Written by Today was our first full day in Nishiwaki. Our delegation convened this morning at city hall for an official meeting with the mayor and council of Nishiwaki, along with introduction of other special guests and city leaders.
We exchanged greetings, letters, and gifts. Mayor Kishi presented the city with a Kakejiku, which means “hanging picture” in English. It’s a beautiful, colorful banner (about five feet high) with a sun, bamboo, crane, pine… all happy images in Japan. The Crane also symbolizes long life.
After touring city hall, the city of Nishiwaki hosted us on a tour of a city history museum, an art museum, and their natural history museum (which includes a planetarium and an observatory with a 32″ telescope).
They also showed us some of their great parks, and other city facilities.
At lunch, I was deeply touched when Mayor Kishi himself brought out a birthday cake for my daughter Susie, who is celebrating her tenth birthday today. The whole delegation, and our Japanese hosts, sang happy birthday to Susie, and Susie characterized it as her best birthday ever. They also gave her some really cute gifts.
Evening was really fun. We joined another family to dine on Kobe beef and sukiyaki. The hosts are generous and gracious entertainers, and we had a wonderful time. They also made a cake for Susie, gave her a gift, and helped her and Cathy try on kimonos.
That’s awesome!
That’s so cool that the mayor personally brought out a cake for Susie! It sounds like the trip is a lot more fun than she expected! The pictures of mom and Susie in kimonos are adorable– great job!
Re: That’s awesome!
Before I’ve seen your comment, I thought to say exactly the same sentence… lol
Anyway, it was really nice of mayor to brought birthday care for Susie. She must be still very excited. Can’t wait to hear in person her comments about that day.
Yeah, and I also love the pictures of Cathy and Sue in kimonos. Susie is such an adorable kid!Cathy looks so elegant. May be we all need to start wearing kimonos in Renton? They look so fashion)hehe)
Thanks for all posts! Happy to know that you all are having great time!
Miss you guys…
~Anastasia~
Great pictures!
Glad to see they have a Renton-made plane *ahem* on display. Make sure to mail them a 737 model when you get home, Randy.
Wow, that looks like so much fun! I’m glad Susie had such a great birthday (witch is TODAY, BTW, not yesterday 🙂 That food looks SOOOOO good! I’m drooling! We need a good Japanese restaurant in Renton
Agreed! A traditional Japanese restaurant downtown would be fantastic. Sukiyaki sounds really good right now.
Thanks for the great photos, Randy. What a fun trip!
Give The “Bento Box” a Try
It use to be horrible… but the “Bento Box” in the Fred Meyer now (with new owners) has great tonkatsu and udon. No nigari sushi (just a few rolls) – but the teriyaki is quite authentic as well.
There’s the Japanese restauraunt in the “Great Wall’ as well – not quite Renton, but the sushi is grub.
The best sushi I’ve had outside Japan is “Sushi Moto” in Lynwood – worth the trip:
http://seattle.citysearch.com/profile/34937030/edmonds_wa/sushi_moto_japanese_restaurant.html
Beware, it can be closed on Mon and Tuesday.
There’s always the kind “Sushi Kunie” in Kent. Sweet guy! Worth the trip as well:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sushi-kuine-japanese-restaurant-kent
The man is a real jem.
Re: Give The “Bento Box” a Try
Thanks for the suggestions! I always figured Bento Box was just a standard teriyaki place, but I’ll have to give it a try.
Here’s another idea for a downtown restaurant: Korean BBQ. Blue Sushi in Bellevue is a Korean BBQ/sushi restaurant that’s one of my favorite restaurants of all time. The little Korean side dishes you get with the grilled-at-the-table dishes are fantastic.
Japan
Great photos, Randy! Thanks for sharing! Takes me back to my visit to Aomori province, at the northern part of Honshu, where my daughter taught in a small farming town for a year. Everyone was so gracious, especially the mayor, and gift giving was such an important part of every meeting. I stocked up on specially wrapped goodies from Elegant Gourmet (in Woodinville) so I always had something in my purse to present. Karaoke and socializing in the evening was big. Did Susie have any children wanting to touch her hair? One morning I accompanied Alexis and all of the first graders in town to the park to celebrate the cherry blossoms. Breathtaking! Tickled me when Alexis was sitting on a park bench, with her long blonde hair down (instead of up in a twist) and how the little girls all gathered around to play gently with her hair. How I miss the salmon onigiri from Family Plaza! That tasted so good at lunch. I wish Uwajimaya made it! Great memories. I’m so glad that Susie was able to go with you! You might see if someone can tell her how they celebrate Girls’ Day in Japan with the little dolls.
Elizabeth
Happy Birthday Susie
What a great way to spend your birthday! It looks like you had a happy birthday. The first photo should be a Toshiba advertisement!
Is this our sister city because it also has wet sidewalks? It looks like you guys are having a good time rain or shine.