Other Days, Other Times (6)

(Cho-san continues his story of becoming a boxer. See Other Days, Other Times (5) for his introduction to the sport.) I heard cheers as I checked the map near Otakibashi Driving School. They came from Kyokuto Boxing Gym. People were crowded around an open window, watching a fierce sparring session going on inside. Kyokuto was …

Other Days, Other Times (5)

My cellphone rang as I was watching the news about the coronavirus.　 It was Mr. Yoshinaga, one of my former regulars: “You wrote on your blog that you trained as a chef at both Ginza Suehiro and Kudan Kaikan.[1] They’re both famous. Did you have connections?” One morning my father showed me the newspaper. He …

Other Days, Other Times (1)

In 2007, Champion was forced to close when the landlord decided to raze the building it had occupied for 43 years. Cho-san had been lining up his younger son Hiroaki to take over, but now Cho-san, his wife Hatsuko and Hiroaki faced a different future. They would receive compensation, but were left with the question: …

Those Days, Those Times, Those Guys (15)

I was changing into my pajamas when my cellphone rang. “Still up?” It was the voice of my younger son Hiroaki. A state of emergency had been declared over the spread of the novel coronavirus and sales at his restaurant were down. He sounded concerned. “But don’t worry,” he said. “Everyone is doing their best.” …

Those Days, Those Times (13)

It was a hot night, hot enough that one of the regulars grumbled, “Your air conditioner must be broken.” Yamazaki-kun also muttered something about the heat as he came in and parked himself at the counter directly in front of me. Yamazaki was an amateur boxer; he had joined Kyokuto Boxing Gym after me and …