Roppongi Madness II: Yakuza!!
Disclaimer: Every so often a story is going to come along that will scare my parents and leave friends in doubt of my sanity. For the rest of the world, this means something exciting! Here is one of them.
The day started off fairly unassuming. I showered, washed my clothes, and hung out at Mihye’s while she cooked us another delicious Korean lunch. Eventually, it was time for her to leave for work so I spent a few hours catching up on email and blogging at an internet café. By the time darkness set in I was well rested, refreshed and ready for a night of partying. I took the opportunity to spend time with a couple friends that I had been neglecting for the last week.
Megumi and Matthias met me in Roppongi around midnight. We started out at Bar Sheesha, an extremely stylish sheesha lounge, but unfortunately too expensive for our budgets. We stretched our complimentary drinks as far as they would go before taking to the streets in search of cheaper thrills; trust me the streets of Roppongi is definitely where to find them. After picking up a few Red Bulls and “One-Cups” (220ml ¥130 cheap sake bottles) we roamed around striking up conversation with whomever we came across.
As the sun began to rise our nocturnal eyes sought shelter from the blinding light. Gaspanic 99, a hip-hop club located nearby, was still thumping. Not normally my kind of scene, but after having a few drinks and meeting a few people from around the world I was actually coerced into dancing. Some time passed before the subways started their day, but eventually Matthias called it quits and left me responsible for Megumi.
I still had no place to sleep, but I’ve been told many times how safe it is to crash on a park bench in Japan. My plan was to walk Megumi back to her subway station (so she could get to work in a couple hours) and then head to Yoyogi for a few hours of rest. I found her unconscious outside. She was completely obliterated (for anybody reading this back home; well beyond ewaskiewasted). I picked her up and almost had to drag her away. She was in no state to be awake, let alone walking twenty minutes to the metro so she could go to work. We got a few blocks away from the club before I grew tired of picking her up off the sidewalk wherever she decided to pass out. I pulled her into a parking lot and fell asleep myself.
A short time later, I awoke to find three tough Japanese thugs sticking their hands down the still unconscious Megumi’s pants. Instinctively, I reached over and pulled them out before they shoved me back to the ground. They rolled up their sleeves, flashed their tattoos and started yelling about being Yakuza! They ordered me to give them all my money, and then threw it back in my face when they found out I had no more than a few hundred yen on me. I’m definitely glad to have left my cash in my bag before going out for a night of drinking!
They continued to harass me for a while about being a foreigner until I was able to wake up Megumi. She was still in a drunken state and had no clue what was going on, so she started cursing at them and provoking them more. Just then, a car pulled up and the driver began to yell out to them. I was beginning to think we were in some serious trouble, but they simply got in the car and yelled a few racial slurs as they pulled away. We got away safely, and the excitement was enough fuel to get Megumi to her station. Wow… cheap thrills definitely found!
Tags: Asia, Japan, Japan: Toyko, Roppongi, Tokyo
Adam Shane
ha fucking great dude.
AHHHHH!!! adam!!! i’m reading this on the edge of my seat! i love the ewaskiewasted comment, and also your dedication to protecting your female counterparts. is megumi the girl coming to korea? can’t wait to see you both!!
Well…son…I discovered you were somewhat crazy when you were less than a year old sitting in your high chair and your amusement was to bite into a balloon to break it…smack…in your face…and you would laugh hysterically rather than be frightened by the exploding balloon popping in your face. I’m still not really sure if you are simply fearless or just crazy. So is it any wonder to me you think that coming close to losing your money and your life is excitingly amusing? But I am so very pleased to hear of your chivalrous attempts to help a female in distress.
I know you are quite intelligent but you don’t appear to have common street sense, which I seemed to have been born with. Such warnings experienced in life are meant as wake up calls to change your behavior. I can only hope you realize that spending your money to sleep in a safe place in “any city or country” rather than risking your life sleeping in parking lots is the most “wise” choice.
I send you this bit of wisdom and my love along each step of your way…quite well knowing that a mother’s love cannot protect you from your own self…and so my ongoing practice of masterful detachment is my strength while I observe your adventures from afar.
Love,
Mom