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Looking for youth friend

Kevin Lu

後輩
1 May 2020
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I go to Hokkaido Clubmed ski resorts on an annual basis around new year time. For new year of 2017, I briefly met this Japanese girl during a group skiing class. The next year (2018) we coincidentally met again, but this time we had more time to get to know each other. We had a really fun time together.
On my final day, I wanted to ask for her contacts, but she didn't show up in the afternoon session due to family reasons. She was also the introverted type and doesn't go to the resort's recreational areas, so I couldn't find her anywhere in the resort either. On the day I was leaving, I decided to try my luck again. I did manage to find her as she was skiing down the exit slope, but I didn't want to stop her or single her out. She didn't know that I was leaving, so she looked a bit confused as I waved her goodbye.
I let it go because I thought I could still meet her next year at the same resort. However, it's been 2 years and I still haven't seen her. The problem is that there are two Clubmed resorts in the region and her family goes to both. There is a 50/50 chance that I'll end up in a different place. I'm currently enrolled in a university and won't be able to try my luck every year anymore, and I might not recognize her if too many years pass.

I dug through hundreds of FB profiles and couldn't find her. I assume her social media presence is close to non-existent since she is the introvert type. I don't expect any of you to find her, but the fact that I'm here just shows how desperate I am.

First Name ~ Most likely "Anju", "Anzu" or other Japanese names with a similar English pronunciation. I don't know Japanese, so the way she prounced her name sounded like Andrew in English.
Last Name ~ Unknown
Family description: Has a younger brother. Mother is on the attractive side. Father is maybe taller than your average Japanese and wears glasses.
Date of birth ~ 2003 to 2004
Age ~16 to 17
Location ~ Kyoto or Osaka. Most likely Kyoto.
Height: 155 cm. She might have grown taller over the years.
Body type: Skinny

I met her at Sahoro Clubmed ski resort (2017) and Tomamu Clubmed ski resort (2018).

I don't have photos of her other than video frames of my GoPro.
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The clubmed hokkaido resorts have clear records of their guest, but the information is probably confidential. So I think social media might be the best chance. I heard that the most popular social media in Japan is twitter. However, when I search "Anju" or
杏樹 on twitter, I basically get little to no results. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, so I may need guidance on this part. And are there any more other places I can look into?

If you guys manage to find any portfolio with some resemblance, please reply on this thread. Thank you.
 
Just two points that might help you in your search:

1. I would think you're likely to have better luck searching on Facebook than Twitter. Facebook is just as popular as Twitter here, and (more importantly) people typically use their real names and actual photos on Facebook, which is often not the case on Twitter (especially in Japan).

2. There are possible other variations on how to write her name. The character 杏 alone could be read "Anzu", for example, as could any number of non-standard readings. It would be really impossible to come up with or list them all. You could also try searching in romaji for "Anzu" or "Anju". Many Japanese people have the English spellings of their names registered to their Facebook accounts, so it's just as if not more likely to turn her up than the kanji.

Unfortunately, that's about all the help that I'm able to give you. (I don't feel quite comfortable "net-stalking" a teenage Japanese girl who I don't personally know.) I imagine it's still going to be quite a longshot, but good luck.
 
So I've already tried looking into FB many times with no success. I tried different combinations of English spellings, Kanji, and looked into just about every profile there is. However, I haven't tried searching with romaji, I'll give that a try later. I've found maybe 5 profiles that has a chance to be her, but am unable to verify due to lack of information.

What are your thoughts on instagram? Are there any more popular Japanese exclusive social media like Mixi where I can look into?

Also based on my interactions with her I suspect she's enrolled in a female only high school, which narrows it down a lot in the Kyoto region if it's true. Is there a way to find out the list of student names in a specific school? If so, where should I look? Finding the full name should narrow down the search significantly.

Thanks for the fast reply. It's understandable that this is longer than long shot. I probably have a higher chance to find her in person. It's just that I have to wait a year, and my window is slowly closing. When I made the choice to let it go, I thought I would forget about it in no time; never expected this to become something that comeback to haunt me...
 
I would agree that you have a far better chance of running into her in person again since you know at least two places that she regularly frequents.

Instagram would be an even longer shot than Twitter, honestly. Most people don't use their full/actual names as their Instagram account names, and even the more outgoing people I know use it more to post pictures of food, scenery, etc. than pictures of themselves.

Mixi has very, very few active users these days. Even back when it was popular, almost no one used their real names; it was primarily an anonymous site based around communities with common interests. There aren't any really any "Japanese-only social media sites" that are widely used these days.

And there are any number of all-girls schools in the greater Kyoto/Osaka area. I'm not really sure how you expect that to narrow things down "a lot" if you don't even know the school's name. Even if you did know it, I don't imagine any school would make public the full names of their entire student body. That would just be inviting stalkers, etc.

Sorry if this isn't what you were hoping to hear, but I suspect the chances of finding this girl online based only on the limited information you have are very, very slim.
 
Yea, Instagram is probably a less probable place considering that she's an introvert.

One clue I forgot to mention is I saw the name "Anju Yoshida" on the departure board of the hotel. I can't verify that it's her but there is certainly a chance. Assuming that is real her full name, does that open up other search methods other than social media? If not, what should I search in facebook?
 
