(TAPE 8) Nicola Interview Oct 13, 1989
(Includes: Nihon Kotsu Case First Verdict, Lawyer’s Lawsuit, Ballplayers, Sex Stories/Carousing, Omura, Red Light Yoshiwara & Other Occupation Tales, King of Korea)
SIDE A
(Note: First ¾ of Side A are boring)
Counter 000
(NIHON KOTSU CASE. FIRST VERDICT: “Mr. Nicolas Can Not Be Believed”)
(LAWYER’S LAWSUIT)
A: If you talk on the witness stand for 2 years and maybe 8 sessions…may more than 2 years…what specifically can not be believed.
Q: How long in court.
A: Showa 48 to Showa 57. 9 years. The whole court. Then the judge just makes one statement: “Mr. Nicolas can not be believed.” I lost the case because I can not be believed?” Believe what?
Q: That was his decision? His final decision?
A: And here’s a court case I told you about. Of course, it’s a tremendous long case. How do you take a man’s property without a bill of sale? Shit. You can do that in Ghanya. (sic) or Timbuktu. But do you do that in Japan? But like I said, Bobby, I have no right to win. I’m a foreigner in Japan. And the Germans did it to the Jews. And the Jews did it to the Arabs. And the blacks did it to the whites. It goes on forever. Why should it stop before me? I used to sit down and type. Pages upon pages. Of the testimony that somebody gave, that I read, and was so fucking false and full of shit…But, so what. And this fucking guy, this Tanaka this lawyer, a smart man, but a dishonest man, he comes to my hospital room, …his complaints is “pursuant to” or something like that….”Persuaded by…Persuaded into this that and the other thing.” And in the next line, or same sentence is …’soon after”..
You know, soon after? Of course, I can visualize what really happened. It was before I wrote down, the man should have made a statement saying this way. And I can justify it. But that’s my one-sided opinion. While we were in a WAKAI court. Nothing happened. It was all …I call the word “Boogie”. Boogie means traitor. See. But it doesn’t apply in a case like this, cuz it’s the wrong word. It’s the right attitude, but the wrong word. So he’s a traitor to me. I’m paying him. He’s my employee. So I’m under the impression, from past conversations, that this guy was tied up with Nihon Kotsu. He said, “Give up your name. Give you your trademark. You don’t need that. Take the money and start allover again.” I said “Why don ‘t Nihon Kotsu do that? Why don’t Nihon Kotsu give me the name and trade mark and start all over again? They’ve got billions of fucking yen.”
So during the WAKAI meeting, this son-of-a-gun didn’t offer anything. The other side didn’t offer anything. And, now, of course, it’s two years later. You’d be surprised at how your mind comes back to reality, when you start, ‘this might have happened,” and you throw it out because that wouldn’t be right. So, all the indications are that these two guys, the lawyers and their group—he’s a member of their group, I’m sure, secretly—that the object was to frustrate during the WAKAI meeting—nothing happened, nobody offered any money, nobody offered any compromise—and the procedure failed. Now that’s the end of June.
(More unintelligible rant)
So I went into the hospital to get my thing. Then this guy comes in July and makes the statement that “soon after”—in his conversation with said company, which he means the other company—that 5 oku ni-sen go-haku-mon yen (525,000,000 yen) can be collected. And then he said, Mr. Nicola agreed to a remuneration of 15 million yen. Now this guy’s takin…it’s very hard for me to write it because I’m not like you, I’m not a writer—but if I was a writer, I’d write 15 fucking pages. How to you come to my hotel (hospital) room and persuade me and the next sentence indicate that something happened before you came to the hotel room. Then the next sentence indicates that something happened while you’re in the hotel room. How do you do that? So I’m looking now. I’m going to look at all the side…all the catch phrases…this defendant persuaded, and soon after and the decision , and it’s a shame because I take my dictionary out and I copy the dictionary. And say, according to the meaning, but you know and, my plan was to question the man before I take my oath. I tell the court that I have no desire to take the oath unless then oath is taken by the plaintiff also. Why should one person be under oath when the other one isn’t. Then if they rule that if the brief that he submitted is under oath. Then I said, ok, I’ll take my oath. Now they’re in trouble because I’m a loud-mouthed son-of-a-bitch. And I use words like “Fuck you” in the courtroom. I don’t care. I don’t give a shit. I’ll say anything I want. And I’m gonna lose. So what? It’s only money. So what can I lose? 15 million yen? Fuck it.
