Back in 1994 I joined a group of Japa Vietnam for the first time. A group of Vietnamese young volunteers was waiting for us at Tan Son Nhat airport. One by one, all of us rode to the mini hotel on the back of their motorbikes and I was frightened holding tightly the saddle. Mr. Yokoi came behind me, riding on a different motorbike, pressing freely the shutter of his camera, right and left. I got totally overtaken by the vitality of the Vietnamese.

During our visit to Cao Bang we were invited to a farmer's house near the border of China. It took us about 8 hours by car and the road had been so rough that I felt pain all over my body. We had supper under the light of lamps. They had killed some chicken to greet us and they offered us their homemade wine. I left the wine for the men in the group and managed with some tofu. It was indeed a strange feeling to eat tofu in that strange land a few km far from China.

Next day we paid a visit to some famous waterfalls. It was a glorious view and, as different from Japan's tourist landscape, the water flew naturally and the place was virgin land without any development projects. Down below the waterfalls the river flew naturally and most people in our group went down to the river to swim and play. They invited me several times to come and finally I agreed. But when I went into the stream I sunk under water so deeply that I thought I could not make it any more. Then, a strong Vietnamese doctor took me out with his hand and brought me to safety. Again, coming back to our car through the rice fields, my feet slipped and I twisted my ankle. Back in Cao Bang Dr. Lu gave me some good medicine. I felt ashamed thinking of the scarcity of medicines in the hospital.