With my impending move to Aomori from Tokyo, I finally got a chance to see one of my oldest friends in Japan. Her name is Maki. I always called her Maki-Hime. She was one of the first people I got to know after moving to Japan. We both worked at the big Red and Yellow in Shibuya. Although she had transferred to different locations, she still kept in touch. She went to New Zealand for a short time. I remember receiving a letter from her (unfortunately I can't find it now). Anyway, it's now been 20 years since I first met her. She taught me my very first kanji characters - 真 (ma) and 己 (ki). Yep, the first kanji I learned to spell was her name - 真己. Well, I did know how to write the kanji for mountain (山) and river （川), but these were new kanji characters for me. She had spent the last couple of years living in Hawaii and learning the Hawaiian language and culture, so I thought I would give her a ukulele which I doubt I was ever going to learn how to play and it gave us the opportunity to meet before my move.
東京から青森引越しの時間が迫ったので、東京から離れる前に多分日本で一番古い友達になった人と終えた。彼女の名前は真己。僕がいつも真己姫で読んでました。僕が初めて日本に来たときに職場で仲良くになった。彼女が僕にいろんな漢字も教えてくれた。最初に学んだのは「真」と「己」だ。はい、彼女の名前の真己！！もちろんそれ以前に簡単な漢字「山」や「川」はかけたが、大人になって初めて覚えた漢字が真己だ！彼女もこの数年間（どのくらいの期間か分かりませんが）ハワイイにも生活してた。ハワイイ語とハワイイの文化を勉強してた。日本に戻ってしりましたが、中々会えることが出来なかった。僕が絶対弾けないウクレレを彼女にプレゼントしようと思って、やっと会える約束が出来た。彼女は三軒茶屋まで来てくれて、僕と僕の妻と一緒にランチを食べた。
Our first meeting in a long time but also our parting as I will be moving to Aomori.
久ぶりの再開なのに、お別れにもなるんだ！
After lunch, we went walking around the neighborhood. We stopped in at a novelty shop called Village Vanguard and were just being a little goofy.
ランチを食べたあと、三軒茶屋周辺を歩き回った。ここは三軒茶屋店のヴィレッジヴァンガード。
So, thank you Maki-Hime for being such a great friend and keeping in touch all these years. You have an open invitation to visit us in Aomori.
そして、真己姫にずーと友達といてくれてありがとう！今後も宜しくお願い致します。機会があればいつでも青森に遊びに来てね。
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