Chapter 33 San Francisco duster (1)

When we were young, the mention of "flying" was almost as fussed as it was in Lindbergh's day, and it's funny to think about it now.The first time I flew on a plane was in 1956, when our radio program "Ayang Aning Adong" was very popular, and we were going to Kumamoto, Kyushu for an anniversary performance for NHK.As for what a big deal flying is, my parents didn't attend my graduation recital at music school or send me to work at NHK, but when I got to fly, they went to Haneda Airport together see me off.Because of this situation, special permission was required for "going abroad" at that time, otherwise they were not allowed to go abroad.

One day, the good news seemed to come from the sky that I was scheduled to be sent to the United States and Canada.This is too old to believe, and I'm ashamed to bring it up again. In 1959, the St. Lawrence waterway in Canada was opened. Large ships can sail into large lakes such as Lake Michigan and directly connect with the Atlantic Ocean. This allows not only large-scale water transportation, but also hydroelectric power generation at the same time, so this is very important for the United States and Canada. It is a great joy.This waterway cost 470 million U.S. dollars at the time, and power development and other projects cost another 600 million U.S. dollars, which shows how important the opening of this waterway is.

Besides, how did I get involved with the happy event that the waterway was opened.It turned out that when the waterway was opened, which country's big ship could enter Lake Michigan first through the waterway was a major event that attracted worldwide attention.It was finally decided that Japan's Iino Shipping opened a regular route, and a ship called "Mongshima Maru" was the first to pass through the St. Lawrence Waterway.This is 1961.This is the first large 10,000-ton ship to enter Lake Michigan, so a large ceremony will be held on board to commemorate it.At the climax of the ceremony, a letter from the Governor of Tokyo is delivered to the Mayor of Chicago.So, who is going to forward this letter?In the end it was decided that a girl in a long-sleeved kimono would hand it over.At that time, the number of TV sets was gradually increasing, attracting more and more attention.At that time, I was the No. 1 TV actress trained by NHK, and I was loved by everyone because of the program "Ayang Aning Adong".At the same time, "Weekly Shincho" held a question-and-answer column centered on photos called "One Million Yen Overseas Photo Questions and Answers", and I was identified as the model for this column.For example, the question asked "Which cities did the boat pass through to enter Lake Michigan?" I passed through places such as Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Niagara, Toronto, and Chicago, and took photos with representative places in that city as the background. like a dream.Here's how things went.In short, the good thing called "going abroad" at the time fell before my eyes.My colleagues were all happy for me, "I can go abroad now", and tried their best to help me at work so that I could take a vacation.I flew to Chicago, where I was scheduled to meet the boats coming into Lake Michigan.At that time, going to Kyushu required a lot of fuss, so when it came to going to Canada and the United States, it was like parting life and death.In short, I finally set off.At that time, of course, there was no direct plane like now. I first took a JAL (Japan Airlines) plane to Hawaii, refueled in Hawaii and flew to San Francisco, and then took a domestic flight in the United States to Chicago.

The common sense at that time was that "even if a Japanese woman doesn't speak, as long as she smiles, everything is fine."In fact, this statement is very absurd. When I first arrived at the airport in Hawaii, a man asked me in English: "How long are you going to stay in the United States? What are you going to do? Have you brought any gifts? Have you brought any pearls? Have you brought them?" How much? Do you have any friends in America?" I barely had time to answer, and his questions were thrown like a cannonball.I tried to smile, and the other party just smiled back.Even so, I finally made it through.The first time I breathed the fragrance of Hawaiian air, I was intoxicated.From Hawaii, I flew to San Francisco.After getting off the plane, I saw the clear and transparent blue sky of San Francisco for the first time in my life.For some reason, I felt so happy that I couldn't help laughing.I also thought "this is too funny", but I was still laughing alone looking at the sky.

The second thing that shocked me was when I saw the American porters who carried my luggage at the airport.Before that, to me, American men were the occupying forces in Japan, the great men who gave us gum and chocolate.However, the porter carried my luggage for me, said "thank you very much" when I tipped him, and then dragged his boots a little tiredly, pushing my luggage cart.In Japan, they wore military uniforms and were occupation troops, but they were actually ordinary Americans.Thinking about it now, this is all taken for granted, but for me at the time, it was a great shock.

The staff of Iino Kaiyun stationed in San Francisco came to meet me, and I checked into the hotel.It was only a day before I left for Chicago, so I wandered the streets of San Francisco.The city tram is rolling down the hillside, and there are many white-walled houses in the middle of the hillside, which seem to be shining from a distance, all of which are very interesting.Walking around, I found the most beautiful thing in my life in the grocery store! At first, I didn't see what it was—it was fluffy, like a giant cotton candy, and the color changed from pink to gray, light blue, and colorful, just like the angel in Raphael's painting Something to hold while flying.There are many types of it, and some transition from purple to rose and green.I thought to myself, whatever this is, I'm going to buy it!

I picked it up and observed carefully, and saw that it was a duster, and there was a thick, short stick on the duster.At that time, Japanese dusters were made by tearing old cloth into thin strips, which looked loose and loose.I was amazed at the difference in aesthetics between the two dusters.The dusters here are mesmerizingly cute.It looks like cotton, but it might actually be made of nylon, a material that just appeared at the time, and it's fluffy anyway.I like fluffy things, but there was nothing like that in Japan at the time. I bought myself three dusters of different colors, and estimating which of my friends would like the oddity, I bought ten in total.The uncle at the grocery store said to wrap it up for me, but I thought it was a pity to wrap it up, so I told the uncle that I wanted to keep watching, and asked him to just tie the sticks of the duster firmly together.I had no idea at the time how much trouble this would cause for the rest of my travels.The dusters were fluffy like a bouquet, and I carried them back to the hotel contentedly.Next, we set off for Chicago.Since the duster won't fit in the bag, I just hold it by hand.In Chicago, I met Keisuke Kojima, a senior photographer at Shincho Magazine.The celebrations on board, the banquet at the Japanese Consulate General, and other ceremonies all went smoothly.There were many "war brides" in Chicago, Japanese women married to the occupying army, who came to watch the Japanese ships with great affection.

I bid farewell to the people of Iino Kaiun, and set off for Quebec, Canada with Mr. Kojima for a photo shoot at Shincho Magazine.At this time, I finally regretted buying a duster.If I hold them with one hand, the sticks are too thick for me to hold; if I hold them with two hands, then I can hardly see anything else.So, I bumped into people and walls several times at the airport, and bumped my head in a taxi.Dusters are becoming more and more of a hassle, and they take up room on the plane.I took these dusters and went to Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Niagara, and Toronto. I stayed in each of these places for two days, and the shooting in each place went smoothly.But every time I get on the plane, I hold piles of dusters and run over while screaming. This is undoubtedly in stark contrast to Mr. Kojima, who is quiet and taciturn.

Finally, after filming in Toronto, I said goodbye to Mr. Kojima and got on a plane to New York.The staff of Iino Kaiyun in New York said that "it is rare to come to the United States", and suggested that I go to New York to watch a musical, and was willing to accompany me.I was tempted, so I took a detour to New York.The person who came to meet me at the New York airport was an important person in charge. He said: "At the beginning, we couldn't find Ms. Hei Liu, and we were worried and didn't know what to do!" This was because my face was blocked by the duster . I saw My Fair Lady on Broadway. "Ah, so the musical is so amazing!" That kind of beauty is beyond imagination, so great, it is simply perfect.For a long time, I have dreamed of doing musical theater, but after watching it, I gave up on the spot on the spot.