Imagine this scenario.

You step off the plane in a new country, barely knowing a lick of the language. You’re then shuttled to a hotel about 20 minutes away where there’s a brief window of time to relax before reporting to the ice rink to meet dozens of new faces. You get a couple more days to assimilate, and the next week is filled with various drills conducted in a foreign language.

You’re 18 years old. You’re completely overwhelmed. You’re also having an absolute blast.

Such is life for Japan native Yusuke Kon. Since the Minnesota Wild’s annual development camp started last weekend, he has been fully immersed in a new culture.

“This is my first time to America,” Kon said Wednesday through a translator. “I’m enjoying it. It’s fun.”

Kon’s father, Takayuki, played in the Asia League when he was a kid, so naturally Kon gravitated to the hockey.

“I got interest from him,” said Kon, who grew up idolizing legendary Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom. “I was 3 or 4 years old when I started skating, and after that I started playing.”

Kon spent last season with the Oji Eagles of the Asia League and got connected with the Wild thanks to teammate Stephane Veilleux. In fact, the former Wild winger was the person who got the entire process started.

“I talked to the Minnesota Wild to see if it would be OK for him to give him an invite,” Veilleux explained Wednesdsay. “It was such a classy thing for the organization to give him an invite. It was also very generous, because they don’t have to do something like that.”

Kon arrived in the Twin Cities last week, and soon after he checked into the hotel, Veilleux was there to help.

“I got on FaceTime with the team translator for the Oji Eagles and we went through the entire itinerary together,” Veilleux said. “I wanted to make sure he knew what to expect.”

Veilleux and his wife, Amy, then took Kon to dinner.

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The following night the couple had Kon over for dinner at their place in St. Paul. The menu included salad, chicken, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and even chocolate fondue for dessert.

“We wanted him to get the full experience,” Veilleux said. “Just something he couldn’t get in Japan.”

Kon woke up the next morning ready to roll. He arrived at the Xcel Energy Center on Saturday morning for the start of the six-day camp.

“I wasn’t worried too about him,” Veilleux said. “There is such a great culture in Japan. They are great people. They are very organized. They are always on time. I wasn’t really worried about anything. I was very confident that he would mix perfectly with the Wild.”

And he has. There might be a language barrier, but it’s clear that Kon has been skating since he was a kid.

“I understand broad gestures and the basic things that are being taught,” he said. “Sometimes I wish I could hear exactly what the coaches are trying to teach. I can’t really understand the details.”

Wild director of player development Brad Bombardir has been impressed.

“It’s not easy, what he’s doing,” Bombardir said. “He’s a pretty sharp guy. He’s able to pick things up by watching. You notice he’s kind of standing in the background a lot until he understands a little bit more of what the coaches want. … He’s visually been able to improve in this camp from watching the other guys and being really zeroed in on that.”

Though he hasn’t necessarily looked out of place during the on-ice sessions, Kon looked particularly comfortable during Tuesday afternoon’s scrimmage.

“I thought he did something really good things with the puck,” Bombardir said. “He clearly understands the game once the game is actually being played. … You know, when we put guys out on the ice and drop the puck, it’s the same game here as it is over there. It doesn’t matter what language someone speaks when they’re out there playing. You can see that with him.”

There have been a handful of players of Japanese descent to play in the NHL, but only one wasn’t Canadian or American. Goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji, the second Japanese national drafted by an NHL team, played four games with the Los Angeles Kings in 2006-07. Canadian skater Ryan O’Marra, born in Japan, played 33 NHL games between 2009-12.

Kon will go back to Japan upon the conclusion of development camp, which ends with another scrimmage on Thursday afternoon. He said hopes experiences like this one will help the sport grow nationwide.

“I want to bring this experience back to Japan and tell people about it,” he said, “and hopefully use it in Japan to improve as a player.”