English home page

Kiyota gets married!

...but you've got to know how
he met his wife, Emy !

The fortunate accident The village where swordsmith Kiyota Jirokunietsu operates his forge — Shimizu, in Northern Wakayama prefecture — is anything but convenient. In a country where "konbini" (convenience stores) are more common than  traffic lights and train stations part of any landscape, Shimizu necessitates a 40-minutes drive to the nearest "konbini" and an hour to the nearest, if very local, train station. This situation requires Shimizuans to drive often to the city in search of food, books and human contact. Kiyota was thus in Iwade, at the foot of Wakayama's carpet of mountains, waiting at one of the last red lights before climbing back into isolation. As soon as the light turned green (or rather blue - "ao" - as they say over here, even though the color is very much the same as anywhere else under the sky), Kiyota did not quite right away hit the gas pedal as the car ahead of him seemed to hesitate. The one behind, however, did not hesitate and simply went foward to kiss Kiyota's rear bumper. A nice and very distressed woman came out of her car while letting out a flow of appologies and concerns. A quick look at each other's car, a quick exchange of visit cards and it was over for this brief but fortunate encounter. About a week later, the lady showed up in the depths of Shimizu to present her appologies once more and offer a little gift. The details of what followed shall be spared to the reader. Emy — the girl in this story — and Kiyota — the victim in this story — got married about a year later, in November 2007! For those among you looking for a soulmate, it is advised to place a sticker on your car that says "Bump into me, my love." Shimizu, May 2008

Emy and Hiroki Kiyota
November 2007