In a Japanese style banquet room, a big party began with the opening remarks by my brother-in-law at 6:30 p.m. on one Saturday in May. The place we gathered together was a Japanese inn in Akiu - located in the foot of Mt.Zao, approximately two hundred fifty miles North from Tokyo. The town was discovered as a good hot spring place more than fifteen hundreds years ago. This place is also the midpoint between Aomori - the town city of the guest of honor and Tokyo where many relatives live. Most attendees had already enjoyed soaking their bodies in the hot spring or the swimming pool and some of them wore “Yukata” - a Japanese summer Kimono.

As the first best wishes, the eldest sister dressed in formal Japanese Kimono celebrated her mother’s eighty eighth birthday. And then each of the three sisters carried a straw rice-bale to their mother and stacked them in front of her. The Kanji characters representing the eighty eight years of age consist of two Kanji characters, “rice” and “best wishes.”

The eldest daughter was concerned whether we should ask the guest of honor to make a speech or not, and the guest of honor even told me beforehand she felt her heart beat rapidly and was already nervous. However, once her youngest daughter placed a microphone in front of her, she looked back on her eighty eight years of life and made a short speech steadily: “I pulled up my stakes in Manchuria and brought back to Japan with four kids by the skin of my teeth. There were hard times during my fifty to seventy years.” …“She lost her two sons and husband.” … ”I however could come here getting help from many people. I really thank you for this big party. One thing to regret is that if only my husband could be here today.” She seemed to be in tears, and everyone was touched by her short but meaningful speech.

During the night, I remembered a Japanese popular science book on the study of genes. J.B.S. Haldane, a British physiologist, geneticist, and author of popular science books, showed the genetic link between hemophilia and color blindness in 1936. He estimated for the first time the rate of mutation of the human gene and worked out the effect of recurrent harmful mutations on a population. He is supposed to have remarked: 'I'd lay down my life for two brothers or eight cousins.”

My eighty eight year-old mother-in-law could see twenty two relatives comprising of seven second generations, thirteen third generations, and two fourth generations all at once, she enjoyed a dinner party and another party following the dinner with grandkids even late in the night. I wondered “Are all of the first generation’s genes here tonight?”, since I believe the thirteen third generations are more than enough to build one complete set of the gene.

For a moment, my mind was flipping through the biomedical books I have been reading lately for my new business. But, forgetting the science study, having a sake glass talking with relatives in a casual style was very memorable.