25 Years Ago!

From August 1999 through August 2001, I called Kushigata in Yamanashi, Japan my home. I was there on a Sister City exchange with Marshalltown, Iowa, spending my days teaching middle school, dropping into the local elementary schools, leading an adult evening class, and even working one-on-one with private students. Every classroom felt alive with newness, and through each lesson I found myself learning as much about Japanese culture as I was teaching English—this was a very special time in my life.

About ten years ago, Lisa and I returned to Kushigata so I could show her where I had lived and taught. It was a joy to walk those familiar streets together and share stories from my time there. Our son Sebastian, who was twelve at the time, did a homestay with a Japanese family for about ten days. He jumped right in—trying new foods, practicing his Japanese, and soaking up the culture. Both Lisa and Sebastian fell in love with Japan on that trip, and now, a decade later, we’re heading back again. This time, it’s not just a visit—it’s a full-blown cycling adventure.

I came to love the gentle rhythm of countryside life—the mist hanging over the rice fields at dawn, the way cherry blossoms carpeted the orchards in spring, the blazing red of the autumn Japanese maples, the clean white snow dusting the mountains surrounding the Kōfu Basin, and the hidden onsen towns tucked into forested valleys. Strangers greeted me with bows as easily as neighbors might wave in Iowa. That warmth, coupled with the elegant mystery of customs so different from my own, turned every outing into an adventure in discovery.

Since 2003, Kushigata has been part of Minami-Alps City, celebrated as Japan’s kingdom of fruit trees. Its orchards yield cherries, plums, peaches, grapes, pears, persimmons, kiwi, and apples throughout the seasons, and local farms still send bushels of fruit for jam-making and fresh markets alike. Wandering those groves, I imagined tasting each variety straight from the branch—and packing jars of jam to share back home.

The bond between Iowa and Yamanashi reaches back to 1960, when devastating typhoons damaged Yamanashi’s farms and Iowa communities sent relief supplies. The famous “Hog Lift” shipped 35 breeding hogs and thousands of bushels of corn across the Pacific, modernizing Japanese hog production and forging deep goodwill. In gratitude, Yamanashi gifted Iowa the Bronze Bell of Peace and Friendship, which stands today near the State Capitol in Des Moines. Since then, student exchanges, cultural delegations, and civic collaborations have kept that spirit of friendship alive for more than six decades. I was lucky enough to join an elaborate Japanese celebration for the 40-year reunion and spent the evening sharing a beer with Mrs. Vilsack—former Governor Tom Vilsack’s wife. To this day, I still tell people it was the fanciest party I ever attended!

On free weekends and afternoons, I’d venture out on my Schwinn Moab, heading for winding mountain roads. I traced river canyons, climbed to ridge-top shrines, and discovered hidden waterfalls—all while dreaming of returning someday for a full bicycle tour. Each pedal stroke revealed another slice of Yamanashi’s breathtaking scenery, and every hill I climbed etched itself into my memory.

Tomorrow, Lisa and I will drive to Minnesota, embark from MSP on Tuesday, and begin our own 1,600-mile, seven-week odyssey through those same hills and valleys. I’m eager to revisit old friends from Kushigata, taste the fruits of orchards we once admired from afar, and feel again the kindness of strangers. With Lisa by my side, that long-cherished daydream transforms into reality—and Japan’s mountains are calling us back.

Enjoy these photos from our trip 10 years ago and some of nature, my home, my trusty transportation, and a few others from yesteryear—just don’t judge the hair or my early-2000s fashion choices! Czytaj więcej