Q: You have to pay the court costs if you lose?
A: Yeah. The court costs is high. It’s high. In this case the court costs will be about a million or two million yen. But so what. 15 million to two million is what? Nothing. Same fucking numbers. But I want the court to rule and I’m a dangerous bastard on the witness stand because I’m not ashamed to say, “Judge, this is a decision you have to make. Who is lying?” See? And you know in his opening sentence…”the plaintiff is a member of the Tokyo Bar Association.” His first line. How would you interpret that? Here’s a complaint, going from a lawyer to the court, trying to sue an American or a foreigner or a Japanese, and you show who you are. Are you looking for preferential treatment? And I’m gonna say that. I’m gonna say why, would a civilian or anybody submit a claim to the court identifying his position in the social stratus of whatever you call it. Why? What’s the difference whether he’s a lawyer or a doctor or a butcher? What does that got to do with the court case? So you looking for preferential treatment. He instantly has to be on the defensive side. Anyway. Drives me crazy. You can’t win because you’re a foreigner. You’re not gonna win because you’re a foreigner. There’s no way,
Q: When’s your next court appearance?
A: Oh, when this court ended, see. Of course, I told a lie in court. Nobody can disprove it. When we met at October 19th at the Bengoshi-kai, I spoke to my main lawyer which is Mr. Ide that we have decided to give every lawyer one per cent of the remuneration regardless of how much money it is. Yes, but he said, but right now we’re at a different pernt (point?). We’re trying to talk about to get back the 2 oku san sen mon yen (230,000,000) that was attached. So I said that in court. And my lawyer says, “you have credibility.” Because, he says, “You were at that meeting. And it was at the Bengoshi-kai. And they are all lawyers there. And I did pay them one million each to recapture the 230,000,000 yen.” So there’s a history there. There’s a payment there. And I says, “No.” That’s stretching the truth a bit. But, then again…And I will claim perjury and foul and all that. But I do the same thing as everybody else does. So while I was in court, they sez that’s enough and I said, “No, that’s not enough. I have more to say.” And the judge says, “this is just temporary stopping. You can come on the witness stand again.” And I sez “OK, because I want to talk about privileged information.” Eh. I’m not gonna let this guy get off so easy, I may lose.. But I’ll fight till the last fucking minute. Then they sez “the next court will be November 17th.” And I sez, “I’m sorry.” Aaah. The judge looked at me.”No?” Doshite (why?) I said, “I’m gonna go to Hawaii. I’m not gonna stay in this place when it’s cold. I’m an old man. I’m tired. I’m gonna go where the weather’s good.” He says “When will you be back?” I sez “April or May.” He sez OK. So my competition, what do you call it, the lawyer against me, sez “Let put Nicola Koizumi wife on the witness stand.” And I sez. “No.” And my lawyer says “Daijobu (it’s ok”) he can ask.” I sez, “It’s ok. Let him ask.” And I told the judge, “My wife will not come here. She has nothing to do with this court case. Why don’t you ask my chauffeur if he wants to come in.” Who gives a shit. Stupid people.” (Zappetti’s wife did show up in court. In fact, on one occasion, he asked for a suspension of the proceedings because Z grew suddenly ill. She feared he was having another heart attack.)
Q: When are you leaving? Nov 1?
A: Naw. Who knows. For them, I can leave anytime. If it gets cold, I want to run. But I can tell you Hawaii in January and February is a miserable fucking place. It rains like a son of a bitch. And it rains. It rains. It rains hard. You remember the typhoon. The rain they had 2 years ago. By docks were flooded. Clogged up. Wouldn ‘t open. And Kahala which is a very expensive neighborhood was flooded. & the mud from theh mt. Side came down. These home are all millions of dollars. My property no problem cuz I’m on a canal. They can never flood the canal because the ocean is too big. …..(etc.,etc.)..If the street where the water can’t go down, that’ll pile up. But that canal was open and I’m right where the viaduct is. Shit, I send a fucking hand grenade down there and blow it up. But anyway, so. Last year when I was there in Jan and Feb it rained and rained and rained. It rains hard. Then, March, beautiful fucking weather.
(boring, meaningless discussion of weather in Hawaii follows, his house, his pool\, his jacuzzi, the porous concrete in his patio, the wind blowing the rain in the house)
(BALLPLAYERS)
A: All righty. What can we do this time?
