So I Left Japan- Part II – The Goodbye Series

Today, July 31st, 2026, at about 5 pm JST, I left Japan. 

I knew this day would come, and despite my best efforts to number my days, this day has come too soon. If I’m being honest, this blog post is 100% selfish! 

Two years, 11 months, and 3 days ago on August 28th (or 29th), I arrived in Tokyo alone, not knowing a soul. Today, I left Tokyo alone on a Delta flight to Minneapolis, but it’s different. Today, I have three years of a life built, connections made, people loved, a career grown, and a self more known. 

PS: This series is also a letter to Tokyo, to myself, and to anyone who has ever shown up somewhere new not knowing a soul or gone down an unfamiliar path.

Over the course of the last year, I have been consciously processing my inevitable exit. For the post part of our lives, if we are conscious enough, we may take note of big firsts. But, we often miss our last moments. We miss them because we often assume that things will continue as they are. 

I’ve always known that my Japan contract had an end date, and so I lived with that consciousness. Numbering the days, savouring the experiences, and now I am writing about some of them to relieve them over and over again!  

My First and Last Time Golfing

Soon after I arrived in Tokyo, two of my colleagues took me to the driving range. Golf is big in Japan and a lot of my peer executives golf together on weekends. Well, I didn’t enjoy it, and I was not good at it and I did not return! But, I promised I would go golfing once before leaving Japan, and that required lessons, right? 

Well, I signed up for my team’s annual golf tournament in July 2026 and booked a last minute golf lesson at Tokyo American Club. As luck would have it, the teacher cancelled. What did I do? I ordered my outfit, gloves, visor, because a promise is a promise! I was still going. And even if my golfing was crap, I was gonna look the part on my first day ever at a golf course! 

So, I went. Picked up at 6:30 am. I planned to only golf the first 9 holes then relax and enjoy the course while the others slaved away.I told them not to score me, I was only there for the vibes and to fulfill a promise.  I got off to a terrible start. Whif, whif, whif! And almost flinging myself off with how hard I was trying to hit the ball. My colleague was a patient teacher! 

I played all 18 holes. I came 19/34, only lost 2 balls to a pond, and I was sore at the end of the day in places I didn’t know could get sore (no one told me about this part!). Guys, I’m considering going pro! 

The Doh-age (X3). 

You’ve seen it at football games on TV. The team wins and they throw the coach in the air. Do-age translates to throwing someone in the air. Well, I was thrown in the air not once, but thrice as part of my team’s celebration of the end of my time here and it is a thing here in Japan. 

The first time it happened I did not see it coming, thank goodness I was wearing pants. One minute someone was grabbing the back of my jeans and I was about to slap somebody! Next thing, I was being thrown in the air. The second time around though, at my team’s official farewell event, I knew it was coming. 

And the last time was at my final farewell event at work.  And yet, when I look back at those videos (and I have only like 50 times lol), I’m delighted that I would be honoured through this joyful spectacle and tradition. 

Core memory!

My last trip within Japan 

This last trip was to places that have been on my list for a while, 6 nights, 3 cities. Solo. Flights, buses, trains, taxis, and one ferry ride. Beppu, Kagoshima, and Miyakojima. 

With no one else’s itinerary to consider but mine, no conversations to fill the silence. Just me, my thoughts, and whatever I wanted to squeeze out of this Chapter. 

I will remember taking the bus from Oita (Hello Kitty city) airport to my hotel (actually 3 buses!!!) and questioning my life choices, only to accidentally stumble upon APU while I transferred buses. Hands down the most international place (with students from 98 countries) I have spent 6 minutes in Japan.  I will remember the views from the spectacular ANA Intercontinental lobby, and I will remember discovering Kabose juice, and my quirky happy, Beppu-trivia sharing happy go lucky grandpa taxi-driver, who replaced the grumpy one I had been paired with the previous day! I will remember seeing the onsens and just being so grateful to have made it there!

I will remember having no plans in Okinawa but rest and recovery. I remember meeting a big bearded black man with blonde locks at the center of his head, and he happened to be Nigerian. I will remember seeing that Miyako blue and realizing that Zanzibar has actual competition! I remember crossing the cool bridges and taking one last dip in the ocean (yes, the one where one big wave knocked me down, I flashed a boob, and my newly Japanese coast guard gifted  phone cover is the only reason my phone survived). 

I will remember sitting at the beach and being moved to tears with gratitude, Not for a smooth path, because only the closest know the depth of the challenges that came my way over the last three years, and yet, I leave filled with awe, gratitude, and pride for living this path with grace. I still struggle to find the adequate words, maybe it will come with time.  

My Thank You 

In Japan, when a colleague leaves a company, or even goes on parental leave, on their last day in the office they share small edible gifts with coworkers. As my exit date came I considered doing something to say thank you to colleagues. Work was so busy that I ALMOST backed out, but thanks to my colleague AO for helping me.

I rented out a restaurant and hosted my colleagues to a beautiful thank you dinner – Dee style! The Japanese chef even made a good attempt at jollof rice for one of the courses. Food, drinks and yes, I hired a DJ! Because is it really me if there isn’t music? 

The idea was to create an avenue for connection and interaction, to bring my colleagues into MY world after I had existed in theirs for three years. In a way that I would with my friends and family. Loud, warmth, care, and dancing. Very unJapanese! First, so many people said yes and showed up, there were 40 of us! At the end, I taught my colleagues a short routine, and we DANCED! Pile pile pile! This is a literal miracle!  Unforgettable!

