General News
9 May, 2025
A Small World in a Big City
FREE TO READ: MAN IN THE CORNER There’s something wonderfully disorienting about standing at the window of a Tokyo Starbucks, watching thousands of people pour across Shibuya’s famous scramble crossing.
It’s one of those moments where the sheer scale of a city hits you, 37 million people, a blur of neon and noise, and not a familiar face in sight.
But for Brittany and Olivia Nitschke, while on a holiday, that moment of awe quickly turned into one of disbelief.
As they snapped photos of the chaos below, the last thing they expected to hear was a familiar voice cutting through the hum:
“Brittany!”
At first, they dismissed it. Surely not. This was Tokyo, not the Wimmera.
But there it was again, clear, unmistakable:
“Brittany!”
They turned, and there, standing behind them in the middle of one of the world’s busiest cities, were Cameron and Yvette Reid.
A spontaneous reunion in the heart of Japan.
It wasn’t just surprising, it was personal. Olivia had spent plenty of afternoons at the Reid household during primary school. And now, by pure chance, they were sharing a laugh thousands of kilometres from home, in a city bursting at the seams with strangers.
It’s the kind of story that reminds you: no matter how big the world feels, it has a funny way of making itself small.