Q: When did the ballplayers start coming to your restaurant? In the 50’s.
A: Well, the first that I was in conversation with was Mike Krisch. He was the first one. And of course I know Mike Solomko. Mike Solomko was in the paper the other day. That he played 3 years with the Hanshin Tigers or something. I know Mike. And I never classified him as a ballplayer. But he played 3 years here. Krisch. I don’t forget Kris because he would start out with ice cream and then he would go the…and he’d finish his meal with soup. Completely backwards everybody else. To me that was odd. That’s why I remember him. But next year I gotta start inviting the ballplayers to come here, for free pizza.
Q: Is that what you did before?
A: Yeah, I done that all the time. I gave them free pizza. And some people didn’t like it. Like the lee Brothers. They don’t want nothing free. Bobby Marcano…I used to keep a record of how many home runs they hit. They got free pizza for a home run, see. And Bobby comes in with his 5 kids or his 6 kids and I sez. “Bobby, Pizza.” And he says, “I ain’t got enough built up yet.” And I said, “shit.” I went into the office and said, “Anybody that’s an American ballplayer comes in. Give ‘em all the fucking pizza they want. Who cares?” And then you get pitchers. How does a pitcher hit a home run? So I sez, “Just give them free pizzas. And, of course, they liked it. A lot of ballplayers, they have a different attitude. Like Tony Solaita. He wanted veal Parmegna. He didn’t give a shit if you gave him a 100 pizzas. They all had different attitudes. So we gave them free pizza. Don’t care.
Q: Any interesting stories about these ballplayers?
A: You covered most of them in your book. They all say the same thing. Hara’s strike zone is 6” by 6” by 6”. Dead center. But you know it’s very interesting., I’m watching the satellite games, you know in the morning. And I pointed out to my wife the difference between Japanese baseball and American baseball. This is something I’m surprised you didn’t show. Do you know what an American baseball player does when he gets to the plate? First ball is pitched. He swings. You better believe it. The second pitch. He swings. The third pitch, he swings. You know what a Japanese ballplayer does? He looks around to the manager. He watches the first ball go in there. He looks around to the manager. The second ball. And when it’s 3-2, the manager says “Fuck you. Take care of yourself.” American baseball. The Japanese can never catch up to that kind of way of thinking. Swinging at every ball that comes near the plate.
Q: There’s a whole theory about that. It didn’t used to be like that in the States. Immediate gratification. How ballplayers of 20-30 years ago, they’d come up and it was the first at-bat in the game, they’d take a few pitches, just to see what the other guy had. If his fastball was moving, his curveball was breaking or what. They’d get a feel for it. So they don’t get a hit the first or second time. But third time is when they start hitting. Tim McCarver was talking about that the other day in a Mets game. He said the really big change is now these guys come up swinging away like mad. Said they have no discipline at all. Went into whole thing about drug culture and how kids these days are spoiled. And how you couldn’t coach them. And how they get away with it, because they’re so god awful strong. All they need is one pitch and they’ll knock it 600 feet. Talking about Canseco. How strong he was. Saying guy can’t field, doesn’t know how to hit cutoff man, doesn’t know anything about relay plays, can hit and run or bunt for the life of him, not that he’d ever have to. But he’s got arm like cannon. So even if he bobbles the ball 18 times and goes around in a circle, he can still throw the guy out.
(What the hell is this conversation all about?”)
A: When I was a kid we used to go to the ballpark. They used to practice that. The center fielder had to throw it on one bounce. & the rf and the lf had to throw a strike to the plate, w/o a bounce. They don’t do that shit no more. They don’t even think about it. They think about the cutoff man. I seena couple times they trhow the ball in. Ponce. The rf Destrade/ Seibu. He threw strike to plate & got guy out. Just last few games ago…..
(More meaningless discussion of bb)
Q: Destrade will be just like Van Burkleo this year. He’ll wind up on farm, inmid-year, despite his great year previous.
A: I know you like Van Burkleo…but unfortunately for him, he has no glamor, they don’t write him up, they don’t brag about it, he’s just a dead man sitting there. He could hit 600 homers, and they just don’t give a shit. He’s not the biggest advertisement that they got. They own the newspapers, probably, don’t they. They own everything. TV. But my prediction is that if Hankyu wins the Giants will stomp the shit out of the, But if Seibu wins, Seibu will stomp the shit out of the Giants.
(etc. etc. blah. Blah.)
