Busy..busy.. busy..It's that time of year again when every one is having a party and I'm lucky enough (of course ) to be invited.. but first things first..I was up in Tokyo for a few days.. had a great time.. saw my old friend Lesley Koustoff , an ex Fukuoka-ite who is now with Prentice Hall .. we had a great time talking over old times ..drank about five Zombies at Trader Vics, luckily all I had to do was go upstairs to my room (on the 35th floor of the Otani Tower). Leslie is a great person who is full of fun and fun stories and seeing her just made my trip.. Next day a meeting and lunch at the beautiful Four Seasons hotel..at my table ..the Honourable Emily Brown (whose father is Lord Eden), Mrs Matsudiara , a lovely lady and connected to one of the old Japanese Samurai families, Mrs Hatorii as in Wako Department stores and Seiko watch Hatoriis..and others.. fun talking about the history of the Wako Dept. which is one of the most prestigious in Japan standing on the main corner of the Ginza.. It's a real classy place.. After Tokyo was bombed during the war it was the only building left standing on the ginza..it was occupied by embassies and then became a bx (base exchange for you non military-literate out there) and was returned to the family in 1956..if you want to impress just send a present from Waco..and there is a Waco corner in the Fukuoka Dimaru so no need to go all the way to Tokyo.. I just have to mention the great service I received at the hotel New Otani..the night before my birthday (yes I do still have them) I received a big tray of fruit with a nice card wishing me a happy birthday and then the next morning when I checked out, the first thing the front desk said was Happy Birthday and when I returned to Fukuoka that afternoon the Fukuoka Otani brought over a lovely birthday cake and a big bouquet of flowers..those Otani people do have class! (Or know class when they see it !)
The Goodbye Party
The Japan American Society had a party to say goodbye to Judith Bryant (the boss lady of the American Center) and her delightful husband the great French chef Danial.. they will certainly be missed.. Judith is Cuba bound for her next posting ..( good cuban cigars for after Danials wonderful meals.). .a lot of Fukuoka people showed up to wish this extremely popular couple goodbye ..the Japanese being Mr Oya the Chairman of the board for Nishetetsu (as in bus, hotel, Densha, Solaria, etc.) Mrs Yamasaki Tac.. our congressman's wife, and Mrs Hara from the Scoroptimist group (and many, many scroptimist women were there standing around and eating), Dr. Matsura (in from Miyako nojo in miyazaki) and his lovely young wife and many many more..the local foreigners..Wes Injerd the Pres of the problematic IBE, Ed Roosa the Pres of Intercom, Jimmy Bartlet long time resident with a couple of beautiful girls, Stephanie Weston, Grace Glover, and of course all the consulate people and Lesley Hyland's lovely parents who are leaving after a visit of several months.. and my friend Elaine Egashira whose husband had appeared in almost every newspaper in Japan the day before (he's off to atlanta to judge the olympics) and Marco Nijhof of the Hyatt was in for a few min. and then off to another party.. a busy boy our Marco..the party was held at the Nishetetsu Grand Hotel where the food and service was excellent..question..why wasn't it held at the only American hotel in town? Hmmmm! Ahhh! maybe because the Pres of the society is also the President of the Nishitetsu group - as in Nishetetsu Grand hotel.
The Aussi Party
Chris Rees the very popular and personable Australian consul had a very nice get together over at the Grand Hyatt to celebrate the fourth anniv. of their office here.. Chris has certainly made his mark here in Fukuoka and it showed ..150 people were invited and 141 showed up to help Chris celebrate his success here in Japan ..I'm sure the 9 that didn't make it had a very good excuse.. (like broken legs, bankruptcy, earthquake etc.) Who was there?..Leslie and Jonathan Hyland, Mr Katayama the flower master, those flower importers of Aussie flowers, lots of other Aussies (and Japanese who had helped make Chris's stay here so successful)..our own good looking Chris Flynn who's 3rd child should be born by the time you read this ..congratulations Chris.. Robert Kramer of the Hyatt (an aussie) and William Marshall from Scotland who was keeping an eye on the happenings (he is the food and beverage manager) Marco Nijohf the general manager showed his face for a few minutes - the food was delicious and the beer and wine (Australian of course) flowed and flowed.. a party well done as Chris always does every thing well!
