Haruna... (What a Babe!)

I met her in a nightclub. Ever since, we've been emailing each other. Before the following date happened, I last saw her on the day of the final game of the World Cup.

So... Haruna. What can I say about her? She is one inch under five feet tall, with brown hair (dyed, of course). She lived in London for about two years and often speaks with a hint of an English accent as a result. She is twenty-nine (2 years my senior), and has a killer smile. She is smart, hardworking, sweet, pretty and she has good taste. I know she has good taste because she's interested in me. (Grin).

She lives 40 minutes outside of Michinoshi, in an outlying area called Shitahara. Furthermore, she works like hell at her job (she gets home at 9 PM and works Sundays, too) and doesn't get a lot of time-off. She works as a designer for a firm that does interior renovations, and I think the long-hours gives her quite a bit of stress. Four days before the time of posting, we went-out to a restaurant... in fact, she asked me out on this date. Most interestingly so far, I generally haven't been applying much special effort with emailing her or calling her... indeed, she's been contacting me more than half the time. She actually takes the initiative to call me. It's a situation where I think she and I are actually applying a roughly equal amount of effort to communicate with each other. How refreshing is that? It's not a situation where I leave a message on her answering machine and never get called-back. If I send her an email, she has a track record of writing back by the end of the day.

For the purposes of this date, I will totally be myself. That's right, I'm going to behave as I normally would on any other date in the U.S. I will behave the way a gentleman behaves. I will treat Haruna with the utmost respect and kindness. I will behave in the 'kind-therefore-unsexy-to-American-bitches' way I am most comfortable behaving in.

For me, this is another stretch along the road of understanding whether or not I can be myself and be attractive to women at the same time. In the right country, at least.

Shut Up Already- Onwards!

Okay, okay. For this get-together, she asked me to meet her at 'The Cache', a trendy downtown gift-shop right across from the Michinoshi branch of Starbucks.

I arrived about twenty minutes early, simply because I'd overestimated the amount of time it'd take me to get downtown during the peak commute hour. So, there I stood near the entrance of The Cache with my L.L. Bean backpack on, a small cup of Starbucks hazelnut latté in one hand and an aging English-language newspaper in the other. The paper had been given to me by a coworker earlier that day. I stood there for about five minutes, skimming the ten-day-old articles and thinking deep thoughts.

"I wonder how many wedding parties the U.S. military can bomb before the Afghan populace will become unmanageably unfriendly?" I grumble to myself. "This is no doubt part of the ballyhooed 'kill 'em all, ask questions later' strategy that served the army so well in Vietnam..."

In mid-thought, I looked-up and saw a smiling, petite woman walking towards me. I checked the nearest clock and was impressed.

"Wow, she's fifteen minutes early." I paused. "And I have an eerie feeling I might've actually said that last sentence out-loud..."

"Hi, Naisugai!" She beamed.

"Hi!" I said, I put-away the paper. She said that it was a little distance to the restaurant, so we'd have to walk to a bus-stop.

"There is an anniversary party at this restaurant." She said.

"Who's having an anniversary?"

She giggled in the ultra-endearing way that Japanese women often giggle in public. "No, the three-year anniversary of the restaurant. Unfortunately, I have to go to work at 6 AM tomorrow so I can't stay-out very late."

"But, tomorrow is Sunday and you have to work?" I frowned. "Anatawa no kaisha wa motomo zurui desu!" (Your company is most unfriendly!)

"I know... the last train to Shitahara leaves at 11, so we should leave the restaurant before then." She replied.

"Well, I'll tell you what? If you want to miss the last train, you can spend the night at my apartment. I have a spare futon you can use." Or we can share a futon, I smiled inwardly.

"Oh, thank you. Normally, I would accept, but I have to be at work by 6. Thank you, though."

We got-on the bus, and there was only one available seat left. I offered it to her and she accepted.

After a few minutes, a seventy-year old man sitting a few seats over began talking to his seventy-year old wife. He sounded somewhat irritated. The old couple talked for a few minutes. Haruna smiled whimsically and covered her mouth with her hand. I looked at her.

"What are you laughing about?" I whispered. She shook her head.

"Later." She replied. I stood next to her until the seats opened-up next to her at a later stop. We sat-down, and the old couple got-off.

"Okay, they're gone. What's so funny?"

"He... he was asking his wife where his ticket was. 'I gave it to you, and you lost my ticket.' he was complaining to her like that. His wife was saying 'you never gave it to me, and it's your responsibility anyway.' So, after a few minutes, his wife said: 'isn't that your ticket under your shoe?' The old man got quiet after that and I could tell he wasn't happy."