(discussion of Cromartie’s salary request..3 million plus.)(comparing Warren Cromartie with Will Clark)
A: Will Clark. He’s a pro’s pro. You couldn’t get that guy to come to Japan for 5 million dollars. Wouldn’t Come. Like Rigoletti (Dave Righetti) refused 10 million dollars? Japanese. Of course, they’ll make a big offer to somebody they know won’t take it.
(More Baseball BS)
(Discussion of Zappetti on Dan Rather CBS News)
(Discussion of Oprah Winfrey show)
(Discussion of Giants. Taiyo Whales lose 18 games in a row to Giants 1989 series. In final three –game set, they didn’t even score one run. One might think it’s fixed)
(More baseball BS. Should Cromartie be the MVP?)
(Discussion of the RBI race. Ochiai versus Larry Parrish. Ochiai gets grooved. Pulls ahead of Parrish. Favoring the home grown star, as usual.)
(Zappetti’s critique of batting form in Japan. Critique of Larry Parrish.)
(Randy Bass only one able to adjust from big free swinger to pop wrist hitter. Made adjustment to the J game. Very rare for big muscle type of hitter.)
Q: Any fights between ballplayers in your restaurant?
A: No. They were all real gentlemen. Only time was when Marty Kuehnert (local American sportscaster) was classified as the asshole of the year.
Q: He really got pissed?
A: Of course, he was fucking mad. But I couldn’t help but laugh. Cuz everybody in that room weighed 200 fucking pounds. And what’s he gonna do. Challenge a 200 pound guy that’s an athlete? Shit that’s impossible. Didn’t Cromartie win the first one?
Q: Yeah. Then Kuehnert. Then they gave it Animal Leslie.
A: Then they stopped. I guess Bass and Macha where the engineers of that idea.
Q: Tell me about that night.
A: Kuehnert was sitting at the end of the table, like the Godfather. And they deliberately put him there. He shouda known that when he got that chair to sit in. And I think they knew he was gonna revolt against it cuz he’s the one who made that statement about Bass or something? Something about Bass said something. You were involved.
Q: I did interview with Bass, in which he criticized his manager, that got me in a lot of trouble. Him too. He was fined for that. Kuehnert was telling people that that interview was off the record….yeah, he said something about that interview…against that inteview. Between you and Bass, and they gave him the prize. And I think they gave him the prize. Of course, Macha is a very strong guy. Much stronger than Bass. And being that I know Macha, Macha almost indicated to me that if Kuehnert opens his mouth, they bash the shit out of him. They’ll hit him. They’ll paste the shit out of him. I think Macha was prepared for that because Bass couldn’t take that position, cuz he was principal involved. But Macha was outsider. & Mocha & Bass are inseparable.
Q: Wait. Sep 86 was when I did interview with Bass. He had contract with Gillette, that year…he almost hit .400. & way I heard it Gillette was going to cancel his contract cuz he critcized mgr. In interview. So Kuehnert told them—the Gillette people—that this was off the record.,.that it was my fault. Not Bass’s fault. Therefore please don’t cancel the contract….& he told that to his buddy wayne gracyke who told it to a reporter, in turn, who called me up to confirm it. That’s how I found out about it
A:….I can’t believe this guy Kuehnert. He ain’t got that influence ton talk to Gillette people. I know them They down the street. Used to come to my office. Why they even bother with him.
Q: Well, he did do some agenting, in Japan, for gaijin ballplayers.
A: But I know he’s a bullshitter, cuz SI excerpted my book in May & they called me to double check facts and they got his #…and called his office to check it out, and he changed a couple of things. Like I said Cromartie spent 5 consecutive Februaries in Japanese camp…they told me that Kuehnert said that Cromartie never came in Febrary, that he wasn’t forced to do the training that the G’s did, and Kuhern et should known cuz he’s Cro’s agent & negotaited his contract for Tokyo G’s. So I figured he was trying ton score some points at my expense. So I had them call up Cromartie and verify that he wasn’t his agent. That he was representing him for a commercial in Japan. So LLm cm. But he didn’t have anything to do with Cro’s contract. Cro did in fact come in Feb the first 3 years. Just like Japanese. It was only after he got second contract, that he was allowed to come in March. But he was bs’in SI at my expense trying to score points.
…What you said, was…different year> Not cuz of Bass?
A: They gave him that award cuz he did something in publication area that classified him as a shit. I thought it was that.
