CHAPTER FIFTEEN: A FAREWELL TO JAPAN

I wish that I could transport every one of the readers of my account to the people, whom I met in Japan, to the places, to which I went in Japan, and to the great time, that I spent in Japan. I had and still have lots of great friends in Japan. I went fishing. I went to birthday parties, at which Moet & Chandon and other champagnes and sparkling wines flowed. I went to weddings. We danced, drank, feasted, sang, talked, laughed,together, cried together, went to fireworks, and went on picnics. I was counted as a Japanese person among my Japanese friends. These friends sometimes even asked me sincerely for advice and they listened to my advice intently. Even brief encounters with Japanese citizens, whom I never saw again, were nearly always very good. I was also able to see and tour about Japan a fair amount during my twelve years there. I saw eight or nine castles, countless temples and shrines, several gardens, and various scenic places. I also made friends with several fellow English-speaking people.

I met countless children through my teaching and most of them were darlings. several of my young students acquired a very good ability in English. Most of my adult students were great and I socialized with a number of them. The rewards, that I received from these students through just their companionship or even continued attendance, were of immeasurable value.

I was also greatly blessed by being able to meet and become friends with several Filipinas and one Romanian woman. All these women were gems. they were true friends and they will always be counted as great friends in my heart. They cared about me and my problems. They listened to me. I cared about them and their problems. I listened to them, too. We shared a unique bond of companionship. I could not have survived without them. I could speak to them in Japanese and I was also able to converse with them in my native language, English. these women were absolute godsends. My life is much richer for having met them and the same goes for all of my friends.

Had there not been the vile thread of extortion running through my life in Japan, my life would have been so rich with blessings that I would have likely been floating on sunshine twenty-four hours a day. People need contact with other people and I am no exception to that rule. I miss all these friends very much and I miss Japan a lot, too.

My final eighteen months in Japan were terrible. My life nearly ended.

While I was in Japan, my non-smoking mother died of cancer, which started out as lung cancer. She died in April 1997. She had separated from my Dad for a while, but she had been living with him again for three or four years before she died. My mother had tried to communicate with me, but I had cut both my parents off because of what they had done to me. My mother's death was sad chapter in my life, but it was only sad to me because I knew that my mother would never be able to address to me directly all the wrongs that she had committed against me. My mother's death really equalled a type of closure to me. I felt comfort in knowing that my mother could not longer cause me pain.

I did not return to Canada to go to my mother's funeral as it was too dangerous for me to go back to Canada. Many people did not understand my situation and thought that I was callous in not attending the funeral. I would have attended my mother's funeral, if there had been a safe way of doing so.

About two years after my mother's death, my Dad wrote me a letter stating that he wished "to communicate" with me. I decided to open a line of communication with him. I felt that it was good to try to make amends with one's family. I decided to give my Dad another chance. My Dad seemed sincere in his letters and on the phone and so I was certain that he would not repeat his former ways. I even warned my Dad in both writing and on the phone to inform me of any pending court cases dealing with my problems. When I questioned my Dad, he said that he knew of Mr. Harada and said that Mr. Harada was helping me. I told him that Mr. Harada was not helping me and he really was not.

All of this served as the backdrop for the final months of my stay in Japan. I actually did not trust my Dad. I doubted him, but I wanted to believe that he was being sincere and honest with me.

By late spring of 2002, the fate of my school had been decided. I was at Katashima Nursery School and a second meeting between Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Oka, Mr. Morinaga, and me took place. All three of these men had the very obvious persona of a vulture. Mr. Morinaga was the most eager of the three vultures. Mr. Tanaka had the audacity to give Mr. Morinaga my school at no cost: Mr. Tanaka showed no compunction in saying this in front of me. I had already paid half the prinicipal of the loan and the equivalent of thousands of dollars in interest and the remainder of the principal of the loan plus some extra cash sat in my school's account just ready for Mr. Tanaka's taking.

When the other two men were not present, Mr. Tanaka informed me that he had decided not to give me my school because he said that I needed to be controlled. Please, remember that Mr. Tanaka was not entitled nor allowed to own such a school as mine under Japanese law and so my school was not his to give or to sell to anyone, if this were the only criterion to be considered in the matter. Mr. Tanaka had also breached his promise, which is a contract, with me: he had promised me that my school would be mine solely, that my wage would rise, and that all profits would be shared.

Mr. Tanaka said one other thing that was also very condescending. He told me that I was on my last chance of being in Japan with Mr. Oka and Mr. Morinaga. I thought that this comment was not only very belittling but also very arrogant and rude. At the same time as I thought this of the comment, I knew that finding another job in Japan and getting another guarantor would be nearly impossible.

On July 3, 2002, the unbelievable occurred. I arrived at one of my other two nursery schools to teach as usual. I walked into the nursery school office about twelve minutes before I was to start teaching and the office phone rang. The nursery school owner answered the phone and, after a short exchange, the owner turned to me and said that the call was for me and that it was from the United Nations in New York! Of course, the owner could only speak Japanese and it just so happened that I knew the Japanese expression for 'United Nations'.

I took the phone and Mr. Akazawa was on the line. He also told me that the United Nations' New York office was on the phone. An English-speaking woman then came on the line. The call was conference-style from New York and was linked through Mr. Akazawa and the nursery school. From time to time, two French-speaking women spoke to me in French. These two women were very nice. The English-speaking woman was very nice, too: she was the main speaker. There was also a Japanese man, who could understand English, and he interpreted the English conversation into Japanese for Mr. Akazawa. Needless to say, receiving this phone call sent shock waves through everyone around me on that day and it reverberated from other people later on.

