Flash back to a sweltering August evening in 1994. I arrived at Itami airport north of Osaka city. It was the fourth and last leg of my 30 hour journey from the other side of the planet. I wasn't traveling by myself so I was laid back and confident about my new adventure. This confidence would melt away as soon as I went through the customs and immigration line up.
This was 18 years ago so air travel was a lot more laid back than it is these days. Terrorism, racial profiling, and body scans weren't thought of much by the uniformed officers at Japanese customs. There was still a crackdown in place. The recent arrest of a foreign teacher at a popular language school put all officials on the look out for "gaijin" that had any connection to the company. My traveling companion and source of my confidence was also an employee of this company. The customs officers opened his bag and went through his belongings thoroughly. They then escorted him away to another room where they could further interrogate him (just to note that my friend wasn't and isn't a criminal any more than you and I but the airport officials wanted to make sure).
I was oblivious to what my friend was going through. I had gone through the line before him and was adjusting my belongings and preparing for the train ride to the apartment. When I turned around he was gone. I asked the officer where my friend went and all I got was "No go. No go." and a wave of a hand. I exited into the general airport area and immediately began to sweat. Fifty percent of my sweating was from the sauna-like weather and fifty percent was from the fact that I was now alone with no idea where I was going...
