There is one important question for me concerning our association, or teaching of Japanese: Why do we teach Japanese? This question has begun to puzzle me, now that I am no longer a starving graduate student trying make ends meet by TA-ing Japanese classes. That was me at UBC, almost 30 years ago. My hypothetical answer is that I must be infected by a sickness called nostalgia for the mother tongue. Certainly many of us feel nostalgia for our past, or for a faraway home. But what is nostalgia for the mother tongue? And, what is a mother tongue? Let me define what a mother tongue is. It is a psychological realm where there are no mistakes, no errors, where you feel totally comfortable, where you are one with your mother, with your mother's kiss, your mother's softest tongue. In order to explain this further, I need help from my supporting characters, Tora-san, Murakami Haruki, Kobayashi Hideo, and other assorted characters, who are always trying to go home.