The Way I See It

June 4, 1988

Miimii, August 1968

My cycling friend Craig wanted to go to Tokyo's Hard Rock Cafe (photo below), with his friend Gilbert, who was fluent in Japanese. I was burned out on the "looking for a woman" thing but I went anyway, to socialize, because I knew it was healthy for me.
I dressed in awful clothes and wore my ugly glasses. The three of us took the train to Tokyo and while Gilbert flirted with every Japanese woman he could find, I looked at my reflection on the windows...and thought to myself, "Hmmm...handsome".

We sat on a bench (bottom photo) in front of the Hard Rock Cafe drinking beer, when three Japanese girls walked by. Gilbert called them over. I pretended I didn't notice. I could see what was going to happen--three of them, three of us, and I was usually preyed on by the hefty, ugly ones. The girls were Akori Yamoto who called herself Miimii (future ex-wife), Kasumi, and Noriko. I'd started shaving my legs that week, and I had one good leg, but the other had been badly butchered by this novice. It's not exactly a subject you can bring up with the guys

at work. The girls found our smooth legs interesting. Akori (Miimii) was definitely the pretty one but Noriko seemed to like me. She looked like a warthog. Noriko asked Miimii to remove my glasses so she could get a look at me...when Miimii later recounted this story, she said that was when she decided she wanted me instead of Noriko. I knew none of this at the time. Miimii, who was 20 years old, looked very, young. I asked her age (I didn't want to get arrested) and she said,"Twenty", then, "No, seventeen," and burst out laughing. So I asked to see some identification. She showed me a picture I.D. and it looked legitimate, so I figured it was okay to tag along.

We all squeezed into the Hard Rock Cafe, standing on the stairway leading up, with Miimii and I at the back. It was so crowded I left--Miimii followed me. I was please that the pretty one followed me; maybe it was a good sign. It was awkward...she spoke broken English and I, disinterested, didn't know what to say. We walked around for an hour and ate at Dunkin' Doughnuts, ate little chocolate doughnuts. All the while I'd put my ugly black-pointy-rimmed glasses on and she'd take them off.

The six of us re-grouped to take the train back. Miimii and her friends went part of the way back to make sure we didn't get lost. Craig and Gilbert had asked Kasumi and Noriko to come to the airbase the next day. I was put on the spot so I asked Miimii and she said okay. I wanted to do some cycling the next day, but I was stuck. Years later I also found Miimii didn't want to come either and was actually engaged to be married, but neither of us said anything.
When the train arrived at Fussa station on June 5, Miimii was in a different train. We thought she'd changed her mind, and I'd hoped she had, but it would have been embarrassing to be stood up. Then Miimii showed up with black leather and fishnet stockings. I thought, "Uh oh;what are they planning?" I couldn't escape. But it was okay...the six of us sat in Craig's room watching Top Gun. The girls said they'd wanted to go shopping, and we asked for what? Then after multiple translations, Miimii said, "American chocolate is very good" (she

was usually the translator of the group). So we bought them M&M's. Always trying not to hurt Miimii's feelings, I gave her a quick kiss as she boarded the train.

***Miss Paul has requested that her face not be shown to protect her identity***

I'd hoped that was over, but no...she kept coming back...week after week, like a wart with black hair. She'd phone me and ask to visit, and I soon grew to like her a lot. I figured I had nothing else to do on Sundays! She was so cute and so much fun to be with, but I made it a point to never ask her over. For the first six months, I never once asked her to come over.