TOZAWA, Yamagata Pref. -- Cheerful laughter echoed through this snow-covered village in the Tohoku region one morning as a group of women sat down to chat over tea.
Soon Ho Otomo, a South Korean who married a villager in Tozawa, Yamagata Prefecture, poses in front of Koraikan, or Korea Hall, in the town."I saw an American speaking Japanese the other day and said to my husband, 'He speaks fluent Japanese even though he is a foreigner,' " one of the women says. "Then my husband said, 'You are a foreigner, too, aren't you?' " This triggers another burst of laughter from the women.