Tokyo Zero | Page 3

because Sato was carrying a sports newspaper under his arm. It was the kind of sports
magazine that has a carefully doctored naked woman on the front cover and there are
many other ways for blind people to get their sumo results. I decided that my table was
solid enough to take a hit and that that was preferable to talking, shouting etc. Expecting
a bump I was surprised when it all ended in a slide and with a party of two happily
seated.
"Sato-san desu ka?" I queried. I had studied Japanese for a couple of months, but most of
the discussions I had with people in Japan took place in English, you may be pleased to
hear.
"Mr Williams... how was your flight?"
I assumed that he was giving me a false name as a precaution. I felt bad for calling him
Mr Sato. Then he suddenly came out and told me that Sato is the third most common
name in Japan. After he said that, a smile crept across his face like a wound on the belly

of a TV samurai (although at the time I would have drawn another, less accurate, analogy
as I had hardly watched any Japanese TV. That would come during the underground
months.)
I felt at a distinct disadvantage. He either had read my mind or had a repertoire of cool
tricks that he had acquired the hard way. I gave him a slow look that tried to say "Don't
mess about: I'm a pro too."
But was he even a pro? Something about him sat wrong. He wasn't making his joke to
test me, it was just that he had seen humor in the moment. I could tell because he didn't
have a follow up ready. We sat in silence for long seconds.
"How long are we going to wait here?" I asked.
"Hmm... not so long. No one is watching us... too badly. I would like you to catch the
Keisei Express to Kanamachi and when you get there buy the least delicious snack you
can find from the platform man."
"OK. Do you want to leave first?"
"Yes, we will meet again."
And then he didn't stand up. And just as I was wondering if I was making a fool of
myself he smirked again and walked away.
I contemplated a second beer, but decided to just leave. Sato had irritated me into a state
of mind where I wanted to be active. I get like that a lot, and it usually leads to more
trouble than my characteristic passivity.
As I left the bar, after somehow managing to effortlessly pay for things, I felt strong
nostalgia. It was partially the way it had reminded me of twenty years ago but it was also
a new-born nostalgia that you feel when you leave a safe place that will never be safe for
you again. Because, let's face it, there was a good chance I would never be able to relax
in an airport again when all the damage had been done.
I made my way toward the place where the small train icons were headed. Light seemed
to be increasing, although from where it was hard to tell. I was approaching the clinical
space of the Japanese train system which interweaves all of Tokyo like calcified veins
and is untouched by the wildly varying degrees of modernity around it.
Someone was talking really loud. And it was in a mocking sing-song that, in English
anyway, seemed suited to sitting on top of someone and shoving dirt in their mouth. I had
to take a glance. Surprisingly, it was Sato who was making the noise and some dramatic
hand gestures to a bunch of people who were deeply wishing not to be his audience. And
the strangest thing was that he was standing in front of two policemen. They were
wearing sidearms and no doubt had a two-man judo strategy for most eventualities, but
instead they looked on amused. I could only assume that this was some kind of cover for
me, that unexpected developments were afoot and I increased my speed to the space just

before suspicion and I went underground.
THREE
I got on the train; a long, silver, grooved lunch-box of a train with bold stripes. I was
lugging a small but heavy suitcase full of books and shoes (I planned to buy most other
stuff locally.) Around me were various Japanese people who had, a short while ago, been
Japanese Tourists. They were equipped with varying degrees of booty and swarthy tans
and looked tired and almost on the verge of speaking loudly. Their luggage was, as ever,
a thing to behold: wheels, of course, but also limb-like attachments and convenient
handles sprouting wherever a human hand lightly