This is a picture of our neighborhood, at the end of the block, of old Kanai-san's store. We are not sure how old he actually is. We are not sure exactly what the hours of his store are, but he can often be seen outside of the store watching for people walking their dogs and kids leaving the elementary school. The little road in front is a skinny but two-way bridge, which is off limits to vehicles every day from 1-4pm, which is when there are the most children walking home from school If an unsuspecting person missed the sign and tries to drive over the bridge, they will get their comeuppence from Mr. Kanai-san, in Japanese.
It took about six months before he would look us in the eye and nod a greeting to us in the road. One year into living in the neighborhood and a few delieveries of brownies and rice krispy treats later, he smiles and waves at us.
I am always comfortable to sen Nate over to the store for a treat. There are only a couple of each item, of all the few goods available, so I know he will not spend all of his allowance in that one spot. And Kanai-san will keep a couple of his favorite candy bars and reach one for him when he comes in.