An Angel in Fukuoka

A recent trip to Japan and Korea would go down the memory as one with the most unforgettable experiences one could ever imagine. Not only the rapid pace with which both these nations have progressed post second world war but also on many other fronts like the high human values, integrity, good food, cleanliness amongst many more. What I am about to narrate is perhaps one of the most surreal experience my wife and I had in a lovely city called Fukuoka in Kyushu island of Japan. 

We had a very busy start to the day, when we visited one of the most beautiful shrines located at an hour's distance from Fukuoka called Dazaifu Tenmangu shrine. This followed with more riveting shrines called Kushida and Tochoji within the city. It was almost afternoon and we reached a bus stop looking for a bus to visit the Ohori Park located in Fukuoka. It is a well known site for a beautiful lake where there are pretty gardens too! After waiting for about five minutes, a little uncertain about from which end of the bus stop to take a bus, we were struggling to read the route printed in Ja[anease, using the Google Translator. A petite girl who was very cute asked us where we wanted to go. It was a struggle to communicate as she could converse in Japanese only with just a word or two in English. She understood where we were headed and showed us the timing of the next  bus on the time table. After a while she pointed us to a building in the vicinity from where a subway train could be taken. She accompanied us and we thouht she is taking all the trouble to lead us to the train where we could save time too. We scanned the ticket reader and stepped on the platform. To our surprise she also followed and told us that she would be going to the stop after ours. We boarded the train and she sat next to my wife exchanging some notes through the mobile translator when we reached the destination. She also stepped out with us and tried to tell me something. She was telling me that the balance on my Suica Card( extensively used in all public transport and commercial outlets) was low! I too had noticed and I walked upto the charging machine before the exit to refill the card .We stepped out of the station and the girl still accompanied us while we walked towards the beautiful park which was now visible. She opened a bag that she was carrying and held out two donuts for us. We told her that it was not necessary but she said that she had more so she wanted to share with us. I asked her if she would like to join us for a cup of coffee and she beamed and agreed. We continued our small converation as we headed to the Starbucks outlet within the park. Her name was Yoko and she was twenty four years old and worked with a huge company in Japan. We had coffee together and I was wondering what made Yoko to go to this extent and act as if she was our daughter and kept us entertained with small conversation. She too was visiting Fukuoka and hailed from Aichi Prefecture. on Honshu island. She said that she enjoyed meeting us and for us this meeting was nothing short of ablessing in disguise. We then strolled along the lake together taking some pictures together.

We realized that she must have some thing on her agenda which she gave a skip to accompany us, with little in common among us. She was extremely loving and we exchanged our Instagram handles. We have been in touch since. 

Our meeting Yoko was not a chance meeting but God's way of telling that no matter where we go we don't need familiar faces to help us or even give company. I will highlight these great virtues that we encounterd on our most recent vist apart from highlighting other experineces. I wish Yoko a very happy life and success in all her pursuits. We were so fortunate to experience the generosity and love of the young Japanese girl, Yoko 

PS- A huge thanks to Yoko ! I will follow up with more posts on my other experiences