Natsuko Shibata, a Tokyo native, and Piyasena Perera, a Sri Lankan-American born in Los Angeles, met two decades ago in New York when they were both studying at Columbia University.
Natsuko was studying for a master's degree in Japanese-language pedagogy, while Piya (short for Piyasena) was a law student. They met through a mutual friend at a Christmas party, and started dating after Natsuko moved to Washington to write her Ph.D. dissertation at Georgetown University while Piya began working at a law firm in New York. Piya's sister happened to live in Washington at the time so he had a good excuse to see Natsuko whenever he visited his sister.
Their long-distance relationship continued more than four years until they were married in 1995. The couple moved to San Francisco, where Natsuko gave birth to two children — Fernanda Michiko, now 11, and Frederic Sho, 8. In 2002, when Frederic was 3 months old, they decided to come to Japan to live in Tokyo's Shibuya area, so that they would be close to Natsuko's parents. Today, Natsuko is a university lecturer and Piya is an American attorney.