The conversation with the English-speaking woman, who was affiliated with the United Nations, started out well. She asked for confirmation of my full name. I gave it. She then asked how old I was. I gave her my age. She told me that they had someone of my name on record as having lived a hundred and twenty years previously, getting fatally shot, and then disappearing. She said that there were other men in history with different names but with the same disappearing act after having been fatally shot. She asked me if I had lived before or ever gone by another name. I replied that I had never gone by another name, that I did not remember ever having lived at another time, and that I remembered being a child in the 1960's and early 1970's. I voiced my reasoning out loud to her that I must have died only the times that I had been shot in July 1989. She suggested that I might have blocked out any other time that I might have lived and died. I chuckled and gave the light retort that I did not think that possible.

It soon became obvious that someone was coaching the English-speaking woman on what to ask me and say to me. I guessed that there were three men, who were lawyers, coaching her. Apparently, I was right. From this point, our conversation took an odd tone.

The unnamed woman told me that the United Nations had been watching me for some time in order to confirm my identity. It turns out that the United Nations had been watching for possibly more than a decade. What is more, this organization had been using UN helicopters to spy on me for seven years or more in Japan. I had seen a light green helicopter with the Nike-like red swoosh on its side: I had thought that this was a UN helicopter, but I had not been sure. I was also hurriedly told that all the help, afforded me by the United Nations would come at a cost to me. This was astounding to me!

I became angry at this point. I asked the woman why I had not been approached earlier as I had contacted the UN thirteen years previously and that I had last phoned the Geneva office to inform them of my plans to go to Japan as I had not managed to secure a contact at the New York office. The woman said that they had wanted to be certain of my identity, that there was very little contact between the two offices when it came to matters of human rights issues of individuals, and that the New York office really had not known where I had gone. I told her that I found all this unbelievable because her office had found me. I told her that likely my dental records still existed and that my retired dentist and doctor would have recognized me from an updated photograph, which existed within Japan. I said that there were other records that would have confirmed my identity. I added that the United Nations should have made contact with me through the Japanese government and the Japanese police. I asked the woman why they really had waited so long to contact me. I told her that all those years of waiting on my part had been just a waste of time in my life.

The woman became angry with me and told me that I was being rude and insolent. She repeated that they had needed to be absolutely certain of my identity. I replied that such positive identification must have been difficult to have made from a helicopter. I was very angry and was being sarcastic. The woman became angrier. Once again, I was told that I was rude.

I informed the woman that I was an extortionee and that extortionees are not forced to pay for help. Moreover, I stated that the extortionee's court costs were usually paid by the extortioner. I added that the extortionee's court costs were still covered by the extortionee's country in the event that the extortioner could not cover the court costs. I further added that Canada was not only my country but one of my extortioners and so the federal government of Canada was doubly responsible. The woman was furious with me and told me that help to me would not be free and that I would have to do things for the United Nations. I told her that forcing me to do anything would constitute extortion. She became really furious with me, but my blood was boiling.

I spoke calmly as I asked the woman what things I would be forced to do. She answered me in an ordering and condescending tone, saying that I would be required to go to various countries and troubleshoot for the United Nations. She told me that I would even have to go to countries, where I would run the risk of being killed, as she said that I would come back to life anyway. She also told me that I would have to do all this for free because I was going to get a very large amount of money in court compensation. I stated flatly that risking my life intentionally and expecting to come back to life would be tempting God. I added that I did not do any job for free. She became furious with me again and restated that I would be rich and would not need remuneration. I said that I would need remuneration for services rendered, even if I were rich or I would not render any services. I did add that I might do things for countries out of the kindness of my heart sometimes. The U.N. woman became angry again. I asked her when I would get time off, if I did all this work for the United Nations. She informed me that I would be too busy to get more than a few weeks off per year as there were many problems in the world to solve. I asked her why I was so much in demand and whether or not there were others, who could help with the world's problems. She said that I had the unique ability to grasp the nature of a problem and find a solution quickly.

As I am the type of person, who likes a challenge, I suggested to the woman that I could solve many problems over the phone. She told me that she did not think that I could. She told me that I would need to study the problems first hand. I asked her for an example of a problem. She told me that there had been and still was considerable unrest among the citizens of France. She told me that the United Nations did not understand what the unrest was about nor did they know of a solution. I told her that I was aware of the unrest and that I knew of a solution. I had her interest. I asked her if she knew what type of unrest it was: she replied that she did not know. I told her what it was. I told her that the firefighters, railroad employees, port workers, and farmers had all gone on strike at various times. I told her that I had read in my English-language newspaper that the issue was over taxes. I said that this meant that the strikes had nothing to do with employers versus unions, but that they were linked to a stand-off between the citizens of France and the national government of France. She said that the united Nations knew that. I told her that the United Nations knew the solution to the problem, if they knew the problem. I told her that the national government of France needed more money. She became frustrated with me and said that they all knew that, but they did not know how to get the extra money needed. I responded that the answer was childishly simple. I told her that the national government of France needed to start up a lottery or lotteries, which would create a surplus of cash available to the French government to use towards subsidies, wage supplementation, national services, and possible national debt. I added that this could also be done on the municipal level. I said that the national government of France might even be able to lower taxes eventually. I did say by way of concession that some citizens of France might become addicted to gambling via the lotteries, but these people were likely addicted to other things, as well. I asserted that the benefits of the lotteries would outweigh their disadvantages.

My idea, which I did not think was original nor particularly clever, was hailed as brilliant. According to my sources, there have been several lottery winners in France now, the French government is a bit better off financially, and the French people are a lot happier. When I voiced my idea, it surprised the U.N. people. What surprised me was that my idea had surprised anyone. I thought that such a solution was so obvious that it should not need more than a few seconds to think of it. At any rate, I was thought too be a great guru of brainstormers and was given a great deal of praise for my solution. The easiest solutions to make are the ones that use existing tools.

