January 13, 2013, Red Cross Volunteers, 50 years

January 13, 2013
This is a picture of the Japanese Red Cross Language Service Volunteers.
They are my friends of youth. I will neveer forget the dsays I worked hard for the group and went to Israel.
We had the gathering of 50th year of finding  of the Volunteers.
I wanted to see the group but the invitation letter mentioned that the Empress may come to the occasion. But I doubted she would come to such a minor gathering.
I didn't know the site , so I called the restaurant in the morning where it was, but I could not get it quite well, so I felt I should check it with a map at the station, Hamamatsucho.
I was at the corner of World Trade Center Building, used to be the tallest building in Japan, to check which way I should go and look at the map of the area in front of the building, then some uniform and plain clothes policemen talking and walking as you see before an important person will come.
I walked toward them and found some others were looking for a back alley Italian restautrant smaller and simpler than any "Gakushoku"s in Japanese universities.
I went to the fifth floor of the building, a smaller elevator than most of the university elevators, can accomodate four or five.
I was happy to see my friends from youth. My life in youth was with Red Cross after International Boy Scouts/St. Joseph College life. Wew were told that Empress Michiko will be coming and we cannnot take pictures while sdhe is there plus the elevatores will be strictly used for her for three four mintues.
The gathering was standing buffet style though the empress and some had a place to sit and eat.
The whole meeting was to celebrate the finding of the Japanese Red Cross Volunteers and the founder Hashimoto Sensei's memorial remembrance with the president of the Red Cross Mr. Konoe and his with wife, Princess Mikasa talking about the impression of Hashimoto Sensei when he met her first.
Most of the time we were interested in meeting our friends of the days of youthy than the existence of the empress for two hours.
 It is very unusual atmosphere.  Our priority was never on her presence but on talk to people we had not met for years.
Here is the picture of people who went to Israel Paralympic, the wheelchair person is Mr. Tsunemi, who was the leader of the group and the founder of Edwin Jeans Company, a graduate of Meiji.
George T. O.