When I first came to Japan 20 years ago I had no idea where I wanted to go. That's not quite true. I wanted to go to Kyoto, but beyond that I didn't have any thing in mind and so how I ended up in Okazaki was a bit of a random chance.
I remember when I went to the interview for the company that brought me over to Japan. After I passed the interview, the recruiter asked me where I wanted to go. This company had branches all over Japan site so my options were pretty wide-open. I told the recruiter immediately "Kyoto". He smiled and responded, "You can't go to Kyoto. Everyone wants to go to Kyoto. Maybe if you stay with our company for several years, you can request to transfer to Kyoto but as a new recruit no you can't go to Kyoto. Pick somewhere else."
But where else to go... I didn't have the foggiest idea. I told him well I don't want anywhere cold so don't send me to Hokkaido and I don't like big cities so don't send me to Tokyo or Osaka. I asked him to suggest a medium to small city that might give me a more authentic Japanese experience and not just a big city experience. He thought for a few minutes as he looked in a big file in front of him, presumably containing all the open positions he needed to fill. After a few minutes he looked back and said, "How about Okazaki?"
Okazaki. In historic circles Okazaki is a fairly famous name because Okazaki is where Tokugawa Ieyasu was born. Ieyasu is the third of the three great unifiers of Japan; he took over after Hideyoshi, the second of the three great unifiers, died, he managed to eliminate all remaining challenges to a centralized power and he took complete control of the country as Shogun in 1603. His family ruled the country until 1868. So from him Okazaki is a famous name, but I didn't know anything beyond that about the modern city.
So I asked my recruiter a few questions and he gave me some answers and then I agreed. So I went up to Okazaki. I started started my Japanese life there, eventually met my wife there and got married, and settled down and had kids. It became my adopted hometown.
That by itself might be an interesting story, but I'm sure it's not an especially uncommon one. Many foreigners move here for what is intended to be a temporary stay but end up making a life and staying here.
What is perhaps a bit unusual and the thing that puts the phrase I use for the title of this post—It's a small world after all—in my head is a series of strange coincidences that followed me moving here, two related to my adopted hometown and one related to my wife.
Image by Greg Montani from Pixabay
A few years into my stay here Okazaki I discovered that this city has an interesting connection to my hometown in America: Muncie, Indiana. In Muncie there is kind of a special school that is outside the public school system, Burris Laboratory School which is K-12. It accepts any local students who want to attend, but space is limited and so they have to apply well in advanced and are chosen by a lottery system. But it is also an academy for the smartest kids in the region. Kids from all over the state and nearby states who have very high test scores come there. There is also a healthy international population of extra smart kids.
Turns out Okazaki city has a relationship with Burris. Burris will send over students to Okazaki once or twice a year and Okazaki will send them off to one of the high schools in the city, at the same time some Okazaki students will go to Burris. I had no idea about this connection until a high school teacher at one of the schools that participates in this program became my student and he recognized the name "Muncie" when it randomly came up in conversation and told me about the program.
What are the odds? I end up in Okazaki pretty much randomly, and then it turns out that this city has a relationship with my hometown. Okazaki is not a large city, at about 350k. My hometown is even smaller, at 60k. What are the odds that these two cities, out of all the cities in America and Japan, would have a relationship?
I asked my recruiter about it several years later. I had left the company at this point; he was visiting Japan and we had gone out drinking together to catch up. I asked him if he had known that Okazaki had this relationship with Muncie when he suggested the city to me way back when. He was as surprised as I had been. He said it was just a city that needed a teacher and he had thought I might like it.
Temple Gate in Ashikaga Japan - By 竹太郎（taketarou） - 竹太郎（taketarou）, CC BY-SA 3.0
I try to visit America at least every year or two with my family. This isn't necessarily for me, but I think it's good for my kids to experience both places to meet their grandparents. One year on one of these trips we took a day trip to Chicago. Chicago is about a four-hour drive from my hometown so it is at least a day trip. Anyway, there's a Japanese grocery store in Chicago and my wife was curious so we stopped to check it out. In the supermarket I started a conversation with one of the Japanese men who I met in there. It turned out that he was living in America for a year. He had come over to work and a company in Lafayette, which is a city about a two hour drive from Chicago. If you like college basketball you may know the name as the city where Purdue is located.
So anyway, I got in conversation with him and it turns out that his hometown is Ashikaga, Tochigi. I was amazed by this because Ashikaga is right next to my wife's hometown. What are the odds I would be vacationing in America and randomly meet a guy in Chicago who happens to be from a town right next to my wife's hometown? It really is a small world after all.
A couple years ago before the pandemic hit, we were taking a trip to America again. This was during the school year but it was the only time we could arrange so we decided to go for it. However since it was during the school year and since we were staying a few weeks, my wife and I thought it might be a good idea to send my son to the local Japanese school for the two or three Saturdays that we would be there. My wife emailed the school and they were open to the idea so we arranged it.
The very first day he attended when we picked him up, my son was amazed that one of the girls in his class knew Okazaki well because her grandparents live there. He and she quickly became friends because of that and my son said they were talking about all their favorite places in Okazaki. He would have been in the first grade then so I'm not sure what favorite places first graders have, but there you go.
What are the odds, eh? Japanese expats from all over Japan who are living in Indiana for a year or three, and one of them happens to have family who lives in the same city that we do. I should have tracked down the girl's parents to ask where they were living in Indiana. Probably Muncie.
This one has happened several times where I've met people from cities in Indiana. It's not unusual at all for me to meet folks from Indiana here. That always seems strange because Indiana is not all that big.
This coincidence extends to Hive, as I've met several Hive folks from Indiana over the years.
Naw. I don't believe in supernatural mumbo-jumbo. These things were just coincidence. Small things probably led to making them more likely.
Regardless, it still is quite amazing to see these coincidences pop-up. It really is a small world after all! My mind is still blown by that Burris/Okazaki connection.
What do you think? Have you run into many coincidences like this in your life? Any you are willing to share? Let me know in the comments.
(Title graphic made by me in Photoshop from this image by Eiji Kikuta from Pixabay)
| David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. |
