Japanese Families and Homes->Meet the Koishi Family

     I met Ai Koishi in February 2000 climbing up Mount Pilatos in Canton Luzern, Switzerland. I never thought that a few months later, I would be visiting her in Osaka, Japan. Ai, a former English major at the University of Osaka picked me up at shin Osaka station with her beautiful family. That was the beginning of an unforgettable weekend of adventures! Ai’s mom, Kikuko, is the best cook of Japanese food I have ever encountered!! besides sharing her cooking secrets with me, she was kind enough to teach me some Japanese rituals. Among them, the correct way to fold and unfold kimonos (which we practiced until almost 2:00 a.m.) To end the evening, Mrs. Koishi along with Ai and sister Yuki dressed me in a beautiful pink-silk kimono and matching obi (kimono belt) After Kikuko Koishi proudly showed me her valuable collection of kimonos (she owns several dozens!), she generously gave me the kimono I am wearing in the photo below as a gift. It had a significance for her as it was the same kimono she wore when my friend Ai was born and she wanted me to keep it.

      Kimihiko Koishi, Ai’s father, is also a very skillful man-who enjoys carving wood, making furniture and building log cabins. Hobbies he undertake when he is not working as an engineer for Hitache Zosen company. He showed me the various albums of photos of the beautiful cabin he was building in the forest in the outskirts of Osaka. The sweet Yuki, Ai’s younger sister, was not only inheriting her mom’s fine culinary skills, but also ready to graduate with a degree in business administration student. Both Yuki and Ai took me on my first “nude” experience at a community bath where I truly felt as a martian in another planet!! it felt quite strange being surrounded by over 60 ladies of all ages, shapes and volumes. We also spent the weekend visiting Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and enjoying an ancient religious festival which is recreated once a year and which happily coincided with my visit to the Koishis.