My sister lives in Kyoto, Japan. She's been there for 3 years as a researcher at the Institute of Liberal Arts, Doshisha University. Over the last three years I had made at least a dozen trips to Japan but they were almost invariably to either Tokyo or Osaka, and they were always business trips that lasted no more than three days. In fact the last time I'd met her was when she was en route from Paris to Tokyo and had stopped at New Delhi. We'd spent a couple of days together and that was it.
I've seen her only over Skype on the two occasions we connected. But other than that, we've been in our own worlds. I've grown the Asian business for my firm almost a hundred fold in the last six years as Regional Director for the APac region. Although I had set up regional headquarters in New Delhi, India, the last few years have seen me spending most of time in Hanoi, Vietnam where I have relocated because of a crisis in 2013. I had originally planned to be in Vietnam for no more than a few months but then one thing led to another.....
My name is Hjjer and her's sister is Halina. At 35, she's a few years younger than I am. We were very close growing up as our parents moved from town to city to metropolis; our youngest memories in Annecy, then to Avignon, later to Marseilles and a few other cities, till we finally ended up in Paris during my first year at the Γcole Normale Superieure.
While I worked towards my Masters degree in Paris, Halina finished school and decided to visit the Far East immediately after. She did odd jobs and worked her way through Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan. After she got back, she entered the Institut Catholique De Paris but didn't stay on beyond a year. She returned to Japan and for the next couple of years nobody knew what she was doing. We did however stay in touch via emails and so on, but only to say we were fine and life was good.
The years went by, I relocated to India, Halina returned to France, we all grew up.
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"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Narita International Airport. The local time is 1:45 in the afternoon and the temperature outside is 23 degrees centigrade.
For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Captain turns off the Fasten Seat Belt sign. This will indicate that we have parked at the gate and that it is safe for you to move about.
Please check around your seat for any personal belongings you may have brought on board with you and please use caution when opening the overhead bins, as heavy articles may have shifted around during the flight.
On behalf of Japan Airlines and the entire crew, I'd like to thank you for joining us on this trip and we are looking forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. Have a nice evening!"
It was the first Friday of June, and if I didn't catch any rain, this five day trip to Japan would be a pleasant experience; weather-wise, at least. I had decided to fly in just before the weekend so I could go and visit my sister. We had used WhatsApp to communicate my probable day of arrival because she refused to pick up her cellphone when I called. She may not have my number registered on her phone; or maybe she does and that's why she didn't pick up. Who knows with Halina?!
It was now almost six years that we hadn't met. After collecting my single piece of baggage at Narita airport, I found my way to the railway station and was just in time to catch the Narita Express departing for Tokyo at 14:46. Instead of heading all the way to Tokyo station I decided to get off at Shinagawa, and once again my luck held out. I got in at 4:10 pm and had just enough time to buy a ticket on the superfast bullet train, the Nozomi 239 Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen which left at 16:27.
A little over two hours later, we pulled in to platform 2 at Kyoto station. I exited and tried to call Halina on her cellphone but she didn't pick up. I was now getting worried thinking she may have forgotten about my planned visit and may have taken off for some other weekend destination. I knew her address so I stood at the taxi rank on the North side of the station for a few minutes before getting into a Yasaka cab.
As expected, the cabbie knew no English so I showed him the address on my mobile phone, which one of the office girls in Hanoi had helpfully translated into the Kanji script. "Hai, wakarimasu", he exclaimed as he handed back my mobile device. I sat back and relaxed, knowing that he had understood where the address was. Anticipating that it would be a twenty minute drive, I tried to call Halima again but received no response.
I knew that the last train back to Tokyo would be around 9:00 pm and had decided that if my sister was not at home, I would head back to the station and go back to Tokyo. I thought of calling my friend Jean Printemps at the Four Seasons and warning him that I may do a late check-in but decided to first get to Halina's house before figuring out my next course of action.
Twenty-five minutes later I was ringing the bell at the entrance to her house. It was a neat looking double storied house in Kyoto-shi Kamigyo-ku; I could see the dark wooden slanted roof beyond the white boundary wall, and a couple of windows on the top floor with the curtains drawn. I pushed the buzzer again and waited. Nothing happened for five minutes.
I sat down on a concrete ledge that lined the short 4-metre walkway from the street to the wooden entrance portal and contemplated my next steps. I pulled my cellphone out and started searching for Sean's number. As I tapped his name on the iPhone screen, I heard my name almost being screeched in the distance; a high piercing "Hjjjeeeer!" I looked up and saw her about 100 metres down the road, a bus disappearing past her beyond the bus stand. She was waving frantically and running down the middle of the empty street when I heard "Hello?" from my phone. I knew Sean had picked up but I quickly switched off the phone, pushed it into my pocket and started walking towards her.
There were shopping bags hanging from her forearm, a leather handbag strapped across her chest and over one shoulder, and she clutched a large brown paper bag in one arm. I picked up the pace as I now jogged towards her, worried about her still in the middle of the road, fearing that a mad Kyoto driver may come careening around the bend. I was now running towards my sister who was about twenty meters away. She wore a light top and a dark skirt, her dark hair flying behind her.
In a few seconds she was in my arms, as were the grocery bags and her handbag, all in one tangled mess between our chests. In the next 30 seconds she continued an uninterrupted free-flow monologue about why I hadn't called her and how long had I been waiting and why I didn't send her an email and how nice it was to see me and why I never come to Kyoto when I visit Japan.... We were still in the middle of the street when I heard a blaring honk and tyres screeching as I turned to see a No.59 "Ryoanji via Kinkakuji" stop 10 metres away from us.
I bowed towards the front of the light green coloured bus in apology and pulled my sister on to the footpath as a glaring bus driver continued past us. "Halina!" I said finally, "Where have you been? I've been trying to get through to you for the last 24 hours!" but then decided it was pointless. "Anyway, how are you? Its so wonderful to see you and be with you. Mon dieu, Γ§a fait si longtemps."
I took the large brown paper bag and the other grocery bags from her as we walked back to her house. She locked arms with me as we walked and continued her monologue. When we got to the entrance, she unlocked the door and I entered before her, placing the bags on the tatami matted floor four inches raised from the wooden base where shoes are removed and stored. I went back out and dragged in my suitcase, leaving it next to where I removed my shoes.
We talked, mostly her, non-stop for the next hour or so. She had gone out shopping for my dinner; of course she hadn't forgotten about my visit, how could I think that. She had been really really busy the last few months, enjoying her work tremendously, traveling to all parts of the country, mainly to small towns and villages. The professors were wonderful at the University. How was my work? Was I planning to go back to India? Why was I in Vietnam for so long? When do I plan to get married?
Then she busied herself in the open kitchen. I asked if she wanted help but she said to go and have a shower, freshen up, the bedroom upstairs had been readied for me, there was an ensuite bathroom and fresh towels were on the rack. How long was I staying for? Why don't I come back from Tokyo after my work was done, take a few days off. We can travel around for a few days. Or just hang out together. I kissed her on the cheek as she faced the kitchen sink, washing vegetables.
It was a 8 o'clock in the evening. I went up the wooden stairs in my socks, but left my suitcase down by the entrance. In twenty minutes I had showered and shaved, dried myself, and then realized I hadn't unpacked any clothes. In the wardrobe I found a Yukata which I donned over my briefs, tied the cloth belt around my waist and went down to the ground floor again. Halina was still at the kitchen but there was a bottle of red wine and a couple of glasses on the counter.