The Good Old America (2)

The second business trip to the United States started off in the worst possible way. My flight was delayed by three hours in Los Angeles, causing me to miss my connection. As a result, I had to take a series of overnight flights through Atlanta, Minneapolis, and finally Boston, taking a total of 22 hours to reach Logan Airport at dawn. By the time I arrived at my hotel in Lexington, about an hour from the airport, the sun had already risen.

The town of Lexington, known as the birthplace of the American Revolution, had a quaint, small-town charm. The hotel I stayed at resembled a cozy bed-and-breakfast more than a traditional hotel, with a pervasive woody aroma that seemed to capture the essence of early American style. The lobby, about the size of a large home’s entryway, felt intimate. As I sat on a sofa waiting, a large man entered, helped himself to coffee from the communal coffee maker with his own mug, and left. The wooden walls were adorned with old American artwork and black-and-white photographs. I found myself smiling at the nostalgic atmosphere.

I was born in Tokyo in 1951, six years after the end of World War II. As a child, I remember looking out of the Yamanote Line train window between Shibuya and Harajuku stations, where a U.S. military officer’s housing complex called “Washington Heights” came into view. This area, which later became Yoyogi Park, featured sprawling lawns dotted with white officer residences, resembling a scene from Beverly Hills. Omotesando was a gravel road back then, home to a department store exclusively for officers’ families, which is now Kiddy Land. The first hot dog I ever tasted was at an American-style bar tucked into the corner of a supermarket on the first floor of Coop Olympia, also on Omotesando. During my student years, my go-to guide to America was a special edition of the Yomiuri Shimbun titled “Made in USA.”

That small hotel lobby brought back the essence of the America I had idealized during my youth.

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