Fumio Hoshi's Comments

Dear Fumio,

It is so nice to hear from you!

I didn't remember exactly what I did to provoke you that day until you mentioned the spitting - and then it came back to me. I still can't imagine what we could have been arguing about that would have led to that, but I definitely had a hot temper and a big mouth in those days, and I had no doubt it was my fault. And no, you didn't rough me up - perhaps because you didn't catch me - but you would have been entirely justified. ;-)

I'm surprised that you remember me - yup, I had curly red hair (and thick glasses back then). And even more surprised that you remember me getting my head pounded into the pavement. I'd forgotten that, along with your breaking it up - thank you - and even Tommy Davis, till you mentioned him. There was a lot of bullying back then which all seems to blur together now. But I do remember that I respected you and always regretted that incident between us, and that may well explain why.

And now I regret not having gotten to know you better - though from what Yumiko said, I understand that you returned to Japan not too long after we'd met. So perhaps it wasn't meant to be. If you read my short bio, you know that I've been teaching philosophy and autobiographical writing at the University of Massachusetts. I just retired last month.

What I didn't mention there is my long-standing interest in Japanese pop culture. It was triggered, as I'm sure it was for many Anglos, by the films of Kurosawa. There was a movie theater in Manhattan that, for a couple years in the 70's, showed only Japanese films and would serve tea and biscuits between features. I got to talk with some real fans, some Japanese, and learned enough to want to keep on learning more.

I've since collected boxes and boxes of manga and shelves full of anime, studied martial arts and Zen, and read a couple Mishima novels. It would have been great to have had the opportunity to learn more at firsthand, from you.

So what have you been up to all these years? Are you back in the US now? I'd be very interested to hear...

Rick