happens the end of the winter and spring starts from tomorrow per lunar calendar.

February 3 - 
Most of the Japanese eat long long Sushi Roll called  "Yahoo", oh no, called "E-haw". 
Sounds similar to Yahoo. 
I didn't know this tradition until I came home.  Northern tradition before perhaps but now seems prevailing all over Japan.  Someone's commercials.  I don't care much.
See the explanation at:
<http://www.justhungry.com/ehou-maki-lucky-long-sushi-roll-setsubun-no-hi>

Reminder.  Direction of eating.  This year you should eat facing North-North West to be a lucky person. 

Good luck, Paul.  

rio 

ALMOST THREE WEEKS LATER -- A CRY FROM THE GRAVE

This day begins the  era of endless silence for a voice that has been supporting me for thirty-four years.  The entire experience of this beginning is marked by the end of an era.  
It all began to come home to me when I decided  that to solve a small language question, I would email a Japanese friend of mine who follows this blog.  When I thought of doing this, I immediately realized that I had not heard from a long time supporter of mine for many days.  This fellow would send me at least 3, many times 5 or 6 emails per day.  They were the usual kinds of emails that people flood the ethersphere with these days.  Some I would open, some I wouldn't.  This pattern of his went on for over two years, so I could recognize the repeaters from the new ones.  So life went on.  When I thought of my Japanese friend, who also happens to be close to the emailing friend, I sent an email to the Emailer and said, "if you need help, tell me."  Then I emailed the fellow in Japan.  After that, since my curiosity was getting the better of me, I researched my email to see exactly how long it had been since the last email I had received from the once forgotten, now remembered emailing friend.  It turned up to be November 8.  Nearly three weeks.  I went about my business and kept checking my email to see what would happen.  Early this morning, it happened.  The mutual friend from Japan told me that George had died two days before.  
Now this is really the negative side of life in the fast lane.  A person who is present in my life every single day of the week, through more than one or two "pings" a day, disappears for 17 days and I don't notice the absence.  It is but through a coincidental mental connection that I even had the faint inkling of an irregularity.  It reminded me of when I shaved off the beard that I had carried for over one year.  It took a week before the first person made a remark about the fact that I was now clean shaven.  One week!  It is like information overload.  Or is it like an environmental habit, such as a "favorite" shrub that gets cut down from next to the main entry to your home and it takes a week or more to realize that there is a "hole" where the shrub used to be.  But this is a human friend.  Not just any, ordinary friend.  Read on...
I finally got some contact information.  His telephone number reached me.  I immediately called and the wife answered the telephone.  She had been seeking me for the entire three days.  She even went the fifteen miles to where she knew that I once lived full time.  She knows that my son lives there.  She got there, saw his vehicle in the driveway.  Knocked on the door a lot and got no response.  She finally went back home and found someone who could manage her husband's computer and was able to send me the telephone number by email.  We spoke for about an hour.  
Email is what you make of it.  It can be mechanical and it can be personal.  A continuous flow of it from the same source can become "white noise."  Like the stream behind your country home.  Or like the car radio that is on but not communicating because there are too many other claims on the driver's attention.  That's what happened to me.  It is too bad that the "Endless Silence" started early because my senses were someplace else.