My nephew, my sister’s son, went online and found a bit of family history. It was the announcement of my parents’ engagement in an old New York Times. Violet Mary Schnyder was marrying Donald Lee Jarrell. The announcement talked about her father. He came from a small village in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. My father’s father was from New Jersey, but his family had been in the U.S. for such a long time that we don’t know when they came to America or what part of Europe they came from. The engagement was announced on June 21, 1949, but they didn’t get married until June 10, 1950. They had a long engagement!      (113 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

Doctor Yellow is in Nagoya now. I know a junior high school boy who is crazy about trains, and he told me a lot about this special yellow train. It is used to check the tracks and the overhead wires of the Shinkansen. It went from Tokyo to Hakata Station three times a month, but JR never told people the schedule. However, this boy knew it. Last year, he told me when it would come to Nagoya, but I was too busy to go to Nagoya Station to see it. He was disappointed when JR Tokai stopped running Doctor Yellow in January this year, but I think he is happy now. He can see it whenever he wants to at the SCMAGLEV and Railway Park, a train museum at the Kinjo Pier in Nagoya.   (134 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

The rainy season has started. It’s been raining in Nagoya since Tuesday. Before I go outside, I have to be careful to choose the right shoes. Most of my shoes are not waterproof, so if I step in a puddle, my feet get wet. That’s why I wear rain boots when I take the dog for a walk. However, I don’t like to wear rain boots all the time. They don’t look good, and they are not very good for driving. I live in the city, and I want to look a little more fashionable. When I go shopping or go out with my friends on a rainy day, I choose my most waterproof shoes, and I try not to step in puddles.  (123 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

I got a call on Monday afternoon from a friend who lives in Kagoshima Prefecture. He was in Nagoya and wanted to stop by to see me! I knew that he was planning to come to Nagoya this year, but this was very sudden. Luckily, my wife and I didn’t have any plans. We invited him over for dinner and spent the evening talking. We had a lot to talk about! The last time he came to Nagoya was 14 years ago. We have known him for 40 years, and he hasn’t changed. He is still a great person and a wonderful friend. There is one big difference, however. The last time I saw him, he had black hair, and my hair was brown. Now, our hair is white.    (129 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

Japanese Princess Kako, the second daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito, is in Brazil to celebrate 130 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. She is also traveling to many different cities to meet groups of Japanese-Brazilians. Although Brazil is on the other side of the world from Japan, more than 2.5 million Brazilians of Japanese descent live there. The first Japanese moved to Brazil in the early 1900s. At that time, Japan was poor, and Brazil needed people to work on coffee farms. Many more Japanese followed them. They hoped to make enough money to come back to Japan, but most couldn’t. They stayed in Brazil, and today, Brazil has the largest group of people of Japanese descent of any country in the world.  (125 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com