On our last couple of days in Japan, we didn’t take any major outings, as we had on each of the other days. Instead, we took some walks with our hosts, stocked up for our trip back to the U.S., and in general just relaxed and enjoyed time with our friends and marveled at the legendary and unceasing Japanese hospitality.

Ayaka, who’d already taught us some origami (or tried to), now demonstrated the art of towel folding to create various animal shapes. In turn, Dennis continued giving her some lessons in drawing certain animals.

The plan had been for us to go explore some major park, but when we drove to the parking lot, we discovered that there was absolutely no way to get in or park anywhere close, because of a huge rugby tournament in progress. So instead we ended up just taking a walk along a levee, by another park. In fact, we went back and did it again the next day.

On the following day, we veered down on a path through the woods and came upon a little pond that was playing host to a variety of birds. Kimberly, being an avid birder, was in hog heaven — or heron heaven, as the case may be.

What made it even better was that there were about a dozen men, fellow bird lovers, staked out beside the pond with fancy photographic equipment. At least a couple of them spoke some English, and were able to tell us (especially with Yukari to serve as translator) about their exploits. And they showed us some photos of the birds they’d seen earlier, but which we were a bit too late for.

Continuing our stroll, we spotted an RV — one of only two or three that we’ve glimpsed during all the time we’ve spent in Japan. Big vehicles are not much in demand here, so RVs seem quite rare; and the ones you do see are, like this one, compact.

That night we had one more dinner at home, finely catered by our excellent hostess Yukari. And we had one more attempt at playing shogi (Japanese chess) with no hope of learning it very well on this trip. Our time in Japan was, alas, coming to an end. And we would miss seeing the famous cherry blossoms that adorn the country in spring by a couple of weeks. Maybe next time.

3/4-5/2023