39: Beyond Our Galaxy (Reprise)

          Passing through customs at Narita airport I found the couple holding up a sign with my name spelled incorrectly. They waited while I validated my Japan Rail Pass and drove me to the Unification Church headquarters, where I dropped off a large bag of clothing from Ye Jin Nim. The clothes were to be distributed to Japanese members.
          It took two hours for the Church to ascertain if it was OK for me to stay at a church dormitory. They called my wife in Tokushima where she had been waiting for my arrival to make sure that I could be trusted.
          When I was finally approved, they gave me a map to the place, which was within walking distance of the church. The guest room was quite small, but quaint with the little TV and the pint sized refrigerator. The whole room could have fit on the back of a compact pick-up truck. I fell asleep immediately.
          Early Monday morning I woke up and started looking for cheap accommodation. I was carrying one stuffed garment bag, a Macy's shopping bag with gifts — two bottles of Chivas regal and a wooden jewelry box — and was using a Nikon F3 with three lenses, a flash unit and a tiny tripod. I had thirty rolls of film in a lead shield bag. I found a locker to stash my baggage.

The streets were empty around six. I passed Love Hotels with extremely young couples emerging from them and waited for McDonald's to open at precisely seven. The manager timed the opening with his wristwatch. Ten seconds after 7 am and ten people were already lined up at the counter.
          Two hours later I found a capsule hotel on the American Boulevard; and started photographing in a nearby park. Shot a picture of Japanese children playing on a white cement whale. The woman who sat next to me on the plane had told me that she worked at the Japanese embassy in Washington, and that most of the letters she received there were from school children complaining about Japan's whaling industry.
          I did a lot of walking the first day, not seeing too many interesting places. The area around the hotel was rather seedy. The ticket for my locker said "Tokyo Station Service," which confused me and sent me to the wrong station. It took an extra two hours to retrieve my baggage.
          Tuesday I took the train to the Yokohama Exotic Showcase '89. The best exhibit was the Mitsubishi pavilion with the 3D movie Imagination. I took several shots from the largest Ferris wheel in the world.
          Wednesday I took the Shinkashen to Nara where I found a traditional style Japanese hotel for around 3.000 Yen. I saw a boy and girl in school uniforms, about five and six holding hands, but by the time I caught up with them to photograph them, but they weren't holding hands anymore.

          Some schoolgirls watching the turtles seemed like likely subjects for a traditional style picture. I met two church sisters witnessing on the main street, and they took me to a video center. I talked to a brother there for two hours.

In the morning I had a photograph taken by some tame deers. I passed by Hiroshima, inadvertently while discussing traditional Japanese folklore with the girl who sat beside me on the train. The girl was on her way home to introduce her fiancée to her parents. Had I known we were passing Hiroshima I would have gotten out and visited; for I heard that students were there protesting the crackdown in Tieneman Square.
          At three p.m. on Saturday I met up with Yoshiko, Renée and Leon was three months old, at the Tokushima station. Renée was tired and wasn't thrilled at seeing me, it being a month since I last saw her. Hiroko drove us to the Katayama house in a rural farm area.
          The driveway between the garage and house was like a courtyard, with tall trees offering privacy. Beyond the house were rice paddies and a few farmhouses. After greeting everyone Yoshiko told me that I should stay indoors, because her parents don't want the neighbors to know they had a foreigner in the family.
          We sat around a low table around a huge Teflon electric frying pan, filled with beef. Yoshiko's father, or Ota-san sat down and poured beer in my glass, and I refilled his. I went into the kitchen to talk to Yoshiko and she said that men must never go into the kitchen. "I'll remember that." I said, "When we're back in America."
         

Hiroko and Ota-san took us to a temple by the sea on Sunday. I took a few shots with my tripod. We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water. I shot pictures of a family of three fishing in with straw hats. On the way back they let me drive the car, and because the roads were so narrow and I was driving on the right I bumped into the backpack of a schoolgirl.
          After a week of staying around the house I was getting restless. Every evening there was coverage of Tieneman Square, with scenes of students holding posters with Lady Liberty on them. The crackdown, where the students were shot, was on June 4th, the time I arrived in Tokushima.
          Finally, I got permission to walk around the countryside taking pictures. On Wednesday we went to some more temples and the seaside where I photographed men and woman fishing for whitefish. They took the tiny white fish into pick up trucks and put them on mats to dry in the sun.

Yoshiko's uncle had everyone over for an elaborate dinner on Thursday evening. I drank a little of the wine that came from a relatives vineyard. We took a cab home, and Yoshiko got upset that I talked in the cab, for the cabby might tell everyone in the surrounding countryside about me.
          We drove to Tokushima airport and the whole family was there to see us off. We had a lot of baggage because they had taken us shopping the day before. They all waved from a rooftop balcony, as we boarded the solitary plane.
          On the plane we settled in and I take a look at a Time Magazine, the cover and the feature story was about the Tieneman massacre. I look up from the article and saw Yoshiko's eyes were red. It was the first time I had seen Yoshiko cry.