The woman said that the United Nations could likely provide me with a inexpensive car and she asked me where I would like to live. I said that I wanted to live in Japan most of each year. I tested her by saying that I would need special paperwork or identification in order to say in Japan and I said that I would need it right away. She informed me that I would be given a special diplomatic passport. She added that my trial against the Canadian federal government had begun, but it would take a couple of years to come to a settlement. She told me not to return to Canada. I told her that I had no intention of going back to Canada, but I thought that I would be forced to return as I was only on a one-year visa. She told me that I would be all right with the Japanese government as I had not done anything wrong in Japan. I told her briefly of my problem with my employers and said that they wanted me ousted from Japan. She told me that I should take them to court. I laughed and informed her that was a very difficult task for a Japanese citizen, let alone a non-Japanese resident of Japan. She did not understand because she did not understand the Japanese way.

The U.N. woman said that nothing could be done quickly for me. By this point in speaking with her, I could no longer tolerate the tone nor the essence of our conversation. I told her that that was fine because I had already appealed to the American government and had mentioned in my letter that the United Nations had not helped me. I complained to her about Mr. Dayal and all the bureaucracy that had been flung in my face by the United Nations' New York office. I also reminded her how it had taken the United Nations more than thirteen years to contact me. She reiterated that they had wanted to be certain of my identity. I countered with the restatement that my identity would not have been difficult to verify with direct contact and photographic identification. I questioned her as to why the United Nations had not contacted me while I was in Canada and before I had been shot. She told me that the United Nations had not been certain that I had a case. I asked her why the United Nations had removed my principal witness and her entire family from Canada, if it had been thought that I did not have a case against the federal government of Canada. She told me that the United Nations had been worried about the safety of my principal witness and her family. I told her that such a course of action meant that the United Nations believed that I had a case against the Canadian government. She admitted that that was so. I was furious.

I asked her then why the United Nations had not helped me get to safety. Can anyone imagine what her answer was? She told me that the United Nations people did not come to take me out of Canada because they had been afraid of getting shot, too! I could not believe my ears. I told her that I had been going down to America on short trips two or three times a week to get gasoline for my car and therefore I could have been contacted in America and then, I could have moved all my belongings and myself out of Canada by myself. I told her that contact had been paramount. I asked her why the United Nations New York office had not sent people to Washington State to intercept and contact me. She said that the expense was thought to be too great! I asked her if she and her office thought that sending a helicopter to watch me for about seven years was less expensive. She understood the rhetoric and had nothing to say.

I said that I did not like the United Nations' deal of enforced servitude. I refused to do it. I further restated that I did not think that I would be able to talk to her again as I had complained about the United Nations' virtually nonexistant attempt to come to my aid to American Ambassador to Japan, Thomas Foley. I said that I would be happy to talk to her and listen to her on a future date, if she were less acerbic towards me. She told me off for that statement! I just laughed her reaction off. With an assurredess that would have made even Sherlock Holmes blush on one of his great days, the United Naitons woman, who remained nameless, asserted that she would be in touch with me again.

I have not been contacted again by the United Nations since that day. It also came to light that "U.N. woman" was a mere stooge or patsy for the U.N. lawyers, who were toying with me.

Just the receipt of this phone call sent shock waves through my immediate surroundings. One of the biggest problems was that no one else could understand English and so the meaning of the conversation was lost. I explained the conversation in Japanese, but the whole episode seemed to have caused more problems than it had solved for me. Most people felt that the shooting incident was unbelievable and I had no proof. Officials from the United Nations should have come to Japan and met with me discreetly.

Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Akazawa, Mr. Oka, and Mr. Morinaga quizzed me on the validity of the phone call that I had received from the United Nations. These four men did not believe that the call had been true. They believed that I was working some kind of scam or joke and that I had had some of my friends pose as officials from the United Nations. All four of these men jeered at me and made fun of me even more.

I about June 2002, Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Oka, and Mr. Morinaga started spying on me. they phoned all over the city, in which I lived, and were able to get people to tell them my every move. They were able to convince some people that I was doing something wrong that warranted me being watched and they were able to convince other people that they were helping me. They were simply trying to take advantage of me. These three men did this concurrently with but independently of Mr. Harada.

Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Akazawa, Mr. Oka, and Mr. Morinaga all decided that they should pen the most restrictive contract for me. This contract was written in Japanese legalese and was incomprehensible to me as I could only speak Japanese and not read very much of it. One of this contract's stipulations was that I was required to pay Mr. Tanaka fifty thousand yen (US$500) per month. Mr. Oka took me to immigration with this contract and the immigration officials were horrified with it. They demanded of Mr. Oka that he remove the offensive clasues. These officials were supportive of me and they even asked me about the phone call that I had received from United Nations. They were stunned that the United Nations had waited thirteen years to contact me and they were horrified that I had been shot dead and abused by the government of Canada. Mr. Oka heard this verification of the phone call from the United Nations, but he refused to believe that the phone call had been real. I told the immigration officials that I needed a separate Japanese trial, as well, just to free me from my difficulties in Japan.

At first, Mr. Oka was stymied by the decision of the immigration officials on my contract. He conferred with his cohorts, Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Morinaga. The end result was the creation of two separate contracts, one of which was to be presented to immigration and one of which was designed to force me to pay Mr. Tanaka an exorbitant amount of money. Mr. Akazawa was present with the other three men, when I was given these two contracts to sign. These four men told me that I had to sign both contracts or I woud not be given the work contract that would enable me to procure my working visa. These men knew that I could not return to Canada, but they believed more that I simply did not want to go back to Canada. They believed that my problems with the Canadian government were due to my stupidity and stubbornness and not due to any cruelty on the part of the Canadian government. I was left with no choice but to sign both contracts as there remained only about two weeks before my visa expired.

