March 30, 2026
After breakfast, I caught up on some email and prepared the
gifts for the day.
Then we walked over to CityWalk to meet Maki and Yumi for
lunch.
Maki was our head translator. I always thought she was the
most beautiful girl on the project―and
the single guys agreed. They practically fell over themselves trying to date
her. However, she was from Kyoto, and her father was a famous artist. Kyoto is the old capital and the most traditional city in Japan.
Since most women were still entering into arranged marriages at the
time, we assumed she would be, too. (And she was.)
She was an amazing translator, who could do simultaneous
translations. (Very difficult in Japanese.)
Yuri was one of our other translators, and she still works
for USJ. It was fun to see her again.
We had agreed to meet at Hard Rock Café, so we walked over at
11:30 for lunch.
We got there a little early and looked for Maki. We didn’t
see her, so we took a table. Before long, we spotted her. I swear, this
woman has a painting hidden somewhere in her attic! She hasn’t changed a bit
since we first met her in 1998! For a woman with nearly grown children, she looks
amazingly young.
What a joy to see her again!
Soon, Yuri joined us.
We gave them our gifts, and both of them loved what we had
brought.
We enjoyed a wonderful lunch and a great conversation,
sharing lots of great memories. And many laughs.
Yuri had to get back to work, and we were sorry to see her
go. Unfortunately, we forget to take pictures with her. ☹
We stayed with Maki for a while longer. Then we asked the
waitress to take our photo.
Me with Larry and Maki
Then we walked over to the USJ Globe and took another photo.
Me with Larry and Maki
Maki had to leave, so we wandered around CityWalk for a bit
and checked out the USJ Studio Store, making notes of things we might want to
take back with us.
Back at the hotel, we rested and prepared for our dinner
appointment.
Toshi Komiyama was to arrive that afternoon, and Ayumi was
coming after work. She put in several hours, and left work around noon. Then
she took the shinkansen
from Nagoya to Osaka (about a 4-hour trip).
We met them for dinner in Lounge R in our hotel.
We had been given tickets for free drinks as one of the
perks of staying on the top floor. (One for each of us for each day.) Since we
don’t drink, we hadn’t used them. So, on this night, Toshi and Ayumi used them!
Ayumi liked her gifts very much. She wore the gold angel
earrings I had given her when she visited us last. These were very precious to
me, and they looked lovely on her. I was pleased to see her wearing them.
We had a nice, relaxed meal and caught up with both of them.
Loved seeing Ayumi again. Toshi was staying in Osaka to attend the USJ reunion
party with us, but Ayumi was leaving the next morning to return to Nagoya. She
planned to go back to work the next afternoon.
After dinner, we walked through the lobby, and Toshi made
friends with Minion Bob.
Toshi and his friend
So did we.
We sat and talked for a while longer, but they needed to go.
So, we said good-bye for now, and they went on their way.
The next day was the big celebration party, so we put
together all the things we had to take with us and got ready for bed. Such a
wonderful day spent with people we love.
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