My Last Pilates Class

In the midst of the craziest busiest week in Japan, I had to make it to one last pilates class with my instructor, Mei-san. I arrived half way through class, delayed by exit procedures at the bank. I got to move my body in the most stressful week, I got to say goodbye to a great instructor, share a small goodbye gift, and close this chapter with a promise to continue what I started.  

The Endless Shopping

If I can be completely honest, I did go a little crazy buying different items to mark my time in Japan. In my last post in this series, I will share some of the most significant gifts I bought at the end of my time. Remind me to share about my newly found obsession with dragonflies, their significance in Japan, and my shopping at Indenya!

Goodbye With Friends

I didn’t make a lot of friends in Japan, but I met a few good people. I got to have a goodbye lunch with my friends from Church at Lifehouse Tokyo. We broke bread, we laughed, we prayed, and it was lovely. 

On another night, I had dinner, drinks, and dancing with 3 lovely ladies I met in Tokyo. We ended up having a bible study over the last few years. The dancing part of the night was unexpected, as we got up to leave, we heard afrobeats thumping from the other part of Two Rooms, a restaurant in Omotesando. And so, we danced!!!

We don’t need a million friends, we just need a few good people!

My last day at the office

My last day at the office was Thursday, July 30th — the same day as my final dinner in Japan. July 30th carried more goodbyes than any day should. In all honesty, it was a chaotic day. I got to the office at 1pm and took 3 team members to one final lunch. I wanted a chance to meet with them face to face to thank them. While I have had several farewell events, knowing that these were my core team, I needed to make time to break bread and pour into them and thank them specifically one last time. It was a late Yakiniku lunch, but it was tasty and it was worth it. I got teary… again!

The rest of the day was with me clearing out my drawer, writing goodbye emails, and receiving gifts, goodbye visits, and giving final hugs. 

We took final team photos and after giving 4 or so speeches over the past month, I declined the opportunity for one last one as I knew I would absolutely lose it!

When I finally hit send on the goodbye email, the skies darkened and gave way to a crazy windy storm. One in which an umbrella was useless! It seemed as though the skies knew that we were saying goodbye. 

My Final Dinner In Tokyo

On a random day in September 2023, I met David in the elevator of my temporary apartment. David said hello first. We ran into each other 3 times within an hour and so he shared his business card. David and his wife Catherine would become my first friends in Tokyo, at a time I so desperately needed it. 

On July 30th, my final dinner in Japan was a Kaiseki Dinner at XEX Atago Greenhills with views of Tokyo’s skyline, and our temporary apartment building specifically in our view. We reminisced on our first days in Japan, the challenges we have faced navigating the culture and the workplace, moments we felt excluded, funny moments, heartwarming moments, anecdotes, the stories only Tokyo alumni can relate to,  how far we have come, and how we plan to move forward differently as we step into new individual eras. Mine in the US and Catherine’s last two years in Tokyo. 

Catherine generously paid for my meal, I gave her a goodbye gift, and she waited until I got into a taxi before walking home. 

My last bootcamp

I also arrived halfway through 7am Friday bootcamp at Tokyo American Club and you might say I’m a little crazy for going at all, and you aren’t wrong. But, routines ground me especially when life is anything but certain. So yes, on my last day in Japan, bootcamp kicked my butt one last time. When I apologized and told my instructor I was moving later in the day, she couldn’t believe that I made it. 

The two regular guys were there decked in TAC work out gear. Burpees, Bulgarian squats, planks, and everything I hate! In the end, I wasn’t too sad that I only made it for half the class. 

My Last Nail Appointment

In my first month in Japan, I stumbled upon an amazing nail artist in Nishiazabu, AJ. I have gone to her every month since then. The nail designs have gotten so many compliments, even from locals. My friends at Starbucks are often keen to see my latest designs. So, after bootcamp, the last errand I ran was to get my nails done, in my favourite design from two years ago. We chatted, took selfies, and said our goodbyes. I do not know how I will move forward to basic nails once this set is ready for a re-up! 

My Last Walk Through Haneda Airport

5 suitcases, and a one way ticket out of Japan. Decked in a made in Japan outfit, watch, shoes, and hat, I went through the residents lane in immigration one last time. This time, I had to tick the box that indicated that I would not return and the officer punched a hole in my residence card, making it invalid. Damn!!!

For once, I skipped duty free shopping, I wasn’t in the mood. Instead, I had one last bowl of ramen at the lounge, and a yuzu cocktail. I was leaving Japan, and not returning. 

Just before my gate, I bought a kids book set in Japan, for my future minion(s). My zone already boarded but I wasn’t in a rush to leave. But I had to go to my gate at some point. But before I boarded, I recorded one last bow!

The Final Bow

To all who arrive alone, or feel as though they travel alone, know this: You may arrive alone, but you do not walk alone. You carry the dreams and prayers of your ancestors, you carry the love and support of your friends and family, and you carry yourself. You may arrive alone, but what changes is who you are when you get there. And without knowing, so might the people you encounter on your path.

To Japan, to the people I’ve met here, to myself for saying yes to this adventurous challenge, to my friends and family, and to you who followed on this journey, and to God for keeping me. 

Thank you, thank you for my most refining life chapter. Arigato Gozaimasu.