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An elderly Japanese woman in a kimono holds a tray of cookies and a cup in a lush garden overlooking a village and a cemetery.

In the early ’80s, I lived in Okinawa, Japan. My dad, in the military, believed seeing the world would help my brother and me grow—and he was right. Being overseas gave us experiences most people never have. To immerse us in the culture, he moved us into a small Japanese neighborhood off base. We lived at the top of a huge hill in a cul-de-sac, overlooking part of a zoo and a cemetery. Between us and the monkey habitats ran thick, untamed jungle. We, the only American family in the neighborhood, explored it freely, ignoring warnings about snakes and leftover WWII mines. Our neighbors were warm and welcoming. Opposite us, an older couple tended a lush garden. The woman, Mama-san, invited us to help her whenever she could entice us with green tea and banana cookies. But her home overlooked the cemetery—a cemetery unlike any I had ever seen. See more

#japanese culture #garden #people

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