we were talking in chat last night about stocking up on japanese supplies, then i read this story on reddit today

basically, a person living in california was worried about her grandmother in japan and posted a story about it on reddit. the granny lives in a very hilly area with lots of stairs and such, and it was difficult to get supplies

a couple living in japan read the story and decided to buy some stuff to bring to the grandmother. here is the story and a short photo essay (by the way, "californiasquirrel" is just the username of the person who asked for some help for her grandmother in japan):

the story


We [the couple living in japan] went out and bought a bunch of stuff - just some basics. Californiasquirrel sent me granny's address and we were set to go - almost.


We Boxed up the supplies with a letter to explain to granny that we were not there to rob her blind. Here's the letter.

Letter Text:
Hello Granny
We saw californiasquirrels (real name) message on the Internet at reddit.com
californiasquirrel was very worried about her granny.
We were moved by her message and we decided to buy these supplies and deliver them to you.
californiasquirrel was very happy to hear that we were going to buy the supplies and deliver them to you.
Please don't feel bad because it makes us feel good to help a stranger.
Please accept this from a gaijin and his Japanese wife.
Please ask someone in your family to contact your local government so you can get more help.
My name at reddit.com is OtisDElevator. My wifes name is Kumiko.
Take care granny (smiley-face)



Ringing the doorbell, we were a bit worried what might happen next. Would there be no answer? Was granny ok? Was it the right house?

After a minute or so, granny appeared at the door scoping the street to see who had rung her doorbell. She was a lovely grey haired old lady about 145cm tall, (4ft 9ins.) with a beautiful round face. She was wearing lots of warm clothes - it gets a bit chilly around sundown in Japan. While she looked around, she may have been puzzled by the strange couple looking very conspicuous mainly because of their efforts to loiter inconspicuously a little way up the street. Then she started to close the door! She didn't see the box!

My wife called to her in Japanese and the door opened. As we approached granny cautiosly closed the door a little. My wife mentioned grannys name and pointed to the box on the floor, next to the door. Granny opened the door a little more. "A present?" Then we explained about californiasquirrels message.

She was a little 'nani ga?' (what's that?) when we mentioned the Internet, so we decided to change tack and talk about the box. After being told what was in the box, granny became less alarmed and was getting rather enthusiastic. I was starting to well up at this point when I noticed that granny was leaning on the doorknob. Maybe she couldn't lift the box. Normally, I am usually chivalrous. It works wonders in Japan. But in this instance granny might have been very scared to have a huge foreigner go into her front hallway. I asked my wife to move the box just inside grannys door and come back out again.


With that granny gave polite bow and slowly closed her door.
It was over. We looked at the huge staircase at the end of grannys street, and then looked at each other. We didn't say anything for about five minutes.

I felt like crying.
It was one of the best feelings I've ever had.


End of his story.

here is a link to the images: https://imgur.com/a/DrZin

Aww, so nice

That's very kind Why is there even a staircase though? Poor Granny...