People

In my posts I’m going to be referring regularly to various Japanese people with hard-to-remember names, so I thought I’d list them here for easy reference.

Yusuke (first name)
Pronounced “YOU-SKE” as in “YOU SCAred me just then.”
Yusuke Hirano was the lead singer and guitarist of The Moment, the band I was in during the Tokyo years of the early 1990s. (One day I’ll try to get some of our old videos onto YouTube; stay tuned.) He now runs the ancient traditional cultural family tea shop here in Mihara, the fourth generation of his family to do so. It’s called Hiranoen, and you can see the site here.
Yusuke and his wife Yoko are the reason we came to live here in Mihara because they were good friends back in Tokyo and remain so now. In fact, when I think of it, they are among my oldest acquaintances. Yusuke has been super-helpful with our move to Japan, not least in coming to inspect the house while we were still in Australia and delivering a full report with photos.

Yoko
Pronounced “YOUR-KO” as in “YOUR COffee is ready.”
Yoko Hirano is Yusuke’s wife now and was his girlfriend back in the Tokyo days. She is really a lovely type, and she and Eleni are very much kindred spirits. Yoko has also been endlessly helpful, especially with sourcing second-hand things for our house and getting us up to speed on the best shops and supermarkets in the area. To this day, Yoko will often be referred to by her maiden name Ito Yoko, even by her husband.

Yusaku and Ayasa
Yusuke and Yoko have two children, Yusaku (boy, 9 = Felix’s age) and Ayasa (girl, 6). Yusaku and Felix have very similar temperaments and get on like a house on fire.

And here’s a photo of us out to dinner at the local okonomiyaki place.

Kobayashi-san
Mr. Kobayashi, a young guy in his late 30s with three kids, is the real estate agent who found us our wonderful house. He is a good friend of Yusuke’s and it turns out I have met him several times before, not least at Yusuke and Yoko’s wedding back in the 90s, although of course I don’t remember this at all. Although we are all good friends, I still don’t know his first name and even Yusuke prefers to use the nickname “Koba-chan” (interestingly this is the friendly diminutive normally reserved for girls, as in “Ruby-chan”—not sure how that works). Kobayashi-san took me skiing with his kids during the first week.