Here's Jonny!

I'm back, and this time I'm more brazen and culturally irreverent than ever. I'm western, sexually frustrated, overworked, and ready to bust out of South Korea. Last time I went to Japan I saw all that cultural shit, but this time it's weird Japan.


I'm going to see Ken Kagami's gallery, a leprosy museum, an Anarchist bookstore, some punk rock shows, clubbing in Tokyo, maybe check out a Tranny party, and much, much more. I'll be staying with my friend, "M," who I haven't seen for over 4 years.


Her story is an interesting one. We were dating and both going to school at California State University, Northridge in Los Angeles. It was our summer break and she had to go back to Japan to renew her visa. Then I stopped hearing from her.

School started back up again, and I still waited for her, hoping desperately that she would return to me. However, that time never came. It took me a long time to accept that she was never coming back, and my mind would always wander to the idea of her potential death.


One day, I was waiting at a bus stop in front of my school after class. I was talking on the phone with my Mom and she said, "Whatever happened to M?"

"I don't know, Mom. I hope she's okay."

A bus pulled up as I finished my sentence. The doors opened up and sitting in the front seat was my best friend and lover, "M." I jumped on the bus, although I had no idea where it would take me. We must be chained mentally in some way.

M could not renew her visa, because the person who renews visas was on his vacation that summer. She had just come back for a few days to move her stuff from her old apartment into storage. We had dinner at my house the next night, and that was the last time I saw her. We lost touch once more. I sent e-mails, Myspace messages, packages, love letters, gifts, and mixtapes, but never a reply. Finally, I gave up and moved on.

For some reason, I decided to try and find her on a website which is the equivalent to America's "Facebook." The website is called "Mixi" and I was able to sign up thanks to my friend Sachi. So, I typed in M's old e-mail and was able to find her profile. I sent her a message, and she replied!

Years had passed and I had no idea where she had gone or what had happened. We were both thrilled to be in contact once more. She told me everything that had happened:

Her father had disappeared. Yes, he vanished without a trace. M's family still has no idea where he has gone. This left M and the family with no income. M and her sister had to move out to their own apartment and get jobs, as well as their mother. M was not able to move back to America and had to abandon her education. She had one year of college left. She was studying to be a film director and loved Anime, Pedro Almodovar, and David Lynch. She made me fall in love with all three of these as well.

Apparently, this type of occurrence is not uncommon. I was told by my Japanese friend and co-worker from my Halu Ramen serving job, Hikaru, that there was a name in Japanese for such a thing. "Jouhatsu suru" means "to evaporate." The social pressure and potential personal and family shame boils them to a point where they can't take it anymore and they turn into vapor--gone.