A: Maybe. On Ch 12, He was doing sports news. Used to brag about personal contacts he had with these players. They didn’t like him. None of them liked him. It was a unanimous vote. In fact, it was so beautiful, they already had name printed on tag. There was no discussion. 1-2-3. They all argreed he was shithead of the year. Hot Dog of year was name of award.
Q: He used to criticize gaijin players. Said this guy swinging too much, etc.
A: He was taking advantage of fact he could speak Japanese. Thinking these guys, they ain’t gonna understand it….They tape the god damn 11 p.m. sports show.
Q: I used your line the other day on US tv show about protectionism is baseball…that
Japanese don’t recognize that foreigners have rights.. They only recognize that J. have rights.
A: Yeah. Foreigners don’t have no rights here. Even if your get fingerprinted nyoun have no rights.
Q: What they’d say?
A: When he realized he was recipient of this god damn thing, he got up and boy he was fucking furious. And they all gave him a look, he collapsed instantly. Realizing if he said something wrong. He was in the doghouse. There was about ten of them there that day. Each one weighed 200 pounds. Think he would challenge them? Even Bobby Marcano would beat shit out of him. & he was smallest of all. Still he was 6’ tall. He got up. He had a violent attitude. But it never got past his lips. ^ he didn’t know what the trophy was un til he read it & that was the funniest part, He started out, “I appreciate this thing…” andn then he’s reading it…. Then he says what….he saw it was award for hot dog of yr. He figured out he was the asshole…..He was real angry, but then he realized, what can he do. Everybody voted for him. No dissenting votes. …He took home the plaque…..Next yr. Gave it to Animal.
Q: Lee told me, they going to give it to me. For that interview. Until Bass said no. Told them what really happened….Voted on Animal instead. But they never had the meeting. Never had the presentation.
A: He didn’t hurt nobody. He was a character. Prize person. Good for baseball.
(Discussion drones on about Animal. And his ballpark theatrics. Credit to game)
A: I didn’t like Sanchez. (Tokyo Giant’s pitcher from Venezuela)
Q: He created a scene here. Berating your waiters one night.
A: I didn’t know about that. I would have kicked him out….loaded down with his gold chains and gold rings….In guess, just like the joke about Chico.Guy said to his daughter “What you doing? You bring Nigger home?” …”I’m no nigger. I’se a Brazilian.”
Q: Who told you that joke?
A: Chico Velonikas. Pot & Pan salesman studying for Japanese law. And he’d read fucking Japanese law books on the train everyday…in Japanese. Jesus.
Q: He ever pass the bar?
A: Don’t know if he ever took the exam. He was studying for it. He’s probably not here no more. His daughter Patricia brought home Chico Boorbon. Chico was a tv celebrity. Black as the ace of spades.
Q: American guy?
A: I think he’s American…..he was in Japanese movies, commercials. Before. I don’t see him anymore. He’s not here no more….You know the Japanese, they want you to come to Japan, play baseball, they don’t care, they’d rather you play lousy, then they can say, “see, our ballplayers are better than them”…But then again, I don’t blame the Japanese for kicking out a foreigner who hits .250. For Christssakes, any Japanese can bat .250. What the hell you want to bring an import in for? But then if you bring an import that hits .400. They don’t want him here either. See? And they like to pay money because they feel that they’re buying you. You’re a whore. You’re taking money. For something that you’re not qualified for…..
(SEX STORIES/CAROUSING)
One time…I did that with a girl one day. She wanted money but I said, “You gotta be good, baby.” And when I took her in the hotel and started fucking her, she was terrible. You know, you’re lousy. You’re the lousiest fuck I ever got out. What nerve you got charging people money!” She gave me the money back. And I took it. She was a lousy piece of ass….Use it. It’s a true story. True story, yo. Jesus Christ. You would think that they know how to fuck and do this and do that. Become acrobatic. Shit I had to do all the work. I tell you crazy. I’m paying all the money. I gotta do all the work too? That’s no good.
Q: How much did you pay here?
A: Oh, probably 30,000 or 40,000 yen.
Q: When was this?
A: It was about 4 or 5 , 6 years ago. Not so long ago. Well, maybe I should say, when I was 50 years old. 10-15 years ago. I was chasing broads then….By the way, did you know that Frank Sinatra bought the Aladdin Hotel? You know the sex story about Frank Sinatra I told you? Copacabana girl. She’s in LA now.
Q: that’s great. She gave you the money back.
