TOKYO: 30th October '04 --  Saturday 30th is a day being largely spent with the Salesian Sisters at their Provincial House at Akabane.  He had already met some of the FMA, members of the community at Chofu, yesterday.  In the evening Fr Chávez will go to the Salesian Community at Ikuei, the Salesian Polytechnic in Suginami (still in Tokyo).

    While with the Salesian community at Chofu, the Rector Major presented two special people with medals - a Salesian benefactor, Mr. Maeda Norihisa, who has assisted the Salesians over the past 30 years and who has recently donated a substantial sum towards Salesian formation, and Bro. Akabae Antonio Fumio from the community at Chofu.  The Bl. Artemides Zatti Medal was in recognition of the hard-working Brothers of the Japanese province.

    The celebrations of which these presentations were a part turned out to be a riot of culture and language: songs by the Vietnamese, a Czech song, the Rector Fr Mario Yamanouchi's speech in Spanish and Japanese (he grew up in Argentina), the Goodnight by the RM in Italian (translated by Fr Loropiano). 

    The message of the Goodnight revolved around a story of the time the Rector Major was visiting a Salesian Work in Italy, and a youngster, all prepared for the event probably by being told that the Rector Major was 'Don Bosco today' exclaimed that 'you don't look like Don Bosco...but you've got his heart, that's it isn't it?'.  Fr Chávez brings with him the heart and the smile of Don Bosco.