Mr. Oka and I returned to the immigration office with my contract. The immigration officials asked me about the matter of the monthly payments to Mr. Tanaka. I told them about the other contract that I had signed. Mr. Oka was furious with me. The immigration officials were furious with Mr. Oka. The two immigration officials asked me why I had signed the contract that required me to pay Mr. Tanaka fifty thousand yen (US$500) per month. I said that I had signed it under duress. The two officials did not see how that helped me. I told them that I would not have been given the contract necessary to obtain my working visa and that Japanese immigration could not have done anything for me without that contract. They agreed with me. I reiterated that I needed a trial to stop those, who had pitted themselves against me. I told them that a person should not be forced to do anything. I said that I had lost my freedom. The two immigration officers fell helplessly silent.

Mr. Oka and I returned from immigration with all my paperwork done and a new visa stamped in my passport. Mr. Oka told me off for having mentioned the existence of the second contract. I told Mr. Oka that the the existence of the second contract was wrong. I told him that it threatened my existence. He was angry with me. At a later date, Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Akazawa, and Mr. Morinaga all chastised me for having told the immigration oficials about the second contract and our private discussions were none of the immigration officials' business. My disclosure about the second contract to immigration about the second contract to immigration had obviously made these four men very nervous. I was not willing to lie down and die, but I knew that i was fighting a losing battle. Mr. Tanaka asked me why I had signed the second contract, if I had thought that it was unfair and I replied that his cohorts and he would not have given me my work contract to pave the way for me to get my visa. He responded with a "gotcha-type" statement. About four years previous to this, I had started going to the Japanese police about what Vincent Gross was doing to me and I had mentioned Mr. Harada's complicity in the matter, too. The Japanese police had listened to me, but they had not thought that my situation was serious nor warranted their atention. I had given up on telling the Japanese authorities any more about my struggles.

Right after the matter of my visa was settled, Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Akazawa decided it was time to close my school's bank account. there was slightly more than one million six hundred thousand yen (US$16,000) in the account. Mr. Tanaka was to take one million yen (US$10,000) from the account to cover the final half of the principal of the loan that had been made to me. Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Akazawa decided to split the remaining money between themselves. They decided that I was not deserving of a bonus. I was to start my new venture with Mr. Morinaga moneyless. Needless to say, I was not excited about my prospects.

From this moment on, the backdrop to my last thirteen months in Japan as a quasi-free person was starvation and malnutrition. I was lucky, if I got one full meal every seven to ten days. I was forced to walk the streets for an hour or two every night in the hopes of finding some money that had been dropped on the street or forgotten in the coin return of a vending machine. I found money in this way two or three times a week. I found as as three hundred yen (in US funds, three dollars) sometimes, although, I usually only found one hundred and fifty yen (in US funds, one dollar and fifty cents). With this miniscule amount of money, I was able to buy some instant ramen (noodles) at the 7-11, where the staff had heard of my dificulties and some of the things that I had done for Japan and its society. The staff members at this 7-11, which was in my neighbourhood, started up a petition to have me become a permanent resident or citizen of Japan. The efforts of these 7-11 workers were and still are greatly appreciated, but there were too many people against me for the results to be fast enough to save me.

Eventually, I became so weak from a lack of food that I often could not get out of bed in the morning to go to work. My body began to reject food, when I finally obtained some. I could not even keep water down. I immediately threw everything up. I did not urinate regularly and when I was able to pass my water, I passed it with difficulty and I was caused a good deal of pain. When I actually did eat something and kept it down, it usually took me at least two days to have a bowel movement and I was so constipated that my rectum felt as though it was being wrenched and ripped apart. My stomach bloated and I lost a considerable amount of weight. My body atrophied to a large extent.

Another problem, which came up, was my bill payments. I had my gas cut off and my electricity cut off several times because I did not have enough money to eat let alone pay my bills. My phone was cut off once or twice, too, because I lacked the funds to pay for it. As my hot water heater was run by gas and had an electric starter, I did not have hot water when the gas or the electricity were cut off. When my electricity was cut off, the temperature got down to 3 degrees Celsius in the winter and up to 41 degrees Celsius in the summer. During these times, I slept in my school room and made full use of its electricity. I could only take a cold shower in my apartment. this was not quite so bad in the summer, but in the winter, the water was very cold.

Please, remember that all these difficulties were layered one on top of the other and comprised a daily struggle. Remember also that my daily struggles lasted for much more than a week. My struggles in Japan started, when I arrived there and lasted for the full twelve years that I was there. The last seven years in Japan were the worst. Having said this, though, it does not mean that I believe that Japan is a bad country. I simply met some of Japan's bad people because the Canadian government had set up a way to beset me with as much misfortune as possible.

I overheard one recurring conversation between Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Oka, and Mr. Morinaga about three times. The essence of the conversation was that they wanted me to starve to death so that they could send me home in a body bag and not be worried about me saying anything against them. (Until Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Oka told Mr. Morinaga of the existence of body bags, he had not heard of them! Mr. Morinaga was quite uanaware of basic things.) They seemed convinced that my death would solve all their worries regarding me. Mr. Tanaka told Mr. Morinaga to keep or sell all my personal belongings and to keep my school once I had been disposed of. Mr. Tanaka added that I was too strong-willed to die and so they would have to devise another way of oust me from Japan.

