For about a week after Yuriko dumped me, I couldn't do anything except get drunk and be miserable. But even alcohol didn't have its usual effects. Everything I saw reminded me of her. I couldn't relax. I'd lie in bed and stare at the ceiling. Flashing images of us would play in my mind. Hours would pass by, and suddenly the sun would be up. My world had been turned upside down, and there was nothing I could do about it. For hours and hours, I'd just sit and stare at the wall, stewing in my own misery. As far as I was concerned, it was the end of the world.

Eventually, my emotional chaos started to settle down. I still felt miserable and drained of energy, but I could at least function on a normal level again. My parents were very careful around me, afraid that I might explode at any moment. On graduation day, I skipped all the parties, went to my room, and drank sake alone with the television.

During the next few weeks, I tried to get in touch with Yuriko, but I couldn't get a hold of her. Actually, I just called once. The recording I got said her number had been changed. I got the message. For about a month after graduation, I just stayed around the house, watching TV and sleeping late. I still didn't want to see any of my friends. Most of them already had jobs anyway.

One day my father came home early from work. I think he felt it was finally safe to approach me. “Masataro,” he said, “let's go out and get some dinner.”

We went to one of his regular yakiniku restaurants in Ikebukuro ward. “You want beer or sake?” he asked me as we sat down to order.

“Beer's fine.” I usually liked beer, but recently, I couldn't taste it. The same with food. Nothing had any taste or flavor. The waitress brought the food and drinks. My father started cooking the meat and put some on my plate. I took a few bites, but I really wasn't that hungry.

“If you don't eat, you can't get your strength back. You've lost weight the past month, Masataro. You should eat more.”

I took a few more bites. We cooked and ate in silence. Finally my father said, “Masataro, why don't you go to America ?”

“Go where? What do you mean?”

“You're not cut out for the white-collar business world. You don't want to sit behind a desk with mounds of paper all day do you?”

“Not really.”

“I know, see? You should get out of Japan . See the world, study and experience a different life. America 's an exciting place, why don't you go and see a different world?”

At first, my father's words seemed distant, caught in the fog that had surrounded me since the breakup with Yuriko. But words like “get out”, “exciting”, “different world” and “ America ” lit up my mind. I could escape. I wouldn't have to face my friends. There wouldn't be any Yuriko in America ! I'd be free, in a brand new world. America ! Yeah, I could go to America ! The fog hanging over me began to clear; I saw my destiny on the horizon. America ! Yuriko, I'll show you who I really am! I don't even need you, I've got America ! Images of blonde girls with big breasts and blue eyes fluttered in my head. In America , there'd be sandy beaches and warm clear oceans. I'd drive around in a convertible and find adventure on the open road. I'd open the door to my balcony every morning and find blue skies in the land of opportunity waiting for me. Yeah, America ! Everything in America would be big and glamorous and exciting. I could buy a house with a huge garden and a swimming pool.

But, how was all that going to work? I didn't speak English. Sure, I could make a new start, but how? “What will I do?” I asked my father.

“My old sempai has a karate dojo in America .”

“A what? Karate?”

“Yeah, he's had a full-contact karate dojo in America for a long time now.”

“Karate?” My dad had a long history of involvement in the K-Karate organization in Japan . K-Karate was one of the biggest Karate organizations in the world. One of his sempai was Shihan Goyama. Years ago, Shihan Goyama had founded the World Oyama Karate Organization. Even so, my dad still kept in touch with him. Shihan Goyama was well-known in Japan . His picture appeared on the cover of various magazines and books and in the news. When I was in high school, my dad made me study K-Karate for a couple years at the headquarters in Tokyo . Once I got to college though, I played soccer instead and told him I was too busy with schoolwork to continue training. But now, was he suggesting that I go to America to study karate again? Before, America seemed like a shiny beacon on the horizon, but every time he said “karate”, the light faded.

“You can go to America and study karate as an uchi deshi,” he continued.

“You mean like ‘uchi deshi' in the old days? That kind of uchi deshi?” I imagined an ancient warrior living in a dojo high up in the mountains, exposed to the elements, trying to cultivate his fighting spirit.

“Pretty much. I mean, it'll be a little different. You'll be in America , but you can train every day, study English, build up your body and mind…it's a great opportunity! America is the ‘land of opportunity', baseball, and Elvis. People from all over the world go there to make their fortune. Think of all the wonderful and interesting people you'll meet.” He had this big smile. I wasn't sure that I'd want to be an uchi deshi, but he made it sound so exciting. He continued, “You know, if I were young like you, I'd go in a heartbeat. Most people just go to America a couple weeks and sightsee. But if you live there, you have a chance to really experience American life and culture. You can get into the heart of the country, know what I mean?”

Dad kept smiling. I had a basic idea of what an uchi deshi was—a hard life. But somehow, being an uchi deshi in America seemed appealing. If my dad had said, “you can go be an uchi deshi in Hokkaido ,” I would've replied immediately, “No way! I don't want to be a prisoner!” But whenever he said “ America ”, I automatically thought about sunshine and beaches and beautiful women.

“Masataro, I can see that you don't want to sit all day behind a desk and talk to people about business—you're not ready for that yet. If you go to America , you can learn English and have all kinds of experiences. You can become cosmopolitan!”

Yeah, “cosmopolitan”…I liked the sound of that. I'd become cosmopolitan and come back and shock Yuriko. I decided I wanted to go.

“I already called my sempai. He said you can come anytime. I told him you could come next week.”

It was short notice, but I said OK. I was excited about my new future. I ate and drank a lot that night. Everything tasted wonderful again. I appreciated the opportunity my father had given me. I was going to be cosmopolitan.

 

Continue in Chapter 3