Magnetized Love - A Union of Opposites

Hana Mizuki met Reiji Matsui in 1994 when she saved enough money from her eclectic business ideas and projects to tour Japan for a year. She grew up in Jamestown, California - a suburban city determined to defy the wheel of time and be a living testament to colonial, vintage townscapes.

It was a small town with not much to do besides reminisce and live like she was still in in the 1950's era. For a blooming, beautiful, and aspiring Japanese-American young adult woman - that wasn't exactly the kind of life she wanted. She wanted to be an actress, and learned how to be a triple threat (acting, singing, and dancing) in her youth, but she wanted to travel Japan before starting her search for a producer to sign her on to stardom first. She was raised very American and only learned enough Japan to ease the pains of tourism and asking how to navigate the tightly woven skyscraping cities and engage in simple, basic conversations with the locals.

"When I saw him standing there, dressed in naval military's finest threads and eyes bluer than the Pacific ocean - I was already conquered and smitten."

She wasn't much of a drinker, but friends she traveled with raved about a jazz bar in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi, Japan - Hana had to go see it. A perfect synonymity between her vintage upbringing and the modern pulse of a popular, city bar? She didn't bargain for what would come next: falling in love with a man who just completed and graduated from his training at the 1st Service School for the Japanese Naval Maritime Self-Defense operations.

Reiji Matsui was 24-years old and just completely his 4-year university training of naval academy to be part of different specialized operations that Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force undergo with other national naval forces. He was celebrating with his graduating class as they went out to Kindaijin, a quaint, lively jazz bar that would have the spirit and spirits they wanted to memorialize the evening.

“Ano hito dare? Nanka geinōjin mitai.”

→ [English translation: "Who is she? She looks like a celebrity."

She had to talk to him. Who else had such striking eyes of paradise, aged in his prime, tall, disciplined, and knew what he wanted in life?

Let's just say that year-long vacation became a permanent life change when she married him in 1995. With their combined savings, they bought a small farm in Nikko, Japan, a beautiful, national icon that was both magical and quiet while they built their life together.

Two years later, Hana gave birth to Tsukasa Matsui. December 1st, 2000, she birthed Caisen Matsui.

Nothing short of unconditional love, patience, and understanding kept such a polarized couple together and happy throughout the years of raising their two sons.