Updates day 7 & 8 - Sendai to Tokyo to Nagasaki
Wow, wow....continued wow!
Day 7 Tuesday, April 25
We leave Sendai (but will return on Friday) to make our way down to Ueno. Shinkansen #7, about 1.5 hours to the epicenter of Japan, Tokyo area. Tokyo is made up of so many bustling and busy areas all connected by train stations...thousands and thousands if not hundred of thousands of people all in different areas of Tokyo (like Uneo, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, etc)...its definitely not like the places we have been up in the North.
Smiles in front of Ueno station
We have this down time(lol..if you want to call it that) because our team is on it's way to Busan Korea and we not on the ship with them. So we wanted to do a couple things before we meet them in Nagasaki.
1) get some rest (sort of), meet with Yuki and Yukina Hatakeyama, who I mentioned in my previuos post. Yuki was a part of Pastor Talo Sataraka intern pastoral team back in 2010. Talo sent him to Hawaii to intern with Pastor Dominick Ka'aihue who was the campus pastor of New Hope Sand Island back then and then eventually planted New Hope Aloha Pau'ole in 2012. Yuki spent 2011 to 2013 with our church under the mentorship of Jerry Abdul our worship leader at that time and with Pastor Dom overseeing his development as an intern. There was a lot of learning for Yuki at that time in what being a pastor(servant) looks like. He could speak English but it was always is a work in progress because none of us spoke Japanese..lol. Jerry, along with all of us taught Yuki all kine pidgin words to bring back to Pastor Talo and Japan. It was a great season for us all with Yuki, he brought so much of Japan and the heart of Jesus to our family. In addition, if my memory serves me correctly, he met Yukina while in Hawaii and they just made 7 years married with 2 boys and a beautiful girl as a testament to good things always come out of Hawaii. We met them at a shopping center near Ueno Station and was so good to see them and fellowship with them. Hitomi and I felt that part of our mission/vacation time here was to make sure we ecnourage and bless the co-laborers of faith for Jesus in this country.
Japan is so hard of a place to minister to but Jesus has His own timetable. We will be visiting their church New Hope Saitama on Sunday afternoon and am excited to be with them. We got to pray for them and encourage them in what they are doing in partnership with the Lord and am looking forward to seeing the fruits already been grown by the Lord.
Yukina and Yuki (my big head was cut off(lol)
We go to say our alohas for now and and went to go check in to our hotel - APA hotel..1 of 5 within walking distrance from the train station..google maps gives me heart burn here..thank God we found it earlier when we arrived and dropped off our bags.
Had tonkatsu for dinner at this mom and pop style restaurant near a hotel (also hard to find..lol) and Hitomi got to try natto deep fried gyoza(still natto for me). She likes the real deal Natto better still yet. Was a great meal. Headed back to hotel to get some rest and prepare for our travel day on Wednesday and the next reason we were in Ueno.
Day 8 Wednesday, April 26
Got to sleep in a bit and grabbed a great breakfast from hotel lobby that was included - Oishi tottemo(very tasty). Made my own Nihon loco moco with tamago and arabiki (no gravy..lol).
check out my Japanese version of loco moco
Caught a train to Tokyo station to meet our hanai niece Marisa Asato. I have known her parents Teri and Rollins for over 25 years. My deceased wife Lori and Teri worked together for a long time and we became very close with a bunch of other families during those formative years. I literaly have known Marisa since she was a week old. She turns 21 in July. She has been living in Japan on her own since 2020, just when covid hit. She had a purpose and a plan to come to Japan and go to college, learn the language live the culture and grow up on her own..and almost 3 years later she has done that...although it has been a struggle as she shared..we expressed how proud we are of her and what she has accomplished here in her time in Japan. She is working through her next steps and learning to make adult decisions and choices even though some may not agree with her. We encouraged her and prayed with her on seeking the Lord in all that she is doing and trust in the decisions she is making and owning those decisions even if the outcome may not be as planned..its her life and her choice. Had a great lunch of Korean food (realized later that our ohana was in Korea today and we were joining them in spirit eating the culture food..lol). We were able to spend about 4 hours with her and was blessed to see this young adult lady that God has created her to be..love you Marisa. Gave her a big hug and hope to see her on Sunday at Yuki church as we invited her and her boyfriend Sage to come join us.
face timing with Brandi..lol
So our last port of call with the team is Nagasaki...approx 750 miles from Tokyo, a 7.5 hour train ride 1 way or a 2 hour flight...we chose the flight. This was my first domestic flight in Japan and Hitomi's 2nd. Not real sure what security and check in would be like so we decided to go about 3 hours early. Caught a train and then the Tokyo Monorail to Haneda. Did online check in and confirmed our flight when we got there...flying Solaseed (a commuter airline of ANA.) Security was smoother than butter...5 mins no issues..wow. So we just hung out and bought some airport food cause we would not get in to Nagasaki till about 10pm. Plane was like our interisland planes just longer. Flight time was about 2 hours and they serve beverages (including hot soup) on the flight. Got in to Nagasaki which is part of the Kyushu island and pretty close to the most southern point of Japan..we have now traveled from the North of Honshu to the South of Kyhushu...so shushu...lol.
Hitomi found this hotel called Omura Station Nagasaki Hotel, about a 15 minute cab ride and has communial baths (not onsen but furo (hot water) style and not crowded so got to do hot furo bath which would be our last and was really good (no free ice cream or ramen..lol). Looking forward to our day in Nagasaki, which is the 2nd location where the only 2 atomic bombs in world history to date has been used in war. Seeking God for His will and way in this place.
That's it for now...more to come.
Love you and thank you for the prayers and love.
Sean
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