by Bob Fairweather from West Vancouver, B.C.
May 25, 13
In May of 1975, I was a young, single, Foreign Service officer who had just been assigned to the Canadian Embassy in Japan. Shortly after my arrival in Tokyo, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip paid a state visit of five days to the Land of the Rising Sun.
In celebration of this momentous occasion, members of the Commonwealth were invited to a party in Shinjuku Gardens to meet the Queen and the Prince. When my official invitation arrived at the Embassy it said “and Guest”.
Being new to the city, I didn’t have anyone who fit the bill.. But there was a young lady named Sachiko who I had seen several times at a restaurant close to my residence. She spoke good English so, the next time I saw her there, I asked if she would like to accompany me to meet the Queen. She readily agreed.
On the day of the party, I picked her up the train station. She looked lovely in a fashionable spring outfit. While we only managed to stand close to the Queen herself during the afternoon event, I was able to exchange a few pleasantries with the Prince during their walkabout. Following the Garden Party a number of Canadians in attendance got together and went for dinner at a restaurant.
About a week later I received a phone call from one of the Canadians who had joined us for dinner. He asked if I was watching television. I said that I was not. He urged me to tune into Channel 10 and a program called “Ginza Night Night” a late-night show that was definitely for adult viewers. As the TV warmed up and the picture came into focus, there was a young woman in an advanced stage of undress. “Isn’t that Sachiko?”,he asked. I had to admit, it certainly looked a lot like her.
Well, it turns out that it was her. And I soon learned that she was one of Japan’s leading stars of adult entertainment.
And from thereafter, I became known as “that young diplomat who introduced the Queen of England to the Queen of the Night”.