"Anju" is not an incredibly common name, so I imagine there's a decent likelihood that it's her.

I still think Facebook is your best bet, but it's still a longshot because many people have their privacy settings set so that they can only be searched by friends, friends of friends, etc. (吉田杏樹 would be the most likely kanji spelling of that name, but there are possible variants as well.)

You could also try a random Google search, but really, there's a very good chance that she doesn't have a public presence on the internet, in which case it's going to be basically impossible to track her down with the information you have.
 
Yea, Instagram is probably a less probable place considering that she's an introvert.

One clue I forgot to mention is I saw the name "Anju Yoshida" on the departure board of the hotel. I can't verify that it's her but there is certainly a chance. Assuming that is real her full name, does that open up other search methods other than social media? If not, what should I search in facebook?
Didn't you say she was with her family? I wouldn't think the departure board would list the teenager's name. Unless it listed all the members of the family.
Did she tell you she's an introvert? Or did she just act shy in front of a stranger? If so I would say that's typical, not an introvert.
 
Indeed. Looking back, I feel like I should also probably add...were you two close enough that she would be eager to hear from you again after all this time?

I mean, I'm not trying to be judgmental, but you seem a bit overly obsessed with the idea of reconnecting with a girl you only interacted with briefly and haven't seen in over two years.

I don't know the nature of your relationship, and maybe you were closer than the image I get from reading your posts, but there's a chance that even if you do find her, she might be a bit weirded out by the fact that you went through such great lengths to track her down.

It might be better to just leave things to fate. If your paths are meant to cross again, they will. If not, there are plenty of other fish in the sea.
 
Didn't you say she was with her family? I wouldn't think the departure board would list the teenager's name. Unless it listed all the members of the family.
Did she tell you she's an introvert? Or did she just act shy in front of a stranger? If so I would say that's typical, not an introvert.

They list all names of the family, my name was up there as well, but I was unable to confirm it was her.

She's not shy in front strangers, but she doesn't intentionally go talk to strangers either. She recognized my family the 2nd year which got things much easier going. I consider myself an introvert and it's pretty obvious that she's one as well. Her personality type is what made her special. She's extremely friendly and pleasant to be around with, but she doesn't bug people with conversations all the time
 
Indeed. Looking back, I feel like I should also probably add...were you two close enough that she would be eager to hear from you again after all this time?

I mean, I'm not trying to be judgmental, but you seem a bit overly obsessed with the idea of reconnecting with a girl you only interacted with briefly and haven't seen in over two years.

I don't know the nature of your relationship, and maybe you were closer than the image I get from reading your posts, but there's a chance that even if you do find her, she might be a bit weirded out by the fact that you went through such great lengths to track her down.

It might be better to just leave things to fate. If your paths are meant to cross again, they will. If not, there are plenty of other fish in the sea.
You are right, I'm overally obsessed with her, so much so that I've essentially put any possible relationships in university on hold. I understand that there are lot of fishes in the sea good looking people are everywhere, but I've never quite encountered anyone quite like her. I didn't really see her as attractive, I just think she's very pleasant to be around with, our relationship was more like brother and sister. We had some physical contact but non sexual. I didn't realize how much I liked this person until I left. Now it's just a good memory, but one that comes back to haunt me.

I don't plan to contact her even if I find her on social media as it can be weird. But it's always a last resort in case I can't run into her in person any more.
 
You are right, I'm overally obsessed with her, so much so that I've essentially put any possible relationships in university on hold. I understand that there are lot of fishes in the sea good looking people are everywhere, but I've never quite encountered anyone quite like her. I didn't really see her as attractive, I just think she's very pleasant to be around with, our relationship was more like brother and sister. We had some physical contact but non sexual. I didn't realize how much I liked this person until I left. Now it's just a good memory, but one that comes back to haunt me.

I don't plan to contact her even if I find her on social media as it can be weird. But it's always a last resort in case I can't run into her in person any more.
I don't see the harm in contacting her by social media provided you don't do it in a creepy way, and you don't seem that type. There is a chance that she is also thinking of you (though I don't want to get your hopes up!), and if she's moved on, she'll probably be diplomatic and you'll know where you stand.
 
I don't see the harm in contacting her by social media provided you don't do it in a creepy way, and you don't seem that type. There is a chance that she is also thinking of you (though I don't want to get your hopes up!), and if she's moved on, she'll probably be diplomatic and you'll know where you stand.

To be honest, I don't plan to get into a relationship even if I manage to find her as it would be long distance. However, it would be nice if I can ski with her every year as a friend. If I decide that I truly like her, maybe I'll test my chances after she finishes college. But ofcourse, all of this assumes that I find her which is unlikely to be the case.
 
This COVID mess has essentially killed my chances since I can't even go to Japan. oOF...

I thought I moved on completely, but I had a lucid dream and here I am again... I can't believe I'm about to waste a half a decade looking for some who I will never meet again. Faith is a powerful delusion.
 
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I hear you. After coming here 18 years ago looking for old friends and having no luck , I now hope I will meet them again in my next life. 200.gif
 
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