Written on 05 June 2023
By: Wima Brahmantya
One of the special guests at Manten Kopi yesterday was Mr Kenichi Takeyama - an official of the Japanese consulate in Surabaya. I actually didn't expect that he would be willing to come to De Karanganjar to accept my invitation. Because we did not know each other before.
At first I thought he was not present, because he was not in the VVIP row of seats. It turned out that he did not want to sit at the front, wanted to blend in, stand with ordinary visitors.
I finally got the chance to chat with him, albeit only for 10 minutes, because I had to share my time with other guests.
Takeyama-san is very fluent in Indonesian, although he still can't say "L". So when he says "Malang" he says "Ma-r-ang". Saying "travel" is "per-u-ja-ra-nan".
When I met Jaga Nusantara, I told him that Aga loves history, including Japanese history. His idol is Oda Nobunaga.
"Wow, Nobunaga is my ancestor", Takeyama-san said. It turns out that he is also from Nagoya, the same area where Nobunaga is from.
Aga was speechless, because she was able to meet the descendants of the military leader who first (almost) succeeded in unifying Japan in the XV century.
I hope his presence in Blitar can open up any opportunities for cooperation between Blitar and Japan.
Takeyama-san also bought a lot of coffee and koi sold at the Bumdesma tent. I also teased him:
"Japanese people buying Japanese fish?"
"Yes, I have a lot of ko-r-am at home..", Takeyama-san replied with a smile.
#mantenkopi #dekaranganjar #dekarjarkoffie #dekarjarkoffieplantage #konsulatjepang
