Various gatherings began before the start of the new year. First, we visited Mr. and Mrs. Shiokoshi's house. The Shiokoshis are very interesting; the husband is planning to retire early in 2008 and then study Chinese in Beijing. He has already enrolled at a language and culture university and will depart in September. The wife is an excellent cook, which I deeply admire. The Shiokoshis' home is the most refined Japanese household I've ever seen. It's not ostentatiously luxurious, but the room arrangements reveal the attention to detail by the female host, which I really like.