re: Tokyo Vice season 2 starts Feb 8 (next Thursday)

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Well now you gotta tell us more.

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Nothing worth note really. The prefecture I lived in was Oita and a lot of the Portuguese trade happened in the village one over. Usuki. So they had an annual festival where they got any gaijin to participate, and we dressed up as the Portuguese and then they took us to an island for sashimi and a big party.

At the festival a drunk dude started walking next to me and we were all laughing because he was such a clown. Turns out he was a tatted up yakuza. I lived with the mayor and he told me to tread lightly and the guy kept showing up at places I would be. I never did piece it together what his goal was . I think he just wanted to be able to say he had a gaijin friend, which in rural Oita might have amused his friends or something.

As for Bosozuku, I lived right next to Tsukumi Eki ( train station) and they would hang out there at night. In those days they would carry swords on their bikes and scream up and down the streets in a game with the police. Most were like in a pre- Yakuza stage.Outside of society but not yet in the real criminal life. Every night I would pass these guys and talk to them on my way home. Being Japanese they were just friendly and polite to the gaijin.

So, nothing dramatic. Wish I had a better story but let’s face it, half of what was happening in a cultural sense went right over my head. It’s very difficult for gaining to get the nuances even if immersed as I was for a couple of years in a Japanese home. I arrived confused and left confused. They are an inscrutable people. Which I admire. I find them to be culturally superior in many ways.