A: And I took it.
Q: Did you come?
A: I did all the work, I had to come. No, I think that’s misrepresentation. That’s bullshit. Q: Where’d you pick her up?
A: Oh, probably one of the club girls. I told ya, I used to go to the Copacabana, the Latin Quarter., Benibasha, and the chief bartender would always say, “There’s a new one.” And I’d nail the new one. I think I slept with over 3,000 girls in Japan. Different ones. I really enjoyed life.It was a great life. If sex is life. But I sure made a lot of fucking business mistakes. But they can’t take that away from you. I told you about the time the girl comes over to my wife and says, “I’m pregnant.”
Q: You didn’t tell me that.
A: That was when I had the restaurant down the street here. The one by the ‘kosokudoro” (the highway). And I was in there and my wife was behind the counter, or bar, you know.
Q: Where was this?
A: Gazembo-cho. The restaurant by the highway. And this girl goes over to my wife and says, “you’re husband got me pregnant.” She says, “What do you talk to me for. I didn’t get you pregannt. He got you pregnant. So go talk to him” (laughing) How would you like that if somebody goes over to your wife and tells her that. Jesus Christ.
Q: That’s a great line. That’s a great comeback.
A: She says, “Don’t talk to me. I didn’t do it.”
Q: She didn’t get pissed at you for that? She must’ve.
A: I was fucking everybody.
Q: That’s a funny story.
A; You know, this guy who works in JCIA now, my interpreter at times…he works for me once a week. I used to call him up every god damn time and say go find my car. I left it someplace in Tokyo. Can you imagine that? I used to pick up these broads and I always had a big Cadillac. Wind up someplace sleeping with them. And I can’t find my car on the way home. I don’t know where I parked it. And I have to call up the police and say I left my car overnight someplace. …What area?…Jeez. I don’t know…I can’t remember. I took a taxi home and the taxi bill was so much. That’s the only way I can figure out approximately how far from home I was. I must have done that at least once a week.
(OMURA)
But sex was a great part of my life. I couldn’t help it. Because when I came to Japan, you know, you stay without sex in the Marine Corps for 4 years, shit, man, the first thing we did in Kyushu was go to the whorehouses there. 10 yen to stay all night. Imagine that? Price has gone up recently. But then I told you, then we found out it was Japanese money and there was plenty of Japanese money all over the streets of Okinawa. It was useless currency.
Q: Why?
A: The war was over. The Japanese currency was in Okinawa. And I was the first sergeant, so I sent an airplane down there with a couple of boys to get all you can and they brought back a locker full of money and we just distributed it. Gave everybody that time, 3,000 yen each. And when you think that if a Japanese made 10 yen a month, he was doing good. We gave everybody 3,000 yen. Boy, you talk about wild niggers. I should just say wild sailors. Being that you don’t want to use the word nigger.
Q: Black guys you mean?
A; No, I mean you know, cowboy Roebuck…how would you say it.? They were allowed 3,000 yen. Jesus. 10 yen you could stay all night. Can you imagine what 3,000 yen can do? Jesus, you can live there for ever.
Q: Why was there money on the street. I don’t understand this. This money lying on the street?
A: Yeah. Cuz it was no good. They lost the war.
Q: And they started using American currency. MPC.
A: Well, I mean you couldn’t buy anything. And the money between them was no good.. What could they buy with it? And you go over to one of them and you say, you know, “Here’s a dollar. How much Japanese yen you got?” Fuck, they give you a baleful. They’ll give you all they got. What the hell do they care about it? It’s no good. It has no purchasing power.
(RED LIGHT YOSHIWARA & OTHER OCCUPATION TALES)
And you know, back in the old days they had Yoshiwara(red light district in e. Tokyo) And they used to have stripes on the building for PFC’s. And this one was for Corporal. And this one has 3 stripes. And this one was a lieutenant’s place. Imagine that, the girls were taught…what would you call it…that different classes of people would sleep with different girls. …Yoshiwara….Stripes & Bars. If your stripes matched the door, you get in. The sergeant couldn’t go in the corporal’s place. And the corporal couldn’t’ screw a girl in the sergeant’s place.
Then they had another whorehouse in Tokyo. Shinjuku 2-chome was at.
Q: Tell me about that.
A: Well, Shinjuku was over here (i.e. western Tokyo) . Of course, they wiped it out now. That’s where the Shinjuku-ku Kuyakusho (ward office) is. That used to be 2-chome. It was all fucking red light neighborhood. But then again most of Japan was that way. The old days.
