Michiko Kino

…de News Wales:

A Japanese woman is fulfilling a 30-year-old ambition this summer by learning to speak Welsh at Cardiff University.

Retired teacher Michiko Kino, who comes from Osaka, has been fascinated with the language since she read The Grey King by Susan Cooper, an English novel set in Wales, back in the 1970s.

Michiko taught English at a Japanese school for 37 years, and when she retired in 2005 she was determined to visit Wales and learn Welsh.

She is currently on the eight-week Summer Course at the Welsh for Adults Centre in Cardiff University.

Michiko is a member of a Welsh society in Japan called Kansai that meets in a pub once a month to talk about Welsh culture and the language - and even celebrates St David’s Day every March 1.