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October 14th, 1971.  The year in which two people fresh from an arranged marriage moved to Japan, a strange and beautiful foreign land where they spent a year getting to know this fascinating country as well as each other.

October 14th, 2011.  Forty years later they returned, along with their grown up daughters to knock at the door of old memories as well create new ones.

1971

A young couple

Suvesh was going to embark on a post-doctorate fellowship to do research at the prestigious Tokyo Institute of Technology with Prof. Furuta. We arrived in Tokyo in the late evening at the end of autumn 1971 after a long flight from Kolkata. Fortunately we had two refuelling stops, first in Bangkok and then Hong Kong. The last stretch was longer and except for a pair of companion wing-lights blinking at the tips we were piercing through the darkness until Tokyo’s neon skyline came into view.   One of Prof. Furuta’s student, Ken Tomyama came to receive us at Haneda Airport and brought us to the hotel.  Looking through a window on the 10th floor Tokyo looked like a dazzling fairy land.  The next day, Ken and Professor Furuta took us to the tiny one room flat which became our home for a year.  Our initial reaction was shock.  Just one room!!!  It was a very steep learning curve but surprisingly it did not take long to feel completely at home in our little nest.

The year passed quickly. I completed my JSPS post-doctoral fellowship during which I published a paper on ‘Controllability’ of a class of Control Systems (stochastic non-linear) with Prof Furuta and presented at a conference in Nagoya, made friends at the institute and outside, and did enough of touristy travels in groups and as a couple.  What left an indelible mark was the kindness, friendship we received from everyone we came to know and even from strangers, such as the doctor who treated Indrani at his hospital without charging any fees because he appreciated that a post-doctorate fellow such as myself would not have much money.  This is what made all the difference to an inexperienced young couple.  It made our path so joyful.  Our honeymoon year could not have been better.

Sari and sakura

2011

We had been thinking how to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary and it seemed that the most natural thing to do was to go back to the place which gave us so much.  This time it was with a difference.  We wanted to take both our daughters to see the place where their parents started this journey together and with God’s grace have been travelling for last 40 years.

On this memory trip we first stayed for a few days at Imperial Hotel as a little bit of luxury to celebrate.  Forty years ago, a beer or coffee in the  Frank Lloyd-Wright designed lobby would have upset our monthly budget. Back then, we gazed at the opulence for free whenever we felt the need for the restroom while roaming in Ginza.  This time around, we were treated impeccably.  We were given flowers and fruits on arrival and then the high point came on the 14th October itself, when during dinner at the 17th floor restaurant the manager quietly brought a cake with ‘Happy Fortieth Anniversary’ written on the top, served coffee, and took our photo.

Our 40th wedding anniversary dinner

Tokyo and the places that we explored so many years ago are not the same.  The country has known great financial upheavals and natural calamities that they coped with in dignity.  But then in many ways it was like coming back to a dear place where we knew happiness, kindness, affection, learnt new things, and faced challenges. There were the same polite people ever ready to help a stranger, the seriously fashion conscious youth, and abundant use of surgical face masks on the streets.  Our two top priorities on this trip down memory lane was to see Prof. Furuta and visit that tiny one room flat we called home.  It was a delight to reconnect with Prof. Furuta. We conversed like friends – a significant change from back then.  On both sides, we felt this had been a terrific meeting – for him meeting an old student with his grown up family and for us to pay our respects to my sensei with the family.

Next up, we located the house we had lived in. The same straight up ladder like stair case, a small landing, the same type of aluminium framed sliding glass windows and the same little balcony on one side – I flashbacked to the sight of my young wife waiting at this balcony for me to return from ToKoDai.  Though things have changed all around the area the house stood exactly the same, as if to welcome us after all these years.

Revisiting our flat from forty years ago

The remaining schedules of our stay were left to the able hands of Tinni and Tatum. We became the followers, for they have picked up more about the ins and outs of Tokyo, Kyoto and Nara – thanks to the information highways non-existent forty years ago!  We thoroughly enjoyed going around exploring places, old and new, eating Japanese food, and shopping.  Nara & Kyoto were particularly as they hold so much Japanese heritage.

A family dinner in Tokyo

This trip was a special journey not because we wanted to celebrate our 40th  anniversary but because we did it with our daughters, without whom we are incomplete.  Being together was what made it the real celebration.  It was A fantasy trip that became real.