My interest in Japan initially stemmed from my passion for food. After having read a book entitled Tsukiji, I became fascinated with the notion of Japanese food and food culture. I wanted to see how people ate, what they ate, with whom they ate, what they valued in a meal, what sorts of ingredients carried special weight, etc. By some twist of fate and fortune, I was selected as one of the four 2007 Kawamura Fellows.

The other three fellows were the ideal travel companions, and I could not have picked a better group of people with whom to share this singular experience. They were hilarious, compassionate, sensitive, energetic, and adventuresome; I thank the Fellowship for having introduced me to these lifelong friends. Although we did not attend the Fuzoku kindergarten together, I know that our paths are henceforth inextricably linked.

In coming to Japan, I had no idea what the Kawamura Fellowship had in store for us. I had met previous fellows who had all said that the Fellowship was one of the best experiences of their lives, but I still didn’t know what that meant. And then, at the very beginning of the program, we went to Awashima for the 20th anniversary celebration of the Fellowship. I was utterly amazed by how many people—Fellows, politicians, professors, host families, doctors, distinguished business people, journalists—had come from far and farther to celebrate 20 years of the Kawamura Visiting Fellowship Program. During conversations with and speeches from twenty years of Fellows, I began to realize that the Kawamura Fellowship isn’t a summer in Japan—rather, it’s the beginning of a lifelong relationship.