As there were so many players, who were running scams against me, there are many miniature stories to tell. Once again, I wish the reader of this account of my struggles to remember that all these scams were being run against me concurrently. To refresh the reader's memory, the basic scheme of this scam was to exploit me for cash either directly by not paying me properly for the teaching that I did or by watching or taping me in order to sell my methods, ideas, and lessons to other schools and teachers. Also, the scam was designed to stop me from having a girlfriend so that those men, who were playing this scam against me, could get close enough to the women, who liked me, to try to corner those women into having sex with them. The women, who liked me, were asked to meet the man, who was running the scam, somewhere public and the women were told that I would be contacted to meet them. I never received such a phone call. At other times, the women, who liked me during my twelve-year stay in Japan, were told that they had to have sex with the man running the scam first and then he would act as a go-between and contact me. Because there was too much opposition to me dating anyone, I did not manage to have very many dates. I was not allowed to control my own life and the women, who were interested in me, were not allowed to control their romance with me. The women, who liked me, were also usually told that they would be able to date me, if they first had sex or performed sexual favours with the men, who were pretending to be go-betweens for my female friends and me. Mr. Tanaka played this scam with two of my Filipina friends and when they refused him, he became irate. Mr. Tanaka made certain that one of these women was not allowed back to Japan for a long time and he got the other woman dismissed from her job and sent home to the Phillipines.

About twenty-six months before I left Japan and about two months before broke my ties with Mr. Satano, Mr. Tanaka developed what appeared to be an obsession with what was going to happen to Mr. Satano for what he had done to me. Mr. Tanaka's obsession or fixation seemed to go deeper, though. Mr. Tanaka was also absorbed with what I thought would likely happen to Mr. Satano. He demanded to know my theories. Mr. Tanaka frequently asked me what I believed would be Mr. Satano's fate. I told Mr. Tanaka that Mr. Satano quite likely would go to prison for what he had done to me. I told Mr. Tanaka that I was not certain of this, but I did state that many Japanese people were angry with Mr. Satano over his ill treatment of me and that I thought that the Japanese police were investigating Mr. Satano or that they would be investigating him very soon. I said that it was well known that starvation of someone was considered a crime worthy of capital punishment in Japan. Mr. Tanaka seemed interested in my perception of Mr. Satano's future, but his wife and he both told me that Mr. Satano would remain unscathed and unpunished.

Once Mr. Morinaga had taken over my school, Mr. Tanaka asked me about Mr. Satano's fate a little more frequently. I told Mr. Tanaka that Mr. Satano would likely go to prison for what he had done to me and I warned Mr. Tanaka that he, too, would likely go to prison unless he righted the wrongs that he had committed against me. This made Mr. Tanaka furious with me, but I knew that I had nothing to lose in telling Mr. Tanaka what would likely happen to him. Mr. Tanaka told me emphatically that foreigners had no rights in Japan and that Japanese people reigned supreme in Japan and anywhere in the world. I told Mr. Tanaka not to travel outside Japan from then on, if that were his attitude. I told him that I had connections and could stop him from travelling within several countries. This was not an idle threat on my part as I actually did nad still do have such connections. Mr. Tanaka did not believe me and became more furious with me. I did carry out my threat without Mr. Tanaka knowing. I was told that he would be turned back on arrival in America and the United Kingdom. I had long since come to see Mr. Tanaka for the lying, cheating, unfeeling, inconsiderate, arrogant, conceited, licentious monster that he was.

One horrible incident, which illustrates Mr. Tanaka's lack of professional skills, still sticks in my mind. One day, a young girl of about two years of age cried for the bulk of the morning because she missed her mother and was frightened. This is very typical with many small children. The teacher was at her wits end and so she brought the child into the office and asked for some suggestions because the child's incessant crying was disturbing her entire class. Mr. Tanaka told the child in a very angry fashion that she did not need to come to the nursery school anymore, if she were going to cry all the time. What a callous man! Needless to say, his bullying did nothing to alleviate the child's fears. In fact, the child was likely more afraid to be at that nursery school. Was fur ein Dummkopf! (What an idiot!)

There was a small cafe near my school and one of the waitresses was a young Romanian. She was really attractive, but I knew that she was married to a Japanese man. To me, this meant hands off. I do not knowlingly make advances on another man's wife, fiance, or girlfriend and if I inadvertently make advances on another man's lady, then I apologize and graciously bow out of the situation. Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Morinaga both had their sights on this Romanian woman, who was about twenty-three years old at that time. From what I could grasp, Mr. Tanaka deferred to Mr. Morinaga any claim to making advances on this young Romanian. I thought that these two men were being very foolish for having any sexually charged intentions with this poor young woman.

In late summer of 2002, Mr. Morinaga started pressuring me to check and see if the Romanian waitress could speak English. Mr. Morinaga indicated that he wanted to hire this young woman, if her English ability were good enough for her to teach. I knew that there really was not enough money coming into my school to pay me a good wage, to pay a part-time teacher, and to pay Mr. Morinaga something reasonable. I knew that Mr. Morinaga would eventually grouse to me about him not making money on my school and he did. I also knew that Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Oka were receiving money from my school's profits. I reminded Mr. Morinaga of all this cash outlay, but he insisted that we hire another teacher and he insisted that we hire the Romanian waitress, if she could speak English.

One day, Mr. Morinaga and I had coffee in the cafe, where the Romanian waitress worked. I spoke to her in English and she was fluent in English, too. Before that day, I had only ever spoken to her in Japanese. Within a few days, Mr. Morinaga hired her. I taught her how to teach children. She learned quickly and we became friends, but I only met her on the job with the exclusion of going to her mother-in-law's restaurant twice to have something to eat.

