In 1993, I visited Akashi, Japan, Vallejo's sister city. I traveled with the Vallejo Symphony to celebrate the 20th anniversary of our sister city friendship. Akashi subsidized the visit and it was a wonderful experience, being my first travel to Japan!
The orchestra played a memorable Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with a Japanese chorale. During my visit, I was an honored guest at the Yasunori household in Akashi. I had a wonderful time visiting our sister city and also visited nearby Kyoto, a beautiful and ancient city that is very sacred to the Japanese people.
This year (1998), I invited the family to visit and stay with me in Vallejo. Noriko-san (Mom) and Jun-san (Son) were able to visit me this time, with Shinichi-san (Dad) and Yu-san (Son) planning on a later visit.
Click on the pictures for captions and enlargements!
Noriko and Jun were able to stay a week with me. We visited many places, including Point Reyes and Muir Woods, walked on the Golden Gate Bridge and in San Francisco, traveled to Lake Tahoe and stayed at a beautiful, rustic cabin near Tahoe City, owned by an old family friend, Vernon Gross. We visited Emerald Bay and South Lake Tahoe.
Following their visit with me, Noriko and Jun visited another American friend, Arthur Buell, who is a librarian at Cal State Stanislaus, a state college near Turlock in the Central Valley. They visited Yosemite and the Monterey area before returning to Japan. Here are some more photos from their visit:
Visiting Squaw Valley and the Golden Gate
Godzilla attacks!