Seiko's Story Seiko's Life 1.6 Seiko and Mike ©Seiko&Mike LLC 2020 1
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Seiko’s Story Seiko’s Life 1.6 Seiko and Mike They Move in Together • Seiko and Mike Meet, Christmas, 1967 • First Date, Part 1, Open Restaurant, Mid-Jan, 1968 • First Date, Part 2, Private Café, Mid-Jan, 1968 • Mike is Very Interested and Wants to Know More About Seiko • Second Date, and“Marry Me” Mid-Feb, 1968 • 2nd Date. What Just Happened? • 2nd Date, What Just Happened, 45 Years Later, Continued • Mike Meets Seiko’s Family • Seiko and Mike Move into A House in Fussa (Apr 1968) ©Seiko&Mike LLC 2020 1 Seiko’s Story Seiko’s Life 1.6 Seiko and Mike Seiko and Mike Meet, Christmas, 1967 Prologue Mike’s roommate, Alton, at Yokota Air Force Base, was dating Mieko and had a group photo on top of his dresser. Mike asked about the picture, and Alton told Mike it was the Meiji Shrine Client escorts, and Mieko, his girlfriend, was one of them. All of the girls but one were wearing grey pinstripe uniforms. Alton pointed out Mieko to Mike. One girl, however, was wearing a flowing white skirt and white sweater. Mike asked about the girl in the center in white. Alton said that that was Seiko. He said Seiko and Seiko 1968, 23 years old Mieko were good friends, and Seiko was the manager of the girls. Mike told Alton, “I would like to meet Seiko.” Alton got Mieko to arrange for Mike and Alton to meet the girls at Seiko’s house on an evening in late December 1967. They were delayed and did not get to Seiko’s house until about 9:45. Seiko met them at the door. ©Seiko&Mike LLC 2020 2 Seiko’s Story Seiko’s Life 1.6 Seiko and Mike Episode Begins Seiko’s appearance at her home was similar to her passport photo (left). Her hair was “up,” and she was wearing a white “house dress” with pink patterns. Seiko said, “ come in” (in Japanese), turned, and walked into the house. Mike followed Mieko and Alton into the main room. Seiko turned to Mike, smiled, put her hand out to “shake hands” and said, “Hello, I’m Seiko.” Seiko looked into Mike’s eyes. Mike said, “I’m Mike. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” and Seiko, still looking into Mike’s eyes, said: “I know.” She turned to Mieko and said, in Japanese, “Mike is a good-looking man.” Mike understood what she said and said nothing. Seiko and Mieko spoke for a few more minutes. Then Seiko turned to Mike and said, “Good Night,” and walked out of the room. Mieko said she always went up to her suite at 10 pm to watch American TV on the Armed Forces channel. Mike said nothing else the first time they met. He was surprised by how forward she was and shocked at the maturity and class of the “cute girl” in the picture. It was apparent that this was a strong woman, not a “girl looking for a date.” And Mike had no problem with the abruptness of her departure. They were almost two hours late, and they were interrupting something ©Seiko&Mike LLC 2020 3 Seiko’s Story Seiko’s Life 1.6 Seiko and Mike important to Seiko. Over the next few days, Mike could not get Seiko out of his thoughts. Mike Says I did not understand what just happened, but if this is what “love” feels like, I like it. I never met anyone like Seiko in my life. This feeling is not “romantic” like in the movies. It’s not physical desire; it’s a desire to be with her. I know I can never “own” Seiko, but I want to be near her, in her presence. I did not realize it, but, for the first time in my life, I was with a woman of untouchable confidence, values that are not negotiable, and a love of being alive. Seiko Says I am attracted to Mike. He is a handsome man. Mike looked at me almost like Papa, or the boss at the Mahjong Parlor. But there is a big difference. It seems like Mike is seeing “Seiko,” but he does not understand what he is seeing. It is very confusing. But if he does see “Seiko” then … I went back up to my bedroom, sat on my bed, hugged myself, and watched my path to America coming back to my life. And, if Mike is the man I feel he is, then my dream of freedom may also still be alive. If Mike chooses to meet me again, I will meet with him and learn more about who Mike is. And, of course, Mike is an American and I do want to go to America. ©Seiko&Mike LLC 2020 4 Seiko’s Story