I grinned. "Old people. They're the same the world-over." I chuckled. "Oh, by the way... I got you a little present. Now might be a good time to give it to you." I reached-in to my backpack and pulled-out a small metal box of gourmet cookies. Gift-giving is very big in Japan, it seems.

She looked surprised. "Oh, thank you!" She accepted the box and blushed visibly. "You didn't have to give me a present."

"I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to."

At the Restaurant

We arrived at a European-style bistro. We walked-in and Haruna spoke to the owner, and proudly introduced me to her. I bowed slightly.

"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." (Banal, perfunctory salutation.) I indicated the restaurant with my hand. "Totemo kirei, na?" (Very pretty, isn't it?) The proprietress shook her head politely and denied her humble establishment was in any way pleasing to the eye.

The dining format that night was a nomihorai/tabehorai deal... all-you can drink/eat for a flat fee. The food was enjoyable and the place wasn't too crowded either. Unfortunately, after paying the fee, I noted I didn't have enough money for the trip back. Oops, I shouldn't have bought that Starbucks coffee. Well, I'll mention it to Haruna later. Maybe she could loan me enough for the subway?

So, we filled-up our plates, got some drinks and sat-down in the corner. The food was quite nice and was arrayed in a buffet-style. There were green salads, croquettes, a Chinese-style stir-fry, Swedish meatballs. An eclectic mix of savory delights. I started-off drinking a rather nice Chilean Merlot, but it was so tasty, I drank it all within five minutes. Almost immediately, I went-back to the bar and decided to graduate-up to beer.

We proceeded to talk about surprisingly intelligent things. I asked her about her experiences in England especially. Haruna has a very big brain. I think it is so sexy when a woman has intelligence. Especially when she doesn't think she has to act with a haughty superiority-complex in order to assert her preeminence over all the irritating, idiot males she's surrounded with every day.

We somehow got onto the topic of comparing the constitutions of our respective countries. This is, apparently, a subject she has a casual interest in.

Japan has had two constitutions in the last one-hundred twenty years. One was the Meiji Constitution of 1889, and the present Constitution of 1947 which was almost entirely written by Americans.

"The Meiji Constitution of 1889 was a pseudo-constitution." She said matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It was done primarily to impress foreigners. It was not done to benefit the legal standing of Japanese citizens." She sipped her white wine spritzer. "After 1853 we had a number of unequal treaties forced on us by foreign countries." 1853? She was obviously referring to the 'opening' of Japan by the American Commodore Perry. He sailed a bunch of armed ships into Edo harbor, showed-off their conspicuous cannons and said: 'Here's a treaty, think it over. We'll be back in a year. By the way, these artillery pieces can shoot really well.' Ahh, gunboat diplomacy at its finest. Haruna continued. "Foreigners didn't trust the Japanese justice system in those days, so they insisted that foreigners in Japan follow the laws of their home countries. So, our government needed to create something that would make our justice system look good in foreign eyes."

"I see." A constitution to get rid of extraterritoriality laws which were forced on Japan under implicit threat of cannon-fire. I munched my salad. "I'd read that a lot of foreign models were studied to establish the Japanese legal system in the 1880s."

"Yes, there were European models that were studied. There were contemporary developments in Europe that were useful guides and there were Japanese scholars who studied them. The German constitution was fairly recent back in the 1880s, and it provided a good model."

"A Bismarckian model? I see."

"Yes. The German constitution was fairly conservative. After the 1889 constitution was made, we could begin to renegotiate the unequal treaties. But, there were laws from before the constitution which contradicted the constitution, and the constitution had many exceptions put into it which... um... do you know?"

"Made it so it didn't conflict with preexisting laws?" I asked, completing her thought.

"That's right. So the constitution in 1889 had many new rights, but these rights were weak because the constitution had so many places where it allowed what laws came before it. It was unimplementable."

I realized something just then: holy crap, Haruna speaks better English than some Americans do. She probably has a bigger vocabulary than Ariana. Certainly more so than Suzy, that much is beyond question.

She continued. "The constitution gave rights, but these were only for people who didn't violate the laws which restricted those same rights. In the 1930s, for instance, there were many laws which restricted freedom of speech." She sipped her drink and shrugged.

