By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
“I’m just an ordinary guy,” said Consul General of Japan, Hirofumi Murabayashi. His father was a police officer in a rural town of Japan, and his mother was a stay-at-home mom.
Baseball was a favorite pastime when he was young, which he continued enjoying throughout his college years on organized community teams.
As a young man, another of his favorite pastimes was following all the superhero movies and television series he could take in. “I watched all the Godzilla movies,” said Murabayashi. He loved Japanese superheroes. Ultraman and Kamen Rider were his favorites.
The town he grew up in, Ise Mie, is well-known for its spiritual qualities as it hosts a significant shrine in the Shinto faith. The Japanese have practiced Shintoism dating back to prehistoric times.
As a young person, he began to develop a curiosity about the world beyond his native home. He leaped at the chance to be a foreign exchange student for two weeks with his destination being Southern California. The excursion was not without an added expense for his parents to pay, but they were glad to do so as they watched his enthusiasm for the possible visit to the US.
His home region had been very isolated from other nations and his pending trip to the US made him an honored individual. Because of this, he met with his town’s mayor and was asked to bear a letter from his mayor to the mayor of Santa Barbara, CA.
Upon his arrival to the US, he met with Santa Barbara’s mayor, to whom he delivered his first diplomatic document. In return he was asked to deliver a letter to his mayor when he returned to Japan. “This is when my dream to work internationally grew,” said Consul General.
It was not all work and no play while in the US. He and the other students were given a grand tour of the many delights found in Southern California including Disney Land.
His fascination and desire to work internationally was the driving force for his studies of English. He majored in English in his undergraduate training. While in college and researching his options for working internationally, he felt the best option for him would be as a diplomat. He attended graduate school in the US at MIT and Harvard.
Aurora, Consul General Murabayashi’s wife, was growing up on another island nation, enjoying her life filled with the flavor and colors of the Philippines. Her family was a little less ordinary, but she was looking for someone with a spirit of humility and this is what drew her to her husband.
After completing college, she took a job at the Japanese embassy in Manila. “I promised myself I wasn’t going to marry a foreigner,” shared Aurora. She turned down many requests for her attention from other international diplomats, that was until Hirofumi showed up.
“He would find ways to come ask for official things from me on a regular basis. My coworkers and I started to realize he was interested in me,” Aurora shared.
Their wedding was an elaborate affair with many dignitaries and other guests. For the first part of their marriage, while he was assigned to the embassy in Manila, they lived within her culture and her family was nearby.
Relocating to Japan was a culture shock for Mrs. Murabayashi “Our first home in Japan was so small. The dining room was the same room as the living room and served as the bedroom,” Aurora explained.
Living spaces for housing government staff in Japan are enduringly referred to as “rabbit houses” because they are so small. On weekends, tradition has it that the occupants of the complex come outside and tend to the yardwork.
Since her husband was a young professional with the Japanese State Department, his weekends often kept him at the office and Aurora picked up the gardening tools. She joined in with the others in keeping the gardens neat and attractive. As she immersed herself in Japanese culture, Aurora learned the art of Ikebana, which is a Japanese floral arrangement.
Moving to Japan was the first culture shock for Mrs. Murabayashi. After that, they were sent to many nations in his work as a diplomat.
At one point the family, which had grown to include a son and daughter, were in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the early 2000’s. “Aurora still has some shrapnel in her arm from a bombing,” shared Hirofumi. Shortly after the bombing incident, his wife and children were evacuated back to Japan while he remained working.
Together they have lived in the US cities of Portland, New York, Boston and now Houston. They arrived to fill the Counsul General position in Texas in November 2021. Since arriving, they have visited San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, South Padre Island and Galveston. So far, they are very much enjoying their time in Texas.
Aurora will be traveling to Canada soon for the birth of their second grandchild. Family is important to the couple and when they have a chance, they make time for their children. Their son lives in Japan with his wife and their first grandchild.
