She was born and raised in Japan, and though she's lived here most of her life now, she remains very Japanese in many ways. A really amazing person. Of all people to make slide down a hill in front of an audience! That little (ok, NOT little) incident happened back in 76. I tried to apologize for my little prank that went so, so wrong, but whenever I tried, she'd just go stone faced and silent. We could talk about anything else, but not "the hill".
We weren't paired together again in an opera for the next fifteen years, because she's about 14 inches shorter than I am, and directors rarely do that. But finally it happened, appropriately in the opera War And Peace. And as Tamaki and I stood together during a rehearsal on the set next to a big hill, I felt this little tug on my shirt sleeve. Looking up at me and gesturing toward the hill with the most enigmatic smile she said, "Adook, Tom. A hidu!"
