Tadaima

 I am writing this email from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, getting ready for my first trip to Japan since 2019. The six year interval between 2019 and 2025 is the longest interval between my Japan trips since my first Japan trip, in the summer of 1994. On a recent trip back to Michigan, I found some pictures from that trip:

I was in the calligraphy club in my high school (Jonan Koko in Fukuoka). This is me with the club.

This is me with my goofy host father at the summit of Mt. Aso, the tallest mountain on Kyushu (its also an active vocano). We took the cable car up, and I remember that my host father said "sometimes, the rope breaks, and everone dies." He was really funny (seriously).

This is me with my beloved host mom, the late Reiko Nejime. She was truly a wonderful, sweet, very loving woman. I wish that I could see her on this trip.

That is me with my volleyball team. There was an all school field day, and we were on one of our class's two all boys volleyball teams. The guy in the blue hat was an exchange student from Australia. We lost both of our games.

Because domestic travel around Japan is really difficult with large bags, I am doing this trip with only carry on (I am going to be in Tokyo, but also in Akita Prefecture, way up north). Here are all of the bags that I am bringing. I consider this a championship level of baggage for a three week trip: