Faces of Japan

throughout my stay in Japan, i met so many friendly faces and made new friends in new places! i think Japanese people are relatively shy at first, but once they get to know you, they are a total open book. i am so happy to have shared my life there with such wonderful people around me :-D

cool guys in Harajuku

this is Chika. he is the staff at a store in Jiyugaoka

i remember he had a tongue ring. haha

Ayaka, Naomi, and Mai-chan

my buddy Koichi. we went on so many random adventures together!

he is my friend from Hawaii. we studied at the same university

and he lived in Hawaii for 6 years

Mai-chan's mama! i love her so much! she is so friendly and

funny! her and the family were extremely generous to me ♥

(she's sitting on a stepping stool in the super market, haha)

Hiki-san from Jollygoo blog!

(our bike riding adventure)

this is Nao. he is the owner of Flamingo bar/restaurant

near my apartment. i also made friends with his father,

his wife, and a regular customer named Mami!

they were all so nice to me!

Taka! my new friend who lived right next to me

this is Naoko. she is the friendly staff at a Italian

cafe/restaurant named "Fablic". the owner was also

a very friendly man who also has a car business in London!

my friend Yuka and her mom, Akemi!!

her mom was also very very funny and loving!

they took me to this izakaya called Shirokiya,

and after we went to karaoke. haha

me and Koichi with "No smoking in the boys room"

this is Lil' (he likes Lil' Wayne). him and his friend,

Suke', followed me in this record store because they saw

my tattoos and liked it... so they showed me theirs! haha

cool guitar man in Inokashira park

Monica and Mighty!

Zumi-chan, Monica's friend

this is Masako. she is the staff at Hauschka cafe

that i mentioned earlier. on my last day, i left her a little gift

of my houseplant to take care of and a box of french snacks... well later

she emailed me to thank me and also tell me that day was coincidentally

her birthday! so she was happy to find a birthday present from me

even though i did not know! haha

in her cafe, i also met a very friendly woman named Sumako.

i just received an email from her too saying that she moved to Penang!

my good friend Jimmy, from Hawaii,

and his sweet wife, Satsuki! drinking in Ebisu

this is Kenji and Asako. i met them when i went to eat

at their grilled fish restaurant in my neighborhood.

they were SO friendly, and told me that they are secretly dating. haha!

Eiki Mori! the photographer i

mentioned in the previous post.

Mai-chan and her kind boyfriend, Ta-chan!

donations in Ikebukuro

Jonte! he is so fabulous...

i mentioned meeting him here.

...i wanted to save this special picture till the end.

when i was in Asakusa with Yuka and her mom, we passed these

carriage carriers on the street, and i thought that they were just

so good looking that i had to go back and take a picture with them!!

hahah, just look at those smiles!.... and muscles ;-P

and a funny bunny man.

i feel so honored to have met and shared my time with these friendly faces. i definitely think that kindness is contagious, and Japan is full of that! i will never forget these smiles :-D