yes. Society does not allow this in public. But in here, it’s okay for salarymen to let off some steam. It’s actually expected.” Tanaka took off his tie and neatly folded it before placing it in his jacket pocket.
“Good to know,” Cain said. “What are we drinking?”
“Sake!” Tanaka shouted in order to be heard.
“That’ll work,” Cain shouted back, and showed his approval with a thumbs-up.
The waitress brought two wooden boxes filled with sake.
“This is how we traditionally drink sake,” Tanaka explained. “The sake is originally in barrels that are broken down into these smaller cups for us to drink from.”
“That’s neat,” Cain said. He raised his small wooden box. “Cheers.”
“Kanpai!” Tanaka raised his drink.
Cain and Tanaka drank several cups of sake; they lost count of how many exactly. Tanaka flagged down the server and ordered soba noodles.
“Do you want some soba noodles also?” Tanaka asked Cain.
“I’m good. The sandwich Bonnie bought me was enough.”
A few moments later, the waitress brought the noodles in a large bowl.
“That looks like a horse trough,” Cain said.
Tanaka smiled and grabbed a pair of wooden chopsticks. He started picking out the noodles and slurping the broth.
“My God,” Cain said. “That slurping sound is like someone scraping their fingernails across a chalkboard. Do all Japanese slurp their noodles, or just the ones in this bar?”
“Slurping loudly is how we tell the chef that it’s good.”
“In my country, we let the chef know the food is good by eating all of it and returning an empty plate. How can you skinny fellas eat so much?” Cain asked.
“Noodles do not count as food. We Japanese have a separate place in our stomachs just for noodles.” Tanaka laughed.
“Hey, you can make jokes, too. Let’s kanpai to that.”
“I miss American food so much,” Tanaka said. “I love American things. The food, the music, the movies, and the big pickup trucks.”
“What else?” Cain asked.
“American women.”
Cain laughed and Tanaka joined in on the laughter for a second before explaining. “American women are much more forward than Japanese women. I had a girlfriend in Florida. She had blond hair and blue eyes—very American. She introduced me to a lot of different things.”
“I bet she did,” Cain said with a loud laugh. “Kanpai!” In unison they took another swig of the warm sake. “What does your wife think about that?”
Tanaka laughed. “I’m not married. I still live with my parents.”
“Really? I left the house at eighteen.”
“Yes, I know. That’s very common in America. But in Japan, it’s very expensive. Many Japanese stay at home until they get married.”
“When’s that?”
“First, I must find the right girl. And she’s probably in America.” Tanaka smiled.
“Kanpai!” Cain said, and they gulped another shot of sake.
Tanaka, now red-faced from drinking, had lowered his inhibitions. “I would have stayed in America had it not been for my father.”
“What do you mean?”
“I miss America. It is the Wild West. Here in Japan, we have too many rules. Don’t get me wrong. Tradition is nice, but adhering to tradition got in the way of my dreams.”
“What dreams are you talking about?”
“I wanted to be an airline pilot. That’s why I was in university in Florida, at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach.”
“Yeah, I know it. I was stationed at JAX for years with the United States Navy. We’d go down to Daytona for various events.”
“Yes—so many things to do in Daytona. I had a lot of American friends. I was becoming too American, my father thought. I was at a party where there were drugs. The police came. I didn’t take any of the drugs, of course, but I was in the house where they were. The police took us all to jail. My father is an inspector with the Tokyo National Police. He made me return to Japan immediately.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Cain sympathized with Tanaka.
“No, I’m the sorry one. I talked way too much tonight. The train is no longer running.”
“It’s only just after one o’clock.”
“Yes, but in Japan, the trains stop at one. It’s very inconvenient for us Japanese. But we must not say anything.”
“You must not say anything?”
“We have a saying here: The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Trust me; I get hammered down a lot.”
“So you can take a beating? That’s good. Means you’re resilient.”
Tanaka seemed to appreciate the compliment.
“Well, surely we’re not the first people in Japan to close down a bar. So, what’s the solution?”
“Japanese always have a solution. Tonight, we sleep in a hotel.”
“That’s fine. I’ve spent so many years in hotels that