On the first day of my homestay I was asked if I liked sushi (raw fish on sweetened rice) because Yuko's mother was making katsuo (bonito). Katsuo is cooked on the outside but is still raw on the inside. I had already eaten sushi an number of times during my stay in Japan, so I told Yuko that I liked sushi very much. After Yuko told her mother I liked sushi, she told me that her mother would like to take me out to a sushi bar. I was suprised at the offer, but I said that I would like to go very much. Yuko called me after my homestay was over and asked if I could make it for supper on the 13th. I said sure and we agreed to meet at Shinagawa station. After we met, Yuko took me to the Prince Hotel where we met her mother, son, and daughter. The Prince Hotel is one of the best hotel chains in Japan--it is very exclusive and expensive. I was impressed at the location of our meal, but even more impressed by the sushi. Yuko asked me what I would like to try first and I asked for her suggestion. She said that starting with sashimi (just raw fish, no rice) would be a good idea. So I had two pieces each of maguro (tuna), hirame (flounder), and ebi (shrimp). They were all very good, especially the maguro. I had never seen maguro that looked like this--it was very dark red, not the usual pink color. I found out later that this is the best cut of maguro, only two kilograms of this are found in a 100 kilogram tuna! Along with the sashimi I had some excellent saki (rice wine) from Nigata prefecture, the distilled kind which is more potent than the normal saki. After the sashimi I had several other types of sushi, including tako (octopus). In the past I have found octopus to be tough, but what I had at the Prince Hotel was not tough at all and it tasted very good. During the meal, Yuko's father, Fujii-san (Mr. Fujii), joined us. I was introduced to him by Yuko because I had not met him during my homestay. He is a very nice man and he greeted me very warmly. After the introduction, Yuko informed me that her father is a senator in Japan. I was very impressed. Yuko's father then asked me if I would like any more sake. Since my flask was nearly empty I said yes. Yuko then said that her father wanted to know if I liked dry sake or non-dry sake. I said I would like some dry sake, so Yuko's father ordered some sake from the island of Shikoku. Again, it was excellent. Finally, after I had eaten all I could of the best sushi I'm likely ever to have we left the sushi bar and started to walk to the train station. I thanked Yuko, her father, and her mother for their hospitality and we said our goodbyes. I was very thankful to Yuko and her family for showing me their very generous hospitality, which went a great way to helping me feel better about Japan than I had felt less than a week ago.