My grandpa is very, very interested in our genealogy. He's always showed me pictures of my great grandmother and grandfather, told me stories of how they came to Hawai`i, and even showed me our Koseki before! Since the passing of my grandpa's first cousin death in Japan, he was unable to contact them. While he did not know much about the family, he really wished he could have met them in person. Because of his health and age, he's unable to fly to Japan and meet them. For my grandpa, studying our genealogy and sharing it with me is a way to re-connect to our family ties in Japan. It all came magically to life when I was able to visit them in Japan. I'll never forget the experience I had. Miss Yoko Waki is a very, very generous lady from the Japanese Cultural Center that helps my grandpa with translation of our Koseki. She actually had the opportunity to meet my grandpa's first cousin in Japan right before he passed away. It just so happened, that she would be in Shizuoka a day I was free and that she was able to introduce me to my family. My family lives in a small town near the city of Shizuoka. I was really nervous to meet them, as I only thought I was going to meet one of my uncles. I had absolutely no knowledge that the entire family would be there, or if I even had cousins. I took my friend Cayli with me, because she speaks a little Japanese and my family in Shizuoka does not speak any english at all. Cayli and I took the shinkansen to Shizuoka and stayed at a very, very cute airbnb! the owners were super generous, cooked us an amazing breakfast and drove us to the train station the next day. We met Miss Yoko San at the train station and began our departure via taxi to my family's house! I was So So surprised to have an entire family great me: 2 grandmas, 3 grandpas, 1 uncle, 1 aunty, and 4 girl cousins that were ages 19-30! The first thing they said to us was "kawaiiii!" and Cayli and I were so shocked and confused!!! Because my cousins were unable to speak english, and Cayli and I were limited in our Japanese, it was difficult to converse with all of them. However, I got to know a little bit about my cousins and followed them on social media! The whole family walked to the grave where my ancestors were and they prepared an entire meal for us. Overall, it was one of the best experiences of my life!
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