Letter from Portland

Toshikazu Saito, a 1993 graduate of the English Department, is working for the Itogumi Branch in Portland, Oregon. He sent us an E-Mail letter informing us about Portland and his life there.

Hi, there!
My wife, a 1992 graduate of SU Women's Junior College Culture Studies Course, and our son, who was born here in Portland last year, live in the city of Beaverton about 15 kilometers west of Portland and enjoy life here.

I have been working at Itogumi's Poland office since October 1997. Its main business is construction consulting. One of the larger projects we are now participating in is the Hyatt Regency Bellevue in Bellevue, Washington. Our office also exports lumber to Japan and serves as the Sapporo Information Center in the Pacific coast area. We especially watch the Portland city and Oregon state economics and report valuable economic information to the city of Sapporo.

Well, Portland is in the northwestern part of United States of America.It is at the same latitude as Wakkanai, Hokkaido. The weather is similar, but Portland doesnﾕt get as much snow, just once or twice a winter.

The cherry blossoms come out in March.The roses bloom in June, during the Rose festival. Portland is called the city of roses.

As you may know, Portland is Sapporoﾕs American sister-city. This year both cities will celebrate their 40th anniversary. Portlandﾕs celebration will take place in June, and Sapporo will celebrate in September.

Beaverton is also the home of NIKE. INTEL, the largest computer chip maker, is located in nearby Hillsboro. Many of the large Japanese electric companies have plants here in Oregon, such as NEC, HITACHI, FUJITSU, EPSON, and TOSHIBA.

From Portland International Airport (PDX), there are several direct flights to Japan. Currently Delta Airlines flies a daily non-stop to Narita, Nagoya, and Fukuoka. Delta has plans to add another daily direct flight to Osaka in June 1999, but it may be postponed due to the Asian Economic Crisis.

Oregon state voters passed the Assisted Suicide Law in November 1997. Oregon is the only place in the world where the very ill can legally receive a lethal dose of a prescription. Twenty-three patients received lethal prescriptions, 15 used lethal prescriptions to die, 6 died from their terminal illness, 2 were still living as of Jan.1,1999.

I hope you will let us know when you come to Portland.

Waiting for your Email

Toshikazu Saito