Usually I eat lunch at home but today I decided to eat at 'Sobakiri Sukeroku'. The owner of the restaurant, Akira Kobayashi, is a former elementary school classmate. We’ve known each other for 53 years. We often chat about the good ol’ days while eating delicious soba and tempura. For the last 10 years, I’ve asked Akira to conduct a class on how to make homemade soba at KAI. Many of our former classmates are on KAI’s board of directors. I am happy that I can eat at my friend’s restaurant and that I can work with my childhood friends.