Merry Christmas!!

December, 2001

Dear friends;
It has already passed a year from the last message. There happened many things just in a year. On Feb. 6, 2001, Mitsu's father passed away by a sudden heart attack. He was 69 years old. Since he had been very healthy, nobody expected such a sudden death. We had to realize, "all things are in flux and nothing is permanent (諸行無常)".
Mitsu spent a busy year by traveling a lot. In March, he attended US-Japan Workshop on neutron scattering at Oak Ridge, TN. In June, he was in Crete, Greece, on the occasion of an international conference on relaxation in complex systems, followed by a short visit to Paris. In July, he attended Annual Meeting of American Crystallographic Association, Los Angels, CA. In Nov., he spent a week in Beijing on the occasion of Workshop on Research Reactor. In Dec., he was in Oaxaca, Mexico, for the 7th Pacific Polymer Conference.
These travels were timely enough to erase the sad memory from Mitsu. In Paris, he was relaxed to appreciate the paintings and sculptures in Museum Osley. Attractions at Universal Studio were exiting. Breezing air at famous ruins of the West, East, and the South inspired him to rediscover something new. Just as the old saying, i.e., learning new by visiting old. The progress of Beijing is just amazing. A large number of skyscrapers have been built just as bamboos after rain next to the Long Castle. China is now a rising dragon. On the other hand, time flows very slowly as it was in 2000 years ago in Oaxaca.
Mitsu is still in a maze (labyrinth) of life. It must be a long way to get out.
He and his family wish you all the best in 2002.
Best regards.
Mitsu and his family.