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My kind and generous hosts Taka and Hisako Harasawa (center
and right) with Hisako's friend and student, Humie (left)
at the entrance to the magnificent Nikko National Park.
Doctor Taka Harasawa is a pediatrician who works with severely
physically and emotional challenged children. Hisako speaks
a little English and I speak a little Japanese, and when
we had difficulty communicating, Taka helped. He writes
and speaks English very well. Humie also speaks English
well and was very helpful on this day when she joined us.
Hisako and me in front of her exquisite silk quilt with fabrics
dyed by another artist friend, Taketsune Kubota.
Fumiko Nozaki, Hisako Harasawa and Toshiko Kawasaki (left
to right). Toshiko, who is Hisako's friend and quilt assistant,
shared in caring for me. I stayed with her in her lovely home
in Tokyo for two nights in addition to the nights I spent
with the Harasawa's in Saitama, a suburb of Tokyo.
I was able to visit briefly with my old friend and host, Kyoko
Ishikawa, who I stayed with while I was in Japan in 2002.
It was a bittersweet reunion. It was so wonderful to see her
but also sad because we only had a few hours to visit with
each other after six years apart. Here we are standing in
front of my watercolor mandalas.
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