Where the East and West Meet

There is a place on the most southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Japan that couldn't be farther away from where I grew up in Northern California.

Yet moving there in 2010 with my military husband, two-year-old, and five-month-old after already traping all around the country with his career, I never felt more at home.

Sasebo, Japan in the Nagasaki Prefecture is the perfect mixture of east and west.

One moment you are winding around the mountain roads in your tiny Japanese car watching rice patties harvested by hand.

Another minute you reach the small city between the mountains where the expansive US Naval Base lies. Large ships, booming nightlife, and tourist attractions to entice any new sailor.

Driving away from the base in one direction, you find open jungle-like mountain ranges with breathtaking views of the 99 Islands that surround the harbor.

But if you were to go the other way, you would find perhaps one of the most beloved and curious oddities of Japan, Huis Ten Bosch. Part amusement park, part miniature Holland, and part Japanese mecca of technological wonders.

If the rows and rows of beautiful tulips don't invite you in the spring, then perhaps the robot-run hotel will the rest of the year-round.

But the beauty of Sasebo, Japan is more than just the stark contrast of east and west, all in one little mountain city; it is the chance to experience old Japan right alongside the modern world.

Unique Onsens dot the island. Some furnished by natural hot springs from the local active volcano, Azo; while others are man-made and mixed with your choice of herbs and aromatics.

Nagasaki is a short drive away where you can walk the busy streets or contemplate serenity and perhaps leave behind an origami crane at Peace Park, a memorial site of the WWII atomic bomb drop.

A short drive in another direction away from Sasebo, and you find yourself in Hirado, a small whaling port that is like stepping back into ancient Japan. Old castles stacking high to the sky, cobbled streets, and cheery blossom lined parks can leave one wondering if they accidentally stepped back in time while visiting this neighboring port town.

All of Japanese culture can be experienced on this one little tip on the bottom peninsula of Kyushu.

But more than the sights to see and the places to visit are the people. Never in my whole life had I felt more welcome, more at home at one of our naval stations.

Elderly ladies hurry up to us while walking the Ginza- and open air mall- to give my children candy from her purse. Neighbors share produce from their little balcony gardens with each other and spend one weekend a month cleaning up any public areas and parks in their neighborhoods.

My personal favorite was a retired gentleman who like to spend any afternoon he could in the Ginza waiting for children to get done with school. As they crossed his path, all in a neat line with colored hats to reflect their age group, he made each and every one of them a ballon animal to take home with them.

When it finally came time to leave Sasebo, I didn't want to go. In fact, I had more fears and culture shock about returning to America after getting used to such a wonderful, friendly, safe, and peaceful place!

Even today, ten years after leaving Japan, I still fell in my heart, that Sasebo was, and will always be, my true home.