My First Month In Japan
My wife and I were greeted at the terminal, by her ex-husband. His name is Joel. He is from Canada. They had a Jewelry business. They sold jewelry on the streets in front of Tokyu Hands. They made lots of money. I was surprised! Joel became a legend in Isreal. Many Isrealis, who, are in Japan selling jewelry owe Joel a big thanks. We grab our things. He came in a super mini van. In the back was their business.
We got to the apartment about 45 minutes later. Joel drives like he is the only one on the streets. I do not blame him. No one respects the lines on the road. That is another story. He opened the door. We walked into a pigpin. That place was a mess. I could not believe it. How could anyone life like that. Jewelry, clothes and whatever else was everywhere. I just started cleaning up. Two hours later, the house was clean. We went out eat. That was the first tme I had been in a real Japanese restuarant in Japan. Everyone was looking at Joel and me. He did not like it. Coming from America and being Black, I was use to people watching my every move.
We ate salads, chicken and other Japanese dishes. It was good. I was suprised how the items came. Each item came on its own dish. Each dish had its own price. It got expensive. I did not pay for anything. I only had ten dollars in my pocket anyway. Is not that just like a typical American – “Broke”. We went home. I went to sleep. They stayed up and talked. The next day, we went to work. They set up their little market on the streets. I was very nervous about the police coming or the store owners calling the police. It took me too long to understand that no one cared.
Eventually, people came. They sold about $400 dollars worth of merchandise by 5 pm. I was told that they use to make thre to four times that amount. We packed up. Then they took me to pachinko. It was a gambling place.
There were many types of machines doing the same thing. Basically, you turn a knob clockwise, not all the way, but just enough to get the small pinballs to bounce through a myraid of pins positioned, to mostly guide the pinballs through the machine. There was a slot at the top slightly to the left of the centerline. If a pinball entered, The screen in the middle of the maching would spin. The object was to get three sevens, ones, threes or fives. If the numbers hit, then you had turn the knob to all the way to the right. The machine would then shoot the pinballs out with greater force. You had about 5 to 10 seconds to get one of the balls in another hole that was located just below the number digital display. It entered you got a chance to play a 15-round entertainment set. Once the pinpal enters the center hole, you get 15 bonus rounds to win more pinballs. During the 15-round period, if one of the balls do not fall into a certain hole during the 15 round period, you would loss your chance to go the whole distance. 15 rounds adds up to about $35 dollars. If you are lucky, you can live of off pachinco. I used the money I won from pachinko to pay child support. At that time, I would send at least 500 dollars each month, unless Mia asked for more. It was funny. As soon as I had enough boxes full of pinballs that amounted to 500 dollars, I took a break and change in the boxes for that amount, went to the post office got a money order and sent it to her.
I hated pachinko, but I always won. I am not saying that I did not have bad days. Oh, you should have been there when I lost 800 in a day. Joel was laughing. I was not happy, but I fugured out the system. The next day I won the money back plus an extra 100 dollars. Another day, I lost 1000 dollars. I won that money back that next day plus and extra 1,1oo dollars! I was lucky or smart to play that same machine, again.
After a few days passed and I kind of thought I new the route to our “market on the streets”. I got on my bike. I bought it in Honolulu, Hawaii. It wad a hand-made mountain bike. I started off in our neighborhood where the streets were narrow compared to the ones in Los Angeles. The roads, eventually, widen. I found myself in familiar territory. I decided to ride in the streets. Well, it was fun, at first. Then there it was – traffic!
I continued to rude in the streets. I noticed how close the cars were when the passed me – too close! Then I noticed that the road turned red. I wondered why. I, soon, got the answer. It was a bus lane. Three busses passed within inches of my right shoulder. I got scared. I continued my persistance and right to ride in the street. In Japan, you are suppose to ride in the side walk.
