Circle Funerals

A few weeks ago, some of you may have seen that I (Sara) was heading off to Japan.

One of the reasons for the trip was to learn a little more about my great-grandfather, Seizo Ohno, who was born in Tokyo in the 1890s.

Although I'm only 1/8 Japanese, Japan has always been part of our family story. We knew some things about Seizo already. We knew he was born in Nihonbashi, that his father was a furniture dealer, that he came to England as a young man, married my great-grandmother and eventually became a British citizen. Beyond that, there were quite a few gaps.

Over the course of the trip we visited museums, libraries and places connected to the area where he was born. We spent time learning about Nihonbashi, looking into his father's furniture business and trying to piece together a little more of the world he would have experienced before he left Japan for England.

One of the things we wanted to do was stand on Nihonbashi Bridge, just in case it was a journey that he himself walked. We may never know for sure but it felt really special. The bridge that's there today opened in 1911 and we're not entirely sure when he left Japan.

I also knew before we went that spending that time with my mum, dad, sister and brother would be special. Life gets busy, people live in different places, children grow up, work takes over, and opportunities to spend that kind of time together don't come along very often. I know not everyone has the opportunity to do something like that with their family, which probably made me appreciate it even more.

The trip started with questions about a great-grandfather and I've come home feeling more connected to where part of our family story began, and very grateful to have shared the experience with my family.