Portrait of a Japanese Man

Yuko was at school yesterday to check on some things, and she met an old classmate she hadn’t seen in 7-8 years. He now works for Hitachi. He’s also an active mountain climber, and has climbed to the top of Everest. He was at the university to meet with students in the mountain climbing club. Being sempai (alum), it’s something he has to do periodically. They would have liked to talk some more, but because he’s now married, it’s generally not viewed in a positive way when a man has coffee with a “female” friend. In fact, it’s not rare to have a Japanese wife looking through the husband’s pockets after he comes home, as well as looking at his contacts on his mobile.

A while back he was working on a project at Hitachi, and his superior became angry with what he had done (not up to par or something). He ordered him to shave his head in punishment, which he promptly did.