BANZAI

Today, I went to my friend's sandwich shop to put upan advertisement for Kaiwa-USA. The owner of "What'sA SUB" is a Japanese American from Hawaii, and hiswife is Japanese. They look very happy running theirfamily business together.

I heard there are manyJapanese American gentlemen in Hawaii, and for them,it is pleasant to have a Japanese wife, and also,their parents are glad if their son has a Japanesewife. They say like "My son married to A REALJAPANESE!" (What is A REAL JAPANESE?)

I rememberedwhen I went to Hawaii to participate in our member'swedding ceremony last March, most of the guests wereJapanese American and Japanese from Japan. At theceremony, I was surprised that they looked Japanesebut they spoke English. I was also surprised that theysaid "BANZAI!" when they toasted. I heard that it wasa tradition in Japanese American in Hawaii's style ofcelebration. It was fun to say "BANZAI" at the weddingparty. I said "BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!"

We don't usethe word "BANZAI" very often in these days, but it isone of the good words in Japanese. Written in Chinesecharacter, BANZAI means ten thousand years old. At the wedding ceremony, everybody hopes for long life and happiness.