Japanese Families and Homes->Meet the Hioki Family

      I was assigned to the Hioki family for my home-stay weekend in Gifu. Mitsuru Hioki , the father, works for a company which manufactures parts for Toyota. He enjoys playing tennis and exploring the internet in his free time. His wife Kazuyo, works part-time for Kai-cut a prestigious cutlery industry in Gifu. Their older son, Taka, is a sophomore in high school and had spent two weeks in Canada in a summer exchange program. The youngest son, Takeo, struggles with English at his jr. high school, and plays with “Lucky”, the friendly dog of the Hiokis. Kazuyo brought along her friend and neighbor, Akiko, who’s excellent English skills helped me survive with the Hiokis during my stay. Besides tutoring Takeo and helping him prepare for another rigorous and tedious English grammar test at his juku school, I was taken to the mall to shop for a “chochin” lamp and world soccer cup T-shirts. The residential neighborhood was quiet and clean. Taka shared with me that every quarter the families get together for a Sunday of cleaning. Families divide themselves into groups and divide responsibilities taking care of the shrubs and tree trimming, cleaning of ditches, mowing lawns, recycling etc.

      But the highlight of the stay with the Hioki was our tour to Takayama (2 hrs. from Gifu) a non-touristic old town also known as the “small Kyoto” where I spent a nice day visiting museums, temples and enjoying the festival, parade and floats that were giving an even more cheerful look to Takayama.