"You know what? You've really got me intrigued. I'd like to read more about this subject, and I'll definitely head to the international book shop to see if there's anything in English on the topic." I took a bite of potato croquette and sighed as I looked at her. What a graceful woman she is. "I know that the 1947 Japanese Constitution was written by Americans, and it was somewhat influenced by certain parts of the U.S. Constitution. In fact, I read it was ratified by the Diet without much debate over it. It was basically written by a bunch of Americans and given as a nonnegotiable document." I sipped my beer and continued. "I think the U.S. Constitution is very interesting. To its credit, it is probably one of the world's more successful constitutions but it's not without its unusual foibles. First of all, the U.S. Constitution starts-off with: 'We the people...' Sounds good, right? But back in 1787, what people? Did it mean slaves? No. Did it mean Indians? No way. How about white indentured servants? Nope: after the Revolution, there were actually more indentured servants in the states than before. 'We the people' meant something other than slaves, Indians and indentured servants. Saying 'we the people' excluded a huge number of people!" I chuckled. "It took a long time to extend the provisions of the Constitution to blacks, for instance. So, from the get-go, the U.S. Constitution had a huge set of loopholes in it."

"Yes, I can see a conflict. Your country had a civil war because of the slavery problem, didn't they?"

"In part, yes. Slavery was the major issue which set-up the Civil War. Oh, I found a really intriguing book in a library once. The exact year when the original edition was published escapes me, but I think it was from the early 20th century. Definitely more than 70 years ago. I'll never forget it. It was called 'An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution' written by a dissident-minded historian named Charles Beard whom I think was a professor of history at Columbia University, but I could be wrong about where he taught. Well, anyway- his book interpreted the U.S. Constitution from a financial standpoint. The book was kind of controversial when it came-out, it was even denounced by an angry editorial in the New York Times."

"That sounds like an obscure book."

"Yes, a little bit obscure. I used to spend a lot of time reading odd books in libraries. Believe it or not, I didn't have too many women distracting me from doing that."

"I see..." She giggled. "And what were the conclusions?" She asked.

"Well, the author wanted to assume that the creators of a government- any government- would be influenced in their thinking by their day-to-day business activity. It didn't seem like an unreasonable assumption to make. Beard concluded that all of the constitutional framers had an economic interest to support various clauses of the constitution. Er, not that the constitution was written to benefit their personal business dealings, but it was influenced by the economic interests they had their lives wrapped-around at the time of writing. Their daily business was, in part, how they could relate to society in concrete terms. That kind of mind-set is true for many people, at least." I nibbled a bit of stir-fry before continuing.

"What sort of business?" She asked.

"First of all, the majority of the fifty-five signatories were lawyers by profession. Most of them owned big pieces of land or were rich in one way or another. George Washington, for instance, was the wealthiest person in the U.S. at the time. He married into wealth, and he owned enormous tracts of land worked by slave labor. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison also owned big slave plantations. John Hancock: Boston merchant with ties to the shipping industry. Ben Franklin: wealthy printer and newspaper editor. And Alexander Hamilton- he was a rich, professional asshole. Besides all that, half of the constitution framers had money loaned-out at interest and forty of them owned government bonds. Most of the makers of the U.S. Constitution had some kind of economic interest in creating a federal-style government." I paused. I looked in her puppy-dog eyes. Well, she didn't look bored... that's a good sign, isn't it?

"Why would a federal arrangement be preferable in that case?" Haruna asked.

"Well, those who had manufacturing interests would want a nation-wide tariff system to keep-out foreign goods. Having a bunch of competing tariff regimes at the state-level just wouldn't work as well. People with international trade interests wanted national diplomatic offices overseas working on their behalf; if regulating international trade was strictly left-up to the states, it would be too unwieldy. Slave-owners would want federally-enforced protection against escapees going across state lines. Bondholders would want a government which could develop a nationwide system of taxation to pay-off bond interest. Moneylenders would want a strong central monetary authority which could regulate the printing of currency... Er, because the money supply was more likely to be inflated if it was left-up to each state to issue their own competing currencies."

"Ohhhh, I see your meaning... creditors want low inflation, a centrally-regulated currency has lower inflation... got it." She put her finger to her cheek, her ultra-cute smile beaming back at me.

"Yup." I nodded. "So, wrapping-up all these functions in a federal government was actually of direct relevance to the framers' own business dealings. Now, just remember that this book was just one interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. But I think it is definitely an interesting one." Then, I sighed. "American politics can be frustrating sometimes. When you have a two-party system where both parties equally ignore public opinion, the voter really has no where else to turn. You always end-up voting for the person who is the least offensive."

She shrugged. "It's the same here, too."