The Americans Celebrate
The annual 4th of July Part was held at the American Consulate on July 5th (which is the 4th in America) ..a lot of new faces and a change of the guard ..I was more interested in who wasn't there then who was.. But anyway - who was..Mr Koshiwara the new head of the City Legislature..nick-named Anko chan, because he liked Japanese Bean paste in his younger days.. ..he is a good friend of the Counts and has slept in my guest room many a night in his younger days after a night of drinking and talking.. (You never know who is going to be powerful in the future ) .. Mr Kayakawa the man who had 63 customers from his Travel bureau on that ill fated Garuda plane (none died).. Mr Oya the chairman of the board for Nishitetsu, Charles Nagatani the western singer in from Kumamoto who sang a couple of songs (i'm not to fond of western music so I can't say I really enjoyed it) ..Judith Bryant from the American hubby, The new American Center boss..Patrick the new Catholic Father over at Sasaoka Catholic Church ..girls he is young and good looking ..too bad about being a Father (they are celibate !!!!! )..it was interesting to see him and Wes Injerd who use to be a missionary and the American Buddhist priest from Oita, John Silverman, all in conversation.. they weren't talking about the bible but I think more about how good the cake and ice cream was.. Jonathan and Barry the bosses from AMC that great Movie Complex over at Canal City (I think they were comparing their hot dogs with the one's at the party..theirs win), Chris Rees, the coach for the Daiei Hawks, Marco Nijhof and Kip Deshazo from the Grand Hyatt, my friend Ichikei-san whose father owns Best Denki, which is now the largest electrical outlet chain in the world.. she was telling me her son is now in Sophia university in tokyo ..seems like yesterday when she was still having omiai.
The honor guard was in from Sasabo ..good looking marine boys..and the base commander and wife in from Iwakuni..now see if I got this right.. his brother is the priest who baptised father Patrick..
NOW who wasn't there..the Governor, Mayor (he was in the hospital for stomach cancer) or any big boys from the state legislator, our congressmen or their wives or Isshi-san from J.R. Kyushu or Kawaii san the Pres. of Kyuden.. as for the politicians ..it is suspicious..usually they shun parties just before elections .. are we headed for one in Aug..? Ahhh - more noise pollution. The only disappointment of the night was I didn't get a chance to talk to my friend John Dyson as it's always fun to chat with him and pick up the latest news (nothing classified of course).. anyway a good party again catered for by the non-American owned Nishitetsu Grand. The food was good and the people were fun and lots to talk about..
The French Party
The French Bastille day party was held as usual over at the Suenaga cultural center and it was the same old faces with a few missing.. the good looking French Ambassador and his lovely wife were back in town for the party and a soon as the speeches were over he came over to me and said that he was glad to see me again and ask how I was .. Surprising since last year at the same party I had ask him why the French were resuming testing.. any way he looks like a French movie star and his wife with that long lovely hair down her back. Makes them probably one of the top diplomatic couples in Japan..she said they would be back in Fukuoka as the French president is coming .. bet there are going to be some great parties for that..the food was catered by the Niko hotel seeing as how the honorary French counsel is Myota the pres. of said hotel..who else was there.. My Kawaii the chairman of the Board of Kyuden. .whom I asked why he wasn't at the 4th of July party and did he like the French better than the Americian's.. he just giggled - no answer (smart man).. .also my friend John Dyson from the American Consulate ..Andre "Dome de France" and his wife .. ..some of the best bread in town.. of course G.G. looking great and floating around the room to touch base with all the powers that be.. Nanjo Sensei the first French Teacher in town talking with Kaijima-san .. from one of the oldest families in town and those scroptomist ladies standing over in a corner because they don't know any one but each other.. Who was not there ..the governor (who also didn't show up at the American 4th of July party..the Mayor, who was still in the hospital.. Mr Ishii of JR Kyushu.. who hasn't been to any of these parties lately.. and no politicians..where have they all gone too..? Saw Mr Inoue who use to be head of the state legislature at Royal Box the night before and I asked if we were heading into an election but he said not at least till around Oct..but where are all of our congressmen or their wives who are usually at these parties?.. Well maybe they are tired too..just to many parties! But then they weren't at any of them..!!!!!
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