Saturday 10 May 2008

Tokyo... 1968-70


I have no idea what age I was here - maybe 2? Anyway, I like the composition. The girl on the right was called Hisako and took to me as if I was a little white-blond puppy. Dad was the local Vice President of an international US travel firm and he and Mum hosted lots of cocktail parties for ambassadors and visiting Hollywood stars. I tell everyone that being exposed to Judy Garland and Ethel Merman at such a vulnerable age explains everything...

10 comments:

Matt said...

I had no idea what a jetsetter you were (are?)! I lived in the same suburban-Chicago house my entire life until going to college.

I've been wanting to go to Japan lately. I doubt that I would be invited to fancy cocktail parties, though. And I was never exposed to Ethel or Judy, so I have no clever excuse. ;)

Greg said...

We travelled quite a bit in my childhood, but these days it's a real achievement for me to get out of my front door. I want to travel, but I've lost the appetite to do it alone. I hope it comes back, or that I meet someone with the same itchy feet.

There's something to be said for having grown up in one place and to know where you're from, Matt. I hope you appreciate that. In many ways I'm still looking for home.

Matt said...

I do appreciate it, Greg. Your words make me do so even more.

Know, though, that I'm also still looking for home. We're all doing that somehow, no matter what our home was.

'Nother hug.

Anonymous said...

I really love the composition of this photo. It looks like one of those old photos you'll find in a old-fashioned restaurant. On another note, even that was a toddler photo of you, you really still have that same face.

My parents gave me a Hello Kitty wallet when I was three. Nope, no Judy or Ethel needed there. They basically took my hand and pull me to the finish line.

Okay, let's have a hugging fest! *HUGZ*

Greg said...

That's so FUNNY! Ha Ha Ha.

Yeah, and not only is it the same face, but I think it's time for me to start wearing braces to hold my trousers up again. I hope my hair turns blond again, too (before it all falls out, of course....)

HUGZ2U2!

LSL said...

I love this sweet photo :)

Greg said...

I was thinking of you when I put it up here, LSL.

Like you say, I used to live in Japan but now I don't.

G x

Tilly said...

So beyond cute! Where was it - do you remember? Your blond hair must have been very unusual (I hesitate to say, "in those days" since you aren't that old! - but well... in those days! Japan has changed hugely even in the last 15-20 years.
Tilly x

Anonymous said...

We're calling Greg, Sweet Potatoe now, LSL?

I think I have someone called me Onion Head once... what's with all these vegetable names. LOL

Greg said...

I don't know where it was, but I'm guessing maybe a rooftop kindergarten - the chairs look a little school-like to me. I used to go to the Nichimachi school, so maybe it's there and maybe that's a class project I'm holding? We lived in Minami-Azabu on a street that sloped down towards a t-junction after which I recall a steep drop down onto a sea of tin rooftops. I bet they're all high-rises now. My Dad visited Tokyo in the 80s and told me that our single-story dwelling had been replaced by an apartment block called (coincidence?) "English Mansions".