I remember I used to buy yakitori from a man on a push cart. And that was back in 1946. And I used to go by the Nomura Hotel, next door to the Dai-Ichi hotel, and this guy was there with his wagon and his monkey. And he made good yakitori. And, of course, we were very liberal with money. Because, what the hell are you going to do with money? You got plenty of money. Nobody else had money. And today…that guy went down to the Ginza and he opened a place, and it was the most expensive yakitori you ever ate and you couldn’t get a seat. Years and years ago, like 10-15 years ago, you sit there with two people and your bill was 10,000 yen. Where normal people were spending 500
yen to eat. That bill would be 10,000 yen. Cost ten times more than any other place. And you couldn’t get a seat. It’s still there…It’s down on the Ginza …in an alley…near Meito cheese co. …by a pharmacy…very very good yakitori, because it’s got all the dishes in front od you. And you say give me this, give me that. Give me this. Give me that. And I love to eat Yakitori. By now if my wife hears about chicken, she says “Don’t eat there. Cuz Chicken’s got a high fat content in the skin. But he was a very famous man. Course he’s dead now. But his yakitori place still carries his picture and his pushcart picture. And the monkey. He always carried a monkey.
I had a monkey but I called her Michiko.
Q: Tell me about the whorehouses in Yoshiwara. Give me some color,.
A: Well, it’s very hard…it’s way back in the memory. You know it looked like a GI barracks. 2 floors. Big buildings. You know barracks. And I don’t think you paid more than 10 yen or 20 yen or some crap like that. Then money was so insignificant.
Q: This is when? Late 40’s?
A: 1946. 47. In Tokyo. Yoshiwara.
Q: And what, they have beds or what? Tatami?
A: No, they had…I’d say they were all tatamis. And futon’s. And they were not really separated rooms. You know, it was a flimsy operation. Who cared. You just went in, took your clothes off and fucked and got up and left. Then you had to run right back and wash yourself carefully and all that other crap. There was no washing facilities. There was no Ofuro. (bath) Anyway, who in the hell would go in an ofuro in a place like that? Probably got every disease in the world. Of course, I can not say that I never got a needle stuck in my ass. That was a quite often occurrence in this country. But then, again, like the doctor said, “It’s better to get a dose than to not do it at all.”
Q: You got it?
A: Yeah. Oh sure.
Q: What did doctor give you?
A: A shot of penicillin. In the ass. And it will go away. But like Dr Aksenoff, my doctor said, “It’s better to take a needle than not do it.” And I think he’s correct.
Q: What were these places like in the winter?
A: Cold. But then, you know, they ain’t that bad. I mean those places they have their little hibachis, but you can’t keep a barracks warm. The only way you can keep it slightly warm is with human bodies. But they were big buildings. They were big barracks. So they might have had in one place, they might have had a 100 girls. One floor.
Q: how do…they bring one in, you pick the one you wanted?
A: You didn’t care. You didn’t care. One is as good as the other. The mama-san would say, “You go to Room No. 7.” and they got No. 7 on the god damn sheet that’s hanging up there. And you go in there. There were no bedrooms. No walls. No partition. Just open. They might have got high class later on, but to me, it was just the next military barracks, that was flooded with broads.
Q: No partition. No walls. Just futon. Hibachi. And these girls were wearing kimono?
A: The bottom one. What do you call it, underneath the kimono.They have a word for it. What is that word? You know, they call it a little housecoat, a kimono. That’s where we get the word kimono from. You know the navy says skivvy shirts.That’s an Oriental word. But you got to get a bigger authority on that than me. I was spoiled. I was catching girls everywhere. I went to Yoshiwara once or twice. But after that, it was not necessary. Not necessary. They had too many girls in Tokyo.
And I used to live in your home town, Kamakura.
SIDE B
(Counter 000)
(KING OF KOREA)
A: I tell you I took the King of Korea on a whorehouse trip with me….He was married to the Emperor’s sister…Prince Rhee…or Lee…He was a short guy. He looked like Colonel Sanders. That would be a good description of him. I took him to my girl friend’s house. I believe was Shimo-Tokaido. She was the greatest blow artist in town. And she was studying to be a lawyer. Good looking girl. Smart. Intelligent. She loved to suck. And who am I to discourage any such activity? As long as you got tits baby, you’re welcome.