Seiko’s Life 1.6 Seiko and Mike First Date. Part 1. Restaurant, Tokyo, Mid-Jan, 1968 Prologue Mike contacted Seiko through Alton/Mieko. Seiko wanted to meet Mike at a cafe in Tokyo. At the time, Mike was teaching English at Harold’s School in Tokyo two evenings a week, so he caught a taxi to meet Seiko at 8 pm. Episode Begins Seiko was at the cafe sitting with three young women. Seiko’s hair was like the photo. Seiko was wearing a pastel blue sweater and black pants. When Mike came to the table, Seiko smiled and spoke to the ladies. They got up, bowed to Mike, and then moved to another table. Though Seiko understood spoken English, she had almost no experience speaking the language. Mike, of course, was not fluent in Japanese either, but he was able to carry a simple conversation. So, Seiko could ask questions in Japanese that Mike understood, and Mike answered in English, which Seiko understood. Seiko asked Mike many questions about his family, his job, where he had lived before coming to Japan. He told her that, because his father was military, Mike had been in Japan as a child when his father was in Korea, and then spent three years in Germany. She was interested in the way the US military moved every two or three years. And Mike said, ©Seiko&Mike LLC 2020 5 Seiko’s Story Seiko’s Life 1.6 Seiko and Mike “Seiko asks a lot of questions.” And Seiko replied, “I know who I am. I want to know you!” Seiko was fascinated that Mike had a job (delivering newspapers) at nine years old, getting up at 3 am every day. Mike started a lawnmowing business at 12 (one “employee,” a friend). He left home at 16 - the summer before his senior year in high school and finished high school while living in a rented apartment and working at night in a restaurant. He was drafted into the military the month after he turned 18 while attending college and working in the restaurant. Seiko wanted to know more about Mike’s Job. He explained that he worked in a medical laboratory. He tested blood, urine, and other physical things. The doctors wanted to verify a diagnosis before prescribing treatment. Seiko asked how Mike became a laboratory technician. Mike explained that it was a sequence of schools. At each school, the top students were sent on to the next level. The clinical laboratory was the highest level. After finishing that one year of lab school, he went on to work as an intern at a large hospital for one year. Altogether, the training was about two years of school and one year intern. Seiko asked about Mike’s family. Mike told Seiko that talking about his family was difficult for him, and he did not want to go into that subject. Seiko did not mention Mike’s family after that. ©Seiko&Mike LLC 2020 6 Seiko’s Story Seiko’s Life 1.6 Seiko and Mike First Date. Part 2. Private Club, Tokyo, Mid-Jan, 1968 Seiko and Mike stayed until the restaurant closed at 10 pm. Seiko wanted to go to a private club a short way from the restaurant. The club had dim lighting, and soft music was playing. The club was narrow with booths along the left side, and each booth had a curtain to provide privacy to the occupants. Seiko chose a booth and sat down. Mike went to the other side and sat opposite Seiko. Seiko got up and went around the table, pulled the curtain behind her, sealing the booth, and sat next to Mike. Mike turned to face Seiko, putting his left leg on the seat bent at the knee. Seiko smiled and turned toward Mike, taking the same position in the opposite direction, facing Mike with her knee against Mike’s (remember, Seiko was wearing black pants this evening). Seiko asked Mike about when he was in Japan as a child. Mike said, “I was four and a half when we left, so I don’t remember very much.” Seiko asked what he did remember. Mike said, “I remember the ship ride back to the US. The name of the vessel was the Buckner, and I remember sliding on pillows through staterooms during a storm.” Seiko asked if he remembered Japan. Mike said, “We lived in Sendai, in a townhouse at the end of a row of townhouses. And I had a houseboy named Tadashi.” Seiko asked about a child having a houseboy. Mike reminded her, “I was four years old; I have no idea why I had a houseboy.” Seiko laughed and asked if he remembered what the houseboy did.