ZHONG GUO REN

I got out of the airport at 5 and called Mrs. Nitta immediately from a phone box. I took the Keisei line to Nippori and then Yamanote to Shinjuku. It was an uneventful ride and around 7 I finally got to the hotel. I met with Atsushi briefly and he left me with his spare cell phone. After a quick change of clothes (nothing much, really, as I didn’t have my bags at the time), I called Nitta again and followed her instructions to take the Chuo line to Ochanomizu. We then went to a yakitori place by the YWCA.

There were many people, up to 20 or so, at the gathering. They were all there to celebrate Nitta’s retirement (that’s as much as I understood). All of them were once collegues or students of Mrs. Nitta and they exchanged Christmas gifts at the party, etc etc.

Afterwards, we walked to the station and some of them had to leave. The rest of us, including Mrs. Nitta, went to a coffee shop and talked for a bit. I think one of the women works as a social worker at a Children’s Home, while another teaches as some private school. There were 6 of us in total. I brought my camera along and took photos.

We finished at around 10:30. One of the women was going to Takadanobaba, so the two of us took the Chuo line together to Shinjuku.