You've probably heard the famous saying, 千里の道も一歩から (senri no michi mo ippo kara, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step), attributed to both 老子, Roshi, Laozi) and 孔子 (Kōshi, Confucius).

The Rosetta Stone that enabled me to take my personal thousand-mile journey, while also supplementing my Japanese language studies, was the old 国鉄時刻表 (Kokutetsu Jikoku-hyō, Japan National Railways timetable). And I was fortunate to have a very good 先生 (sensei, teacher) to help me decipher it. His name was Mr. Nagatoshi Maki.

When I arrived in Tokyo as an 18-year-old university sophomore in the autumn of 1966, the Maki family graciously hosted my home stay.