I lived in Japan for many years as a teacher instructing high school and university students for the Japanese government. For much of the time I was the only foreigner in my area. It was not an uncomfortable living. On the contrary, I was set up in an nicely furnished apartment overlooking the university and surrounded by friendly people. In my second week there, I met a young Japanese woman who would later become my girlfriend for the duration of my stay.
My apartment block was brand new when I moved in and while the government provided quite a lot in the way of furnishing, it was still bare bones. I had no TV, no VCR, no phone and, oh yeah, no cutlery, pots and pans.
I'd been in Japan only one week attending an International teacher's conference in Tokyo. This was in preparation for my arrival in the prefecture I would be teaching in. The week in Tokyo was amazing. Aside from the work during the day, there was dancing at night in Rappongi at Java Jive, the Lexington Queen, The Buzz and drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe with visiting members of the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams. That in itself, is worthy of a story.
Once that week was over, I was bussed along with 40 new teachers from Canada, the U.S., Australia, Britain, New Zealand and Ireland from Tokyo to Kofu. And from Kofu, I was picked up the teachers of my host school. I arrived at my school to meet the principal, the English staff and to get the rest of my luggage consisting of three suitcases which had been forwarded from Narita Airport. It was night already and I was hot, tired and very weary.
The head English teacher drove me to me new apartment. It was a small two room affair with hardwood floors. All of my furniture and linens sat in the middle of the room still in their wrappers. I was given a tour of the place by the teacher and a phone number to call if I needed assistance. The nearest phone was a coin box half a block away.
I was left alone to unpack. It was dark outside and still hot as hell. The humidity was such that I was dripping wet. I opened the glass doors leading to a narrow balcony outside. There was no breeze to speak of. I sighed. It looked like I wasn't going to get relief from the weather.
Resigned to the fact that I wasn't going to sleep until my linens were unwrapped, I began to process of unpacking. The bed was a fold-out from the wall. I was told this was unusual. Most people slept on futons placed over tatami mats. It took me nearly an hour to rip open the packaging covering the pillows, sheets, futon and comforter. I figured the rest of the furniture moving could wait till the next day. I still had a table, two chairs, a washing machine, a rice cooker, a cabinet and other assorted things to unwrap or put into place.
There was nothing else I could do till the next day. My clothes were drenched with perspiration. Never in my life had I experienced such humidity. I decided to shower and head to bed.
I was about to take my clothes off for a shower when I was struck by one fact I'd forgotten. The room had no curtains! I noted that if I could see outside, someone across on the other mountain could sure as hell see me.
I turned off the light and undressed in the dark. No sense alarming my Japanese neighbors and letting them see the barbarian they already thought I was. Luckily, I had soap, shampoo and conditioner. I luxuriated in the shower and washed all the day's travel and unpacking away. Once I stepped out, I realized how hard it was going to be to sleep. The humidity had me perspiring already.
I stepped into the darkened main room in the nude. That is how I've slept since I was about 10. On such a hot, humid nights, it is the only way to sleep. For a few minutes I just lay under a single sheet, my body glistening. It was intolerable. The air just hung there miserably. In the dark I looked at the open sliding glass door at the starry night. On the left part of the glass door though, I saw a light flash.
At first I thought it was car coming up the mountain road but the light stayed in place. It took me a moment to realize the illumination was from the apartment next door. Through some freak of angles, light and the fact that I had no curtains, I could see images of what was going on in my neighbor's apartment. Footsteps from next door could be heard. The walls were not exactly thick. A TV was turned on. The image of the TV screen appeared on my sliding glass door windows.