I had been working as a student teacher in Japan for seven months, as part of a one-year placement for my Masters Degree in Oriental Studies. Originally stationed in Osaka, which is a busy and sprawling Metropolis, I was now based on a remote island off the coast of the Inland Sea, where I was expected to see the year out. The contrast to the city was astonishing.
This place was a Japan of the past - a tiny fishing village with about 400 inhabitants, whose rural way of life had been preserved for generations. I stayed at a Ryokan on the seafront with a local family and taught at the little schoolhouse on the mountainside amidst acres of Cryptomeria forest.
There were children of many different ages who attended the school but they were all taught English by me at least once a week, to a varying degree of sophistication. The classes were naturally small given the sparse population of the island, and my working day was rarely longer than two or three hours. In my free time I would often explore the mountain, getting lost in miles of sweet-smelling summer forest, and find remote clearings where I would sit and gaze out at the horizon, as the sun shone down over the sparkling Inland sea.
I had always been intrigued by the Japanese; their language, customs and way of life. Spending time living among them had been an awesome experience. I loved the food and the unquestioning generosity of the people, and had even grown fond of sleeping on the floor at night behind sliding paper screens.
I had also developed a rather insatiable desire for Japanese women. The most attractive Japanese women were petite but perfectly formed, with an almost porcelain beauty; their skin as white and clear as newly-fallen Hokkaido snow.
Unfortunately there were fewer specimens on the island than there had been in the city, but there was one girl who attended my English class twice a week. Her name was Miwa and at 19 years old, she was one of the oldest of four students in the senior class.
Like most Japanese country girls of this age, Miwa gave the impression of being completely unversed in her own sexuality. She would attend my class (and elsewhere on the island) in her funny uniform, with its knee length white socks and short skirt.
She seemed blissfully unaware of the sexy strip of thigh she was revealing. I would often wonder, when I saw Miwa in my class, or at the grocery store by the harbor, whether she had any idea what effect her stunning little figure had on me. But she tended to just smile politely, showing no indication that she had any awareness at all. This was a striking contrast to what the average 19 year old girl was likely to be doing (and wearing!) in New York City, where I came from.
The events I wish to relate took place on a beautiful warm summer Wednesday in August. I had taught my only class scheduled for that day and seeing as the weather was so fine, with a cloudless blue sky and soft breeze blowing in from the ocean, I decided to go for one of my wanders in the forest.
I began on the main pathway from the school through the towering Cryptomeria trees, but then chose to climb a verge and head towards the bamboo forest instead. There was a lookout point I was especially fond of about half an hour up the mountain beyond this bamboo grove, with a bench I loved to sit on and wile away the hours.
It was a steep climb but I took it at a leisurely pace and the reward that met me on the other side was well worth it. From this clearing on the Eastern plateau of the mountain was the most stunning view of the ocean and its hundreds of surrounding islands.
Just as I was about to take the last step up to my favorite clearing, I noticed the figure of a girl standing alone ahead of me, with her back to me. She was leaning up against the very bench that I had been expecting to sit on.
A few moments later I recognized the girl to be Miwa. She was wearing her navy blue uniform as always, with its short skirt and white cotton socks up to the knees. She had a camera in her hands – the Japanese adore taking photographs like no other race on the planet – and was looking out at the beautiful scenery through its viewfinder.
I called out a greeting in Japanese. Miwa turned and recognized me immediately; greeting me with a few badly pronounced words of what she clearly believed was exemplary English. We weren't in class so I smiled and didn't bother to correct her.
'Isn't it beautiful', I observed in Japanese, looking out at the spectacular view ahead.
Miwa said nothing but nodded ascent whilst repositioning her camera to assess the possibilities of a theoretical photograph of this landscape. Then all of a wonderful sudden, my attention was caught by something more spectacular than the lush panorama we had both been surveying.
Miwa had innocently bent forward over the bench; her eyes and hands still pressed to the camera, busy assessing the potential for a photograph from this curious new angle. And she appeared to have no idea that in doing so, her skirt had ridden up and she was exposing the most exquisite view of her tiny little peach of a bottom, in a pair of white cotton pants.
The smooth bare skin of the backs of her thighs was completely exposed, as well as a tantalizing glimpse of the small panty-covered mound between her legs, with a few dark strands of pubic hair emerging from the sides. Good Lord, I thought to myself, this girl is divine and she doesn't have a clue.
My study of her pert little rear, beautifully exposed as it was to the bright sunshine, was suddenly broken by Miwa proffering an explanation of what it was she was trying to photograph from down there.
'I want to catch the ferryboat as it comes around the corner' she said, pointing out to sea, her eye still pressed tightly to the viewfinder of her camera. She was referring to the mainland ferry that came to the island four times a day to collect and deliver supplies, residents and visitors. The third arrival of the day would have left the mainland at 3pm and it seemed she wished to photograph the ferryboat as it appeared from behind a shrine on the mountainside. This would indeed have made a lovely photograph. She was bent over like this in order to line-up a particular angle of the boat that would mean it was framed by the bamboo forest as it appeared around the corner.
I looked at my watch and judged that as the boat had departed from the mainland at 3, there would be at least another ten minutes before it could possibly be visible from this spot on the island. I thought better of telling her this fact however, in case she stopped leaning over the bench the way she was.
Instead I said, 'Well, you are in a perfect position down there to get the best photograph of it. I wouldn't move if I were you. It will be coming past any minute'.
'I must wait', she laughed and tried to keep her camera hand as steady as she could.
I went back to looking at her sublime little derriere and the pale, almost translucent flesh of her exposed thighs. For a brief moment they seemed so close and accessible. Without thinking what I was doing, I reached a hand down and placed it on one of them. The moment it hit her what I had done was probably the same moment it fully hit me. She froze in surprise. What on Earth was I thinking?
My behavior got worse. Instead of removing my hand, I trailed my fingers very softly along the flesh of her inside leg. She stayed frozen but surprisingly didn't lift her body back from over the bench. Her gaze stayed fixed on the viewfinder of the camera, although I could see she was no longer thinking about the photograph.
I suddenly came to my senses and felt alarmed that I might have terrified her. Quickly removing my hand, I struggled to think of something I could say that might diffuse the situation. Naturally nothing came to mind. I mean what could one say in the circumstances? I felt like a dirty old man when I was supposed to be her teacher.
Surprisingly Miwa stayed where she was and even appeared disappointed that I had removed my hand. I tested this perception by placing it back upon her thigh. This time she didn't freeze or tense at all, although she did remain perfectly still. She continued to keep the camera clamped to her face.
I decided to try experimenting with taking the situation a little further and I tentatively placed my free hand on to her other thigh. This time she moved a fraction, but not in order to flinch from the touch. She was actually trying to bend her body further over the bench by coming on to tip-toe, and the resulting effect was that her bottom and thighs were being thrust closer towards me.
My hands stayed where they were - one each on the backs of her legs - and I began to delicately caress her smooth flesh. I was careful not to allow my fingers to stray too far between her thighs in case she become nervous and require me to stop.
Miwa had let the camera fall away from her face by now but was still holding it in her hand. Taking even more of her body's weight on to her waist and elbows, she tried to bend still further over the bench. It was clear she was intent on providing me with as much unrestricted access as she could to the region I was caressing. This gave me a further boost of courage and I increased the area of her legs that I was massaging to include her buttocks.