And he loved to dance this guy. He liked American style dancing. He thought it was great. So we used to go to “Oasis.” We used to go to Ningyo-cho. What the hell was the name of that club.
Q: Who was he married to?
A: The emperor’s sister. Emperor Hirohito. The present Emperor’s aunt. That was to cement bonds between Korea and Japan. And he lived today in, today the Akasaka Prince Hotel. That was his property. And I used to go there quite often. …That used to be his private home. And he used to raise flowers. Roses. Oh, the whole thing was his. It was all home…the…I think it’s still standing there, the old home is still a hotel there.then they built around it or something. That was his private home. I used to sleep there. Drink with him. Eat with him.
Q: How old was he then?
A: Oh, he was gray-headed at that time. If we say 46, that was about 40 years ago. Let’s say I was 40 years old. Which would be wrong. That would be 1950. Let’s see. I was …1946,,47. And he was already gray-haired.And I’d say at that time he was already 50-60 years old. And that would be about 40 years ago. So today, if he wsa alive, he’d be 100 yrs old….but that’s easy to find out..
Q: So you took him to the blow job artist.
A: I took him to the girl’s house.
Q: She gave him a blow job.
A: Yeah. He liked that. He thought it was great.
Q: I’ll bet he did. Is there anybody who doesn’t?
A: Well, you got to remember. This guy is a prince. And he is protected all the time. And everybody’s around him and he doesn’t get a chance to be free. But I used to go there..I got a license to steal. I was a government investigator. I was allowed to do anything I wanted. God only know what he told his wife. He had to go down for questioning or some shit like that. & we’d go dancing, we’d go drinking. He was a gay blade.He enjoyed life. And he had another name. I forget the name we gave him. We never say Prince Rhee. We never said Rhee. Because somebody might hit a bell with somebody. So we gave him the name “George or Frank or Johnny or some shit like that. I can’t remember.
Q: What’d this girl’s house look like. Was it an apartment or what?
A: No…she was from the upper class. She had a very big home. Her mother & father was there and whatnot. But you know that way the Japanese homes are. You got the garden and you got the sliding doors. So she’d always make sure that the door was ….a little knock. She knows what it was. She was great. She was a good-looking girl, too. She was great. But she wouldn ‘t fuck though. She only wanted to blow, blow, blow. She never stopped.
But, like I told you. Those days. You knew the girl that blew. You knew the one that wanted to go back style. You knew the one that wanted to be on top. You knew all the different kinds. In all my life in Japan, I always enjoyed sex with a broad because they all had their own perfection. This is what they liked to do and what they liked to do they do best yo. Why argue with it? This guy Freddy Miyake he likes the blow women. He thinks that’s great. He just tell me his young girl had been down to see him. This is last night 12 o;clock. He calls me. I can’t say much on the phone. My wife is there. She can figure out what the other side is saying. I say, “you know he had his girl there for 10 days. Must be Mariko.” Don’t want to get involved in who it was. Forgettabout it. It’s easy to check it out cuz he’s Okinawan.
But anyway, those were the days of sex galore. All the sex you wanted. No problem. But, you had to be a gentleman. You had to be nice. You had to be friendly. You had to be sociable. You couldn’t say I’m a sergeant or I’m a lieutenant or I’m a colonel. You couldn’t do none of those things. They would turn against you. You had to appeal to them on an equal level. Treat them as human beings. You’d be surprised. Many refused to take gifts. Even though they were hurt and hungry. A lot of them had a lot of pride. Then how can they take home something, their mother and father say “Where’d you get that from?” See. And you couldn’t give them MPC’s because they couldn’t do nothing with it. And yen was not an item that we dealt with so much.
Somebody turned the air conditioner on.
A: Want something to eat. …Ne…(calls water)…Ne…
Q: Pizza’s fine. Your pizza is really good here….
A: Ne…(claps)…What’s good here is the fact that nobody answers you. You get no feedback. You get no nothing….Matsubayashi!…Ne….Hey, you’re supposed to start work at 3 o’clock. Where the fuck are you?…(checks new audio watch) (time 4:53)
(Eating pizza. Smalltalk. Sanchez. Kuwata, Giants pitcher, took money under table, from sporting goods company. Etc. etc. blah.blah…. Story about Cromartie…Whiting reprimanded for not asking G’s permission to write column about Cromartie in Weekly Asahi. What BS.
___________
(End Interview)
Tokyo Junkie 