Bit by bit, it became obvious that Mr. Morinaga was jealous of my friendship with the young Romanian woman. Mr. Morinaga's jealousy was not only unfounded but also absurd. This young woman was married and therefore unavailable. She did not have an "open marriage" and she was not the type to play around sexually. I knew these things about her without even asking her. On the other hand, Mr. Morinaga was a married man with at least two grown children. Some people feel that having sex with other married people is acceptable. Some people feel that having sex with people other than one's spouse is acceptable. The only trouble with this view on life is that it can be rife with legal dangers or a variety of possible backlashes, if each possible sexual liaison is not sleuthed out carefully. In a business relationship, blatant solicitations for sex are very risky.

About two months after Mr. Morinaga had hired the Roamanian woman, Mr. Morinaga erupted on me. On the day of his eruption, he picked me up at my school to take me to Mr. Tanaka's nursery school. Mr. Morinaga insisted on taking me to most of my jobs because he wanted to control me and make it appear as though he was going to great lengths to help me. On the particular morning in question, Mr. Morinaga informed me that our part-time teacher ws not able to go that day. Mr. Morinaga seemed angry as he imparted this information to me. He had not driven too far, when he lashed out at me verbally. He told me not to get close to the young Romanian woman as she was "his woman". I immediately informed him that the Romanian and I were nothing more than friendly work associates and that she was not available because she was married. I told him that she was not the type to fool around. Mr. Morinaga was embarrassed. We both fell silent. Mr. Morinaga was sullen. I thought that he was the most foolish man in the entire world.

The next time that I met the Romanian woman, I asked her if Mr. Morinaga had asked her to have sex with him. I worked my way delicately into the question. She told me that he had asked her to go to bed with him. I said that I was furious with him and I apologized for his stupidity and crassness. She said that it waas not my fault. I said that that was so, but I was the face of the school as my name was on the window. I said that I had to maintain a high level of professionalism with my students, their parents, my employees, and the public at large. The next time that Mr. Morinaga picked both of us up, Mr. Morinaga looked very ashamed and apologized to the young Romanian for the "previous time". The Romanian told him that it was "okay" and she turned to me and mouthed to me that it really was okay. I knew that it was not okay. After this incident, Mr. Morinaga really soured towards me and he became even more jealous of me. What surprised me was that my friendship with the JRJjomanian woman strengthened. She was never any more than businesslike with Mr. Morinaga or Mr. Tanaka. Mr. Tanaka and his wife tried to pry information from the Romanian about her private life. She commented on this irritation in private to me. She liked neither Mr. Tanaka nor his wife.

November 2002 was a momentous month for me. I had occasion to talk to New Scotland Yard over the phone. We discussed many things. I was told that the federal Canadian government was being sued on my behalf, that I would be rich, and that I was going to be knighted, if I wanted to be. I stated emphatically that I would be honoured to be knighted. I said that it would be an honour just to be able to meet the Queen. I was also told that Pearce Brosnan was no longer going to play the part of James Bond and I was asked if I were interested in playing the part. I said that I was very interested in the part. I was told that a decision would be made later. I was asked how I had managed to survive all my difficulties. I replied: "I live to die another day." I was told that that statement sounded like a Bond movie title and was asked if the Bond franchise could use it as they still had not named the new film with Halle Berry in it. I said that they could, but that "Live To Die Another Day" did not sound quite right. My statement met with agreement. I was asked how it should be and I asked for a few seconds to think about it. Within about fifteen seconds, I said that "Die Another Day" was perfect. The title stuck.

I discussed quite a few more topics with New Scotland Yard and then the conversation turned to Vincent Robert Gross, who is a British citizen. I was asked what Vincent Gross had been doing to me and I told them. The officers told me that they knew that Vincent Gross was causing me trouble. I was informed that Vincent Gross would be picked up by the British police at the London airport the next time that he went back to England and that he would be put in prison. I told New Scotland Yard that I was convinced that I would be deported to Canada. They were surprised because they said that I had done nothing wrong. They told me that a Japanese man was helping me and that he would hire me as a teacher and let me work at other jobs including the New York radio job until my I received my court compensation. I told the officers that the man, who was supposed to be helping me, was called Mr. Harada and I asked for confirmation of the name. I was told that I was right. I informed them that Mr. Harada was not helping me, that I was not in communication with him, and that Mr. Harada was actually bugging my apartment electronically. I said that Mr. Harada was running the same scam as Vincent Gross had been running against me and that Mr. Harada was in cahoots with the Canadian government. The officers, to whom I was speaking, were shocked.

Please be aware that much more than these incidents occurred in Japan and that I said many more things to people. Most of the weightier utterances and incidents, that I have not mentioned so far, bear no relationship whatsoever to my legal problems and cases.

At the end of January 2003 or the middle of February 2003, Mr. Morinaga nonchalantly informed me that he was a little annoyed with his friend Mr. Oka for not helping at all with building up the number of students attending my school . Mr. Morinaga told me that he was paying Mr. Oka a monthly stipend of one hundred thousand yen (US$1,000) from the coffers of my school. I was shocked and I was visibly furious. I was starving and the school's profits were being squandered. I already had come to the realization that these men were exploiting me, but I had not fully understood how much like parasites they really were. I was at my wits' end and I had no possible escape route.

