Trip background

Flight of Friendship was organized by Sho Dozono, owner of Azumano Travel in Portland. He was born in Okayama, but moved to the States at an early age and has lived here ever since. In the 1980's he helped bring Fuji TV to Oregon to film "Oregon kara Ai" (From Oregon with Love), which was a huge hit in Japan. CA Alumni and classmate Janet Hoaglund was the translator on this project, and the Dozonos still fondly remember her!


Immediately after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, Sho and a few others decided to put together a goodwill trip to Japan, which was multi-purpose: show the Japanese that Americans care about them, do some volunteer work, show Americans that it's safe to visit Japan, and support the impacted economy. Within 24 hours of the notice in the media, I decided to join this trip, as I'd felt the need to do something tangible to help those in need in Japan. I was born in Osaka and lived in Kobe for 15 of my first 18 years, so I feel a strong affinity and connection to Japan and the people there. My last visit was exactly ten years ago, in May 2001, when my husband Bill and I vacationed there for three weeks.


About 70 people flew out of Portland on May 29. It was a diverse group--7 Muslim high school students, retired folks, businessmen and women, government and civic officials, a news reporter, families with teenagers, college age kids, etc. We came from Portland, Vancouver WA, Maryland, Florida, California, and Pendleton OR. The majority of folks have some connection to Japan--they were an exchange student years ago, were born and lived there, have Japanese relatives, have business ties, or just wanted to help people in distress. Quite a few of us speak Japanese, even if it's rusty!

An 'it's a small world' note: At the pre-trip meeting on May 25, I sat next to a woman who asked if I spoke Japanese. When I replied 'hai, shaberimasu', she also spoke to me in Japanese. Where did she learn the language? Judy Nicholson Jubb was a missionary kid (American Baptist) in Tokyo, born there, and went to ASIJ (American School in Japan), Class of 1968. Her 5th grade teacher was Nadine Hinchman. Mrs. Hinchman later moved to Kobe and taught at CA (Canadian Academy), where I took a class with her! Judy spent summers at Lake Nojiri, a missionary summer getaway. So did I!