This album documents my first meeting as an adult with my Japanese uncle, as well as our "pilgrimage" back to our family's furusato in Wakayama. Though my mother is Japanese, I was only able to go to Japan twice while growing up, so once I started college, I took Japanese classes, became a major, and ended up going to Japan twice in two years to visit my mother's home country. I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to visit these places-- though I'm still decidedly an American, I feel a stronger connection to my mom, and to my own roots, because of my visits to Japan.

You can read a full-length article about my reconnecting with my uncle in the journal section of Discover Nikkei!