On March 3, 2003, I had the opportunity to speak to New Scotland Yard once again. I also had the pleasure and honour of speaking to Queen Elizabeth II. I spoke to Her Majesty about the lack of a citizens' vote for Canadian senators, about corruption in the Canadain political system, and about corruption in the Canadian judicial system. I also told Her Majesty how that the Lieutenant Governor of my province of British Columbia had not helped me in 1989. Her Majesty told me that She had not been informed of my appeal by this deputy of Hers. I told Her that I thought that She had not been informed of my appeal. I knew that my appeal would have garnered the necessary results, if the proper channels had been followed. I also told Her Majesty that I had reappealed to the federal Canadian government about my unresolved Canadian trial once again in 1994. I said that I had written my appeal to Jean Chretien's Liberal government and that his government had refused me help. Her Majesty assured me that Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister of Canada at the time of our conversation, would be forced to leave office. About two months after this cnversation with the Queen, Jean Chretien's resignation for September 2003 was announced in the newspapers: in the end, Jean Chretien did not leave office until January 2004. Her Majesty asked me if I would like to be knighted and I gave a resounding affirmation to my delight and acceptance of such an honour.

I spoke to New Scotland Yard about a few more matters, but two more comments were made on my situation and I was asked one final question concerning the possible outcome of my situation at that time. The first of the last comments, that were made, was that Vincent Gross had gone back to England for Christmas vacation, 2002 and he had been put in prison immediately: I was told that Vincent Gross would not bother me anymore. Then, one of the New Scotland Yard officers told me that he agreed with my assessment that I would be deported. He agreed that no one believed me that Mr. Harada was being mean to me and not telling me anything. The officer also agreed that the Japanese government believed that I was simply being obstinate. We both agreed that I was doing nothing wrong and that I had done nothing wrong. The officer asked me what I would do, if I were sent back to Canada. I said that I would try to reappeal my case against the Eaton family and sue the family as the company had been sold in 1999. I also said that I would likely find it nearly impossible to get a good temporary job. I said that I would likely be penniless and that my father would likely complain bitterly at me for not having any money. I also said that my father would likely not be understanding about my trial.

The New Scotland Yard officer made the comment that he thought that my father should go to prison. At that point, I probably made one of my worst judgement calls ever. I said that I did not want to have my father go to prison unless he did something else wrong to me. I said that it was possible that my father had changed. I desperately wanted to believe that my father had changed, but I was almost certain that he had not. My reasoning for not wanting to have my father imprisoned was actually threefold. I wanted to give my father one more chance to be honest and fair with me. I was also afraid that my sister and brother would never speak to me again, if I had my father locked up. I knew that both my sister and brother did not know everything that my father had done to me and so I knew that they did not think that my father had done anything serious enough to me to warrant going to jail. My third reason for waiting to sue my father until he did something else wrong to me might seem a little devious, but I had no choice. I knew that I would have only one place to stay, if I had to leave Japan and I knew that that place was my father's. I knew that Canadian court cases take far too long to be immediately effectual to the victim and I knew that I would not gain title to my father's house quickly, if I sued my father. I really did not have any choice in the matter. None of my relatives would have wanted me staying in their homes because of my legal problems and the unknown variables that accompanied those legal problems. For this reason, my father's house was the only place, in which I could feasibly stay. Without my father's house as a place to stay, I knew that I would have had to live on the street.

One of the last comments and questions, that the New Scotland Yard officer put to me, concerned my chance at being the next James Bond. The officer told me that I had been chosen to be the next James Bond because of my linguistic abilities and other reasons. He said that my trial presented a bit of a problem for my availability, though. I disagreed. I stated that I had not done anything wrong and was not being charged with anything and so I should be allowed to do anything that I wanted to do as long as it was legal. The officer told me that I was not allowed to do anything on a celebrity level as long as I was suing my country. This made no sense to me at all. The officer asked me what the Bond franchise should do, if they were ready to create another Bond movie and I was still fighting my leagal battle. I suggested that Casino Royale should be done with a blond British actor as Bond and that the only version of Casino Royale done up to that point had been a parody and not done by the Bond franchise. I said that Bond's beginnings would be interesting to Bond fans. This became a reality, of course.

About the middle or end of March 2003, I wallked into Katashima Nursery School and Mr. Tanaka asked me if I knew where Mr. Satano was. One of Mr. satano's friends delivered produce to the kitchen at Katashima Nursery School and this friend had told Mr. Tanaka and his wife that Mr. Satano had disappeared. Mr. Tanaka told me that Mr. Satano's friend had said that no one was able to contact Mr. Satano as his cell phone service had been disconnected and he was never at home. I asked Mr. Tanaka and his wife why they thought that I would know about Mr. Satano's whereabouts since the two of them knew that I was no longer associated to or with Mr. Satano in any way. I said this very calmly, without any sarcasm in my tone, and in appropriate words. Even with my non-venomous approach, Mr. Tanaka and his wife accused me of being rude! I said that I was not being the least bit impolite. I asked them why they thought that I would know anything about Mr. Satano when they knew that I was not one of Mr. Satano's friends. The two of them feigned ingnorance of my dealings with Mr. Satano. Mr. Tanaka told me that he wanted to know what had happened to Mr. Satano and he said it in such a pointed way that it was obvious that he expected that I should know where Mr. Satano was. I told him that I did not know and I REALLY did not know. I asked Mr. Tanaka again how he thought that I would know what had happened to Mr. Satano. He said that surely I did know and he asked me if I had done something. I asked him to give me an example of something that he thought that I might have done. He said that I probably had not killed Mr. Satano, but he was sure that I had done something. He asked me to confirm that I had not killed Mr. Satano and I assured him that I most certainly had not killed Mr. Satano. I told Mr. Tanaka that I had reported Mr. Satano to the (Japanese) police several months before and so I said that it was possible that Mr. Satano was in prison. Mr. Tanaka's eyes widened for a few seconds and then he announced his disbelief at my theory. Mr. Tanaka and his wife did seem to be worried at the possibility of Mr. Satano's incarceration. Mr. Tanaka voiced his belief that Mr. Satano had gone somewhere without telling anyone. I said that Mr. Tanaka might be right and that that somewhere might have been prison. I also said that Mr. Satano's phone being out of service was very strange. Mr. Tanaka asked me about Mr. Satano's whereabouts on two more occasions after this time. I answered with the same answer, which was met with even more disbelief from Mr. Tanaka. It is interesting to note, though, that Mr. Tanaka was becoming increasingly more worried over Mr. Satano's disappearance and even more alarmed over his failure to reappear.