A few minutes of less-heavy conversation transpired. A Japanese acquaintance of Haruna's came-by, and Haruna started chatting with him. She introduced me, and I said a few sentences of pleasantries in Japanese. I didn't understand what Haruna was saying entirely, but I caught bits and peices like "very smart" and "knows history very well" and "speaks Chinese so fluently." Polite flattery-style stuff like that. I was blushing internally, at least. So... she thinks I'm smart. What a turn-off that has been for most women in the past.

But now, Haruna was starting to look a little pinkish around the face and neck, so the alcohol was obviously starting to kick-in. After her friend went-back to the bar, she turned to me and smiled warmly.

"You've really impressed me." She said with a straight face.

"Really?" I asked. "Why?"

"Before I met you, I'd assumed that English-speakers were a bit lazy when it comes to learning foreign languages. But you... you really work hard at trying to learn new languages. I mean, your Japanese is getting pretty good. I wish I spoke English better so I could express myself more clearly..."

I think I felt myself blush. "No, my Japanese is sooo bad. I have so many problems. Thank you, though. Your English is wonderful. You speak so perfectly. I have no problems understanding you."

She shook her head. "No..." She looked-at her watch. I checked mine. Crap, time flew-by. "Oh, we should go soon. Let's get a cab outside?" Taking me by the wrist, we said our good-byes and stepped-out onto the street. It wasn't long before a cab came by, but in that short time I'd mentioned to her that I had run-out of cash. I shrugged rather embarassedly.

"I... um, I kind of don't have enough money to help pay for the cab. I underestimated how much cash I'd have to have today and..."

"Can you get home?"

"I think I'm about 300 yen short." I shrugged sheepishly, very irritated with my carelessness.

She dug into her purse and pulled-out a 1000 yen bill. She handed it to me.

"I'm frightfully embarrassed about this." I sheepishly took the note. "I'll pay you back the next time I see you."

"No, it's okay, it's really my fault. I should've told you the cost of dinner before you came."

"Thank you." I said. Sincerely grateful. But I will pay her back next time.

To the Station

In the rear seat of the cab on the way to the station, I put my arm around her. She snuggled close to me, locking her left shoulder under my right armpit. She put her head against my right pectoral. I gently traced my right hand along her upper right-arm, she put her right hand on my thigh. I could feel the warmth of her skin penetrating my clothes.

"Are you comfortable?" I asked.

"Yes, very comfy." She replied, in a dreamy whisper.

Wow, so few American dates ended-up this way. Usually, I'll pay for everything and at best get nothing more than a hug at the end. No, worse than that: a patting hug. Ugh, I HATE hugs where the woman pats me. It's like she's patting me to show pity or something "ohhh, don't worry NiceGuy (pat pat pat pat) someday you'll have sex with someone who likes you. (pat pat pat...)"

But Haruna and I sat together in the back of the cab for a few minutes, in each others' arms. And I started feeling a little bit frisky...

"Hey." I said softly.

She looked-up at me. Brown puppy-dog eyes. I put my left hand under her chin, angled her lips-up to meet mine. I gently kissed her. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips. I felt her lips go into a smile as we kissed. She snuggled deeper into me.

After a twenty second kiss, I gently pulled-back. "That felt nice." I looked deep into her pupils. She nodded slowly, never breaking her trance.

"I wish I didn't have to go to work tomorrow morning." She whispered. "I want to spend more time with you. It's a pity." I can't resist those puppy-dog eyes. Her right hand slowly stroked my stomach. Her touch was so gentle, it felt like her hand was barely there. As I stroked her upper-arm, I appreciated the softness and smoothness of her skin. Like a delicious, dewy, ripe nectarine.

Unfortunately, the cab stopped. She gave some money to the driver, we got-out and held hands. We both walked-into the train station like that. She had to go to the train platforms at one end of the station, I had to go to the subway lines at the opposite end. This is where we had to part.

"I'll miss you." She said as she put her arms around my waist and pulled me close. Eyes closed, she hugged me and I hugged her right back. It wasn't a patting hug, it was a sensual hug. Reluctantly, we separated and went in our different directions.

"Bye." I waved and walked towards my end of the train-station. She waved back. I walked about halfway across the terminal before I looked-back at her. Indeed, she was waiting in line at the ticket machines, still looking at me. She waved again. I smiled and gave a tiny waving motion before rounding the corner beside the subway stairway entrance. I missed the feel of her. She was so soft.

I marched-down to the subway, bought my ticket and caught my train for home.

God, I love the women here!

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"When I fell in love with him, I wanted to be cared for economically, given children, protected from the world, fucked, the whole gothic romantic womanly complex." -- Women & Love, Shere Hite.

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