2020 in review: Staying connected out of sight, but not out of mind December 29, 2020 (Mainichi Japan) This March 2020 image shows sections of the Berlin Wall at the Berlin Wall Memorial. (The Mainichi/Chinami Takeichi) In early March this year, I "met" a close friend of mine for the first time since we began talking online, just before my graduation. She lives in a country in Europe -- quite far from Japan -- whose name I had never heard of before our unique encounter. Even the young staff member at the airport east of Tokyo read aloud my destination falteringly before breaking into a big smile as if to admit defeat.