Mr. Tanaka informed me at the end of March 2003 that he wanted to reduce the number of hours that I taught at his nursery school. He claimed that the children were not learning all that much and that he did not want to spend so much money on English instruction nor did he want my school or me to rich off him. For years prior to this announcement, Mr. Tanaka and his wife had sung their praises about my teaching ability telling me that I was an excellent teacher. As of April 2003, my hours at Mr. Tanaka's nursery school were cut down. It was only a monthly loss of forty thousand yen (US$400), but it was a loss all the same and the principle of the matter was to be considered, as well.

On the last Sunday of May 2003, I went to my friend's bar for a drink. I really did not have any money for going out as I did not have enough money to buy food, but my body was rejecting all food at that point, anyway, because I had not had enough money to buy food for a long time. I had to go to one of my friend's bars to let all my friends know that I still valued their friendship. A phone call would not have been enough to convey how much I valued my friends. My friends had long since been told that they were not allowed to phone me as Mr. Harada was busy helping me and setting me up on dates with women. This was not true, of course. Mr. Harada was not doing anything for me.

Mr. Harada was a mole for the large faction of the federal Canadian government and the British Columbian provincial government that were against me. It had also reached a point where it was obvious that some members of the national Japanese government were part of the extortive plot against me. Moreover, there was quite a lot of news programme footage from the G-7 and G-8 meetings during my last year and a half in Japan and this footage often showed Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi side by side talking. Mr. Jean Chretien's face seemed to portray cattiness and sarcasm, whereas Mr. Junichiro Koizumi's face appeared to display earnestness and concern. The audio was turned down on this footage, but I was often able to read Jean Chretien's lips as he spoke to Mr. Junichiro Koizumi. Jean Chretien was defaming my character and lying about my situation in an effort to get me deported from Japan and gain full control over me once I was returned to Canadian soil.

Of course, my predicament was ridiculous. I should have been helped by the United Nations and I had not got it, even though I had phoned the Geneva office before I had left Canada for Japan. I had even told the geneva office what part of Japan, to which I was going. The people at the geneva office of the United Nations had told me to contact the New York office. In turn, I had explained that I had tried securing a contact person at the New York office, but that I had not been successful. The people at the Geneva office had taken my name and information and they had promised me that they would pass it on to the appropriate people. After I had appealed about my Canadian problems and the United Nations' apathy to my situation, I knew that it was too late for the United Nations to aid me in any way.

Anyway, on the last Sunday in May 2003, there arose the need for the police to be called. It was a serious but controlable situation that bore no relationship to my difficulties. However, I used this chance of a forum-styled conversation to report Mr. Harada, Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Morinaga, and Mr. Oka to the police officer. I also mentioned Mr. Satano, Mr. Akazawa, and Vincent Gross. The police officer said that Mr. Satano was definitely no good and that he no longer had his freedom. I was glad because that meant that the Japanese police had taken my initial complaint about Mr. Satano seriously. The police officer voiced his consternation over the actions of the other Japanese men and he said that my complaint would be looked into. I knew that a trial had been started. (Please, remember that it is highly unusual and unlikely for a non-Japanese to get a trial started in Japan against Japanese citizens with the aid of a Japanese lawyer let alone without one.) Then the policer officer asked me what had happened to Vincent Gross and I told him that New Scotland Yard had arrested him at Christmas. The Japanese police officer told me that Vincent Gross should have been arrested in Japan and he apologized to me on behalf of the Japanese police agency for not having known what Vincent Gross had actually been doing. This was a pivotal point in my acceptance by the Japanese authorities and it was important that some of my friends knew of my trouble. I knew that those friends would tell all my friends. This form of communication is very important and useful, especially in a foreign country. More importantly, this type of network communication between the Japanese people and, especially, groups of friends is very effective and highly used in many Asian cultures including Japan. (It is curious to note that Filipinas seem to have the most effective mode of this type of communication that is literally capable of circumventing the globe without costing any money or without costing very much at all.) I even told the police officer of all my troubles with nearly every company, for which I had worked in Japan. I explained that my troubles involved a wide-spanning scam against me and that it had been spawned in Canada. I also mentioned that I was certain Mr. Harada was having my apartment electronically bugged. I told the police officer that I wished to represent myself under the name Lawyer Bennett. This was satisfactory to him. Of course, my problem of needing to secure another working visa or obtaining permanent residency still remained.

My friends and the four customers in the bar were surprised with what I had said. They had no reason to doubt the validity of my statement nor did they doubt it. When the police officer left, my bartender friend said that he thought that it was amazing that the Japanese police force knew me and that they knew me in a good light. He said that he knew that I was not doing anything bad, but he said that it meant a lot in Japanese society for a non-Japanese national to be known favourably by the authorities in Japan. In Japan, usually non-Japanese nationals are either mistrusted or ignored. I knew this to be true for a society that is as closed as the Japanese one. Trust takes a long time to be granted in Japan. My friends and the customers in the bar were convinced that I would be okay and be able to stay in Japan, but I knew otherwise.