Ochazuke
My 2008 Year In Review
By Nao Gunji
Friday, January 16, 2009

Happy 2009. This is our first Ochazuke of the year, so I guess I should do something “new years-ish,” like new-year’s resolutions or a year in review. Since the Rafu con­ducted its own year in review on Jan. 1 and my resolutions are technically the same every year (read more, exercise more, eat well, not buying too many shoes, etc.), I would like to look back on my year 2008 and share that with our loyal readers. Here are some random things, which defined 2008 for me personally and professionally.

1. I got a new roommate (my husband) and moved to a new place. This is a permanent one, so I swore to myself not to get too worked up when he leaves the toilet seat up or makes the desk a temporary coat closet. Our cohabitation started in February in pouring rain, and soon, we made the humble one-bedroom apartment into our “home.” We had our first Christmas tree. As I suspected, the cohabitation comes with certain minor downsides. Sometimes, I just can’t wait for the precious “alone” time with my TV or book. But just like the wood floor of the apartment, which I adore, this cohabitation thing takes frequent TLC. With that Tender Loving Care, our life together shines and provides us not only a shelter, but also a strong sense of partnership.

2. Japanese businessman Kazuyoshi Miura was arrested in Saipan as he tried to pass through immigration control at the airport to take a flight home from a vacation. Miura had been convicted in Japan in 1994 of the murder of his wife, Kazumi Miura, but the verdict was overturned by the country’s high courts 10 years ago. Investigation of the 1981 shooting in downtown Los Angeles involved several Japanese Americans, including Jimmy Sakoda, who led the LAPD Asian Task Force at the time. Miura allegedly asked his then girlfriend to attack Kazumi at the New Otani Hotel in Little Tokyo a couple years before the shooting. Following over six months of legal hearings that took place in Saipan and Los Angeles, Miura was extradited to L.A. to face the murder conspiracy charge.

In the very early morning of Satur­day, Oct. 18. I received a text message from a friend of mine who works for a Japanese TV station. He and I often joked about the Japanese media frenzy on the Miura case. As we covered the hearings, we exchanged our analysis and prediction on where the case was heading. Growing up in Japan during the case’s initial media circus in the 80s, we both believed that Miura was guilty and hoped that the victim’s fam­ily would finally get the justice they’d waited for decades to attain. “Miura killed himself!” the words popped out from my cell phone. I jumped right out of the bed and sat in front of my computer. Surprised? Most definitely. I didn’t see this coming at all. I tried to come up with a reasonable explana­tion to his suicide. Maybe he saw that finally there was no way out. This time, he couldn’t get away. He would be in­carcerated in a foreign country for the rest of his life. Did that idea shake him to the core? Probably. Maybe suicide was his way of trying to control his fate. But nobody will have the answer. He’s gone, and the truth, which many had searched for such a long time, has disappeared as well. This case left such a bad taste in my mouth. Whether he was innocent or not, for either party, the system failed.

3. For this year’s Rafu graduation issue, I had an opportunity to interview a gay couple on the subject of same-sex marriage. The interview took place only days after the California Supreme Court’s historic 4 to 3 decision to recognize same sex couples’ right to marry. Although I was aware that many of our readers have been opposed to the decision and my job as a reporter is to remain objective, I couldn’t help be­ing excited about this historic change. I hoped that my interview would give some insight on same-sex marriage, put faces on the controversy. Peter and Michael were the ideal couple to help me do that. They were intelligent, fair-minded and inspiring. As we all know, California voters passed the Prop. 8 less than six months after the interview, and as of today, the state constitutional amendment limits marriage to between a man and woman. Let me say this though. We are granted the freedom to believe what we believe, live how we live. That’s our constitutional right. Under the same law, we are all equal. Our laws apply to all of us equally without exception. What marriage means to us should be determined individually, however, as long as law is involved in the process to bind two lives together, it has to be all equal, without exception.

4. Olympics!! I had neglected this world sporting event for years. As a kid, I enjoyed watching swimming, volleyball, track & field and gymnas­tics at the Olympics. I remember how a man with a jet pack came down from the sky during the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. Without VHS or Tivo, I sat in front of my family TV every night, screaming and jumping up and down from excite­ment. Matt Biondi—a three-time U.S. Olympic swimmer—was my favorite athlete. However, as I got older, for some reason, I stopped watching the Olympics. I vaguely remember Bar­celona and Nagano. So this summer, my husband and I got DVR on our Direct TV and psyched ourselves up for the event. He was dying to see the revival of the U.S. basketball Dream Team and being a swimmer, I wanted to cheer for Michael Phelps. And of course, we were both determined to see Bryan Clay win his well-deserved gold medal. Oh, what a great summer. So glorious. Although my Olympic fever got calmed down a bit after watching Phelps win his eighth gold medal, we had fun. From cynical newspaper reporters, we became hopeful believ­ers.

5. I’d never thought that I would strike wealth by being a reporter, but I wasn’t prepared for the possibility of my occupation itself disappear­ing. Newspapers are failing. We are downsizing, going online and feeling the urgent need to transform ourselves. I’m ashamed to say this, but I am not a newspaper subscriber, I get all of my news from radio and the Internet. So the transition didn’t come as a shock, but in a way, I’d always thought that newspapers’ position in the demo­cratic society was unshakable. It was this idea of journalism as a watchdog for the democracy that allured me to this occupation. I understand what is going on in the newspaper industry is only the reflection of our capital­ist economy, survival of the fittest principle. Hopefully, we will bounce back as the economy recovers and newspapers reestablish themselves in this overwhelming information society. I am excited about the possibilities and changes the situation presents, but it sure is a challenging time to be a newspaper reporter.

6. Three of my high school friends almost simultaneously got pregnant this year, and they are due in a month or so. The news is exciting enough, but it had a wonderful side effect of bringing six of us close again. We live in Los Angeles, Tokyo, Seattle and London, and for years, we’d lost contact. These days, we group-email each other a few times a week, and three of us have a blog to share our lives from different parts of the world. This Christmas, I had the privilege to be Auntie Nao and buy presents for three kids and three unborn babies. What a joy!

7. We lose lives while we gain new ones. My mother-in-law passed away in October. She’d battled cancer for three years. Although she was my mother-in-law for just one year, I was fortunate enough to get to know her for over five years prior to my marriage. Everybody who knew her would agree with me, she was such a charming lady. Even during her battle with cancer, she was so sweet, so funny that she made us laugh all the time. With her faith beside her, she remained the rock in the family despite her physical deteriora­tion. And witnessing her small body slowly losing its life in the last few hours was one of the most profound experiences I have ever had. We miss you dearly, Diane. Thank you for wel­coming me to the family, I never had a chance to tell you, but I’ve learned so much from you.

I wish you all an adventurous new year.
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Nao Gunji is the Rafu English Assistant Editor. She can be reached at ngunji@rafu.com Ochazuke is a staff-written column. The opinions expressed in this column are not neces­sarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.