My specialty -- cramming lots of cars into a small space

ハワイの弟の家でその息子の１歳の誕生日パーティーがあった。７０人ぐらいで大騒ぎだった。

車も大勢で来たので、私が駐車係りになった。

亀清旅館の若旦那として沢山の車を狭い所で整理するのは慣れているけど、今回の作業でショックがあった。
車の大きさの違いではなく(確かにアメリカで馬鹿でかい車が多い！）、
そのショックはあるお客さんが「車を遠く置かないでください」と言った。ワンちゃんとか貴重品が入っていると思ったら、「鉄砲が入っているから」と。

私は亀清旅館でお客様の車を何千台直した中で「鉄砲がある」と一度も言われた事がない。

自分で言うのは変かもしれないけど、アメリカは変わっている国だな。

During our stay in Hawaii, my brother held a birthday bash for his 1-year old son. About 70 people showed up, and I was in charge of parking the cars.

Now, I do a lot of valet parking here at Kamesei Ryokan, so I am used to cramming lots of cars in a small space. But despite all of my experience, I still had a bit of culture shock.

Not because the cars were so big (why is it Americans like to drive big-ass cars so much?),
but because one guest requested his car to not be parked far away.

I thought maybe it was because he had a puppy or something valuable in it.

But no, it was because he had a rifle inside it.

For all the thousands of cars I've parked here at Kamesei, I've never once had to deal with one that has a gun it it.

I hate to say it, but America has some serious issues when it comes to guns.

写真は弟の家です。

鳥居の様な門。瓦。

これは日本じゃない。
ハワイ島のヒロ市です。

弟の家の県知佳が日系人だったそうです。中に骨董品の欄間もあって、尚且つハワイの代表のコアの木の内装。

兄弟で一人は日本の伝統的な温泉宿を守り、一人はハワイ島で日本的な家に住んでいる。

不思議なつながり。

This is a picture of my middle brother's house in Hilo.

A gate that looks like it's from a Shinto Shrine.
Traditional 'Kawara' roof tiles.

His house looks like it belongs in Japan, not Hawaii.

It turns out the architect is Japanese, and he infused the house with details from his home country. You should see the antique 'ranma' transoms in the master bedroom. All with ample touches of local koa woodwork.

One brother runs a traditional Japanese inn, the other lives in a house heavy with Japanese influence.

Strange coincidence, eh?