Day Trip to Zushi
 Starting in the back, going clockwise: Maria’s aunt Hiroko, her husband Masuda-san, Hiroko’s daughter Makiko holding Eidan, Maria holding Kai, Hiroko’s daughter Akiko holding her daughter Karin, Maria’s aunt-in-law Masako holding Makiko’s son Tatsuki
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Last Sunday we visited Maria’s relatives in Zushi, which is about a one hour train ride south of Tokyo. Maria’s grandparents owned a large piece of property there until sometime after World War II, where they raised 8 children (Maria’s father Tony was the oldest). Most of the property was split up and sold a long time ago, but Maria’s aunt Hiroko (Tony’s youngest sibling) still has a house there (where she lives with her husband, and daughter Akiko), and one of Maria’s uncles who recently passed away was next door (his wife Masako still lives there).
We spent the day at Hiroko’s house and at the nearby beach. It was a sunny day in the mid-60s – an amazingly warm day for early March and a great opportunity to spend some time at the beach. Hiroko’s other daughter Makiko came to visit, along with her son. As you can see in the pictures, the boys especially took to playing Makiko.
Everyone was impressed with the lunch Maria made – something most of them never had before – chili! (we brought a bunch of Shelby’s Texas Chili Mix with us from the US).
Akiko is the one I know best. That probably has something to do with the fact that she’s the only one who speaks English 
. She visited us when we lived in California, and we saw her on our two previous Japan trips as well. She’s a certified Japanese teacher – it’s too bad Zushi is so far away, as I could do with some lessons!
Our trip to Japan in 2004 started in Zushi. It was great to visit again – especially for Kai and Eidan, who got to play in the sand and spend some time with their Japanese cousins.
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Hello, I’m an American who happens to live in Zushi now 02/27/08. I have looked everywhere for a Japanese teacher close to my area. After doing a Google search I came accross your page and read about Akiko. Could you be so kind to forward my information to Akiko in the intrest of her teaching Japanese to me.
Thank you for you time.
Scott Snider