Noriko Inoue Ishiguro attended Niles high schools’ 50th reunion Saturday in Lincolnshire, likely winning any contests of who traveled the farthest for the event.
Ishiguro, a foreign exchange student who attended Niles East High School in 1965, came from her home in Japan for the reunion of Niles East, Niles West and Niles North high schools, which was held this year at Viper Alley in Lincolnshire.
“I’m so happy to be back. It’s so great,” Ishiguro said. “I enjoyed my high school year. It was very different from Japan. It was a very wonderful experience and I cherish the memories.”
In 1964, Ishiguro stayed with host family Albert and Sue Arnstein of Skokie for the school year as part of a foreign exchange student program. She stayed until July of 1965, when she returned home to Japan. Ishiguro would become close with the couple’s daughters, Anne and Sandy Arnstein.
Fast forward 50 years and a friendship remains strong. Albert, Sue and Anne Arnstein passed away in the intervening years, but Sandy, a 1967 Niles East graduate who married 1965 Niles North graduate David Jack Zeller, has stayed close with Ishiguro. Back in the U.S. for her eighth visit since first coming as an exchange student, Ishiguro was a hit at the reunion.
“I think she’s a rock star,” said Donna Herwitt Gutman of Chicago, a 1965 Niles East alumna.
For Niles East’s 1964 homecoming festivities, Ishiguro made tissue cherry blossoms for a parade float and also attended the homecoming dance. Ishiguro also wore a kimono while performing a Japanese dance in the school’s variety show.
“I thought it was outstanding,” said Sharon Siegel Kuhn of Wheeling, of the performance.
Steve Weiss, a classmate of Ishiguro’s who now lives in Tucson, Ariz., recalled serving in student council together.
Since the 1960s, the friendship between Sandy Zeller and Ishiguro has continued. They said they wore the same dress at their weddings, and keep in touch via email. Zeller said it’s been 12 years since Ishiguro last visited the U.S.
“There are no words,” said Sandy Zeller at the reunion. “I keep pinching myself, I am like, speechless!”
Zeller was a Niles East sophomore when Ishiguro arrived.
“She’s like my sister,” Zeller said of Ishiguro. “Even though we’re over 6,000 miles apart, it doesn’t matter. Every time she comes, it’s like we’re back in high school.”
The two recently took photos in front of the Sandy’s former Skokie home at Lowell Avenue and Keeney Street. The ranch-style residence is where Ishiguro saw snow for the first time at age 16.
“Where I lived, it was very warm in the southern part of Japan and it never snows there,” Ishiguro said. “And then I saw the snow, and I got so excited that I made a snowball and put it in the freezer.”
Ishiguro still wears her Niles East Trojans sweatshirt. She fondly recalls hairspray bouffant coiffures and the 1960s music of the Beach Boys and The Brothers Four.
“I truly think of Noriko as my sister and as my friend,” Zeller said. “We kind of pick up where we left off.”
“It is so wonderful to come back here to celebrate,” Ishiguro agreed. “I am so grateful they invited me.”
Karie Angell Luc is a freelance reporter for the Pioneer Press.
