Not to worry, Yumiko coolly said.  She pulled out a suitcase from the closet and opened it right in front of me.   I was completely shocked.  I thought such clothes were used only in fashion shows in Paris or Milan, and there was no way Yumiko would have a boxful of them.  Yumiko wasted no time in trying to determine what she was going to wear.  Before I was done rummaging through the box, Yumiko had already stripped down to her underwear and was trying different combinations.  Standing in front of a full-length mirror, she looked like a model, who was checking her body from various angles.  I simply sat fascinated as Yumiko chose an embroidered bra top with a see-through red chiffon blouse and black leather skirt.  

Yumiko suggested that I should use one of her dresses.  While I was fascinated by Yumiko’s outfit and would have loved to try it, I was not sure that I was ready to go out wearing something like this.  I reluctantly chose a black mesh slip dress even though I was a little bit conscious of wearing such a revealing outfit.   While I had been horrified to see Yumiko the other day wearing a dress without a bra, I was not sure that I wanted to do the same, but I could not imagine wearing a bra either with this dress.  As I tried the dress on, I realized that either I would have to wear it without a bra or everyone would get a good peek at it.  In Yumiko’s opinion, either way was fine.  Not wearing a bra was a symbol of confidence in one’s body while wearing a bra showed boldness – “I like my underwear and you should too,” Yumiko laughingly commented.  I was in a bind and finally opted to wear a bra even if it meant that my underwear would not be known just to her.  However, once I was dressed completely and stood in front of the mirror, I realized that my black and red bra was too much of a distraction – the dress was too low cut like that of Ali Larter.  I would be better off without it, I told Yumiko, who gladly went behind me and unhooked it.  I pulled my bra out by slightly pushing down the dress and then threw it in the air as if I were in another theme party – we both laughed loudly and cheered as it fell on the floor.  Maybe I was a wild girl after all – the world just did not know it yet, and neither did I - I told myself.

The restaurant in Roppongi was packed.  I was surprised not only by the number of foreigners but also by the number of Japanese who seemed to come from a different world.  The Japanese there looked so cosmopolitan.  They did not look or behave like the Japanese I had known so far in the Osaka suburbs.  I was definitely being exposed to a Japan that I had not seen yet.  While I heard a lot of Japanese being spoken, it seemed that there were too many languages being spoken.  At the end of the evening, I was starting to think that life might actually be quite exciting in Tokyo – only if I could get this job.

~  

Next part:  Job interview in Tokyo