Free Alien Rice; A Novel. by Ichiro Kawasaki Page A

loyalty and dedication of the worker to management. At the same time, the system represented denial of individual liberty and initiative.
    Now that the baby was born and the maidservant was hired, Alice had more free time than before, and she reflected a great deal on the future of her husband's career.
    Alice also went more often to the Union Club in the afternoon as well as in the evenings. One evening she met an American who was sitting in the lounge w ith a Japanese woman over a drink. The American was about fifty years of age, and apparently a businessman. He introduced his diminutive wife to Alice, whose curiosity was suddenly heightened. Here was a Western man who had married a Japanese, and she wondered about his problems, compared with her own.
    "I came to Japan soon after the end of the war and have been here ever since. I represent an American oil company in Japan with an additional territory in Korea," the American said, introducing himself.
    "I met Tsuruko in the States and married her in Yokohama. We have no children."
    "How do you like working in Japan?" Alice asked.
    "Well, at first it was kind of difficult, you know, but once you get used to it, it's all right. "
    "Have you got many Japanese friends?" Alice was inquisitive.
    "Well, I'm married to a Japanese, so naturally I meet Tsuru's relatives sometimes. My brother-in-law, her elder brother, is a director of a big munition factory in Nagoya. Through him I've learned a great deal about the inside mechanism of Japanese business enterprise.
    "But there is one thing I cannot quite understand. I know how much money my brother-in-law makes a month and am familiar with the standard of living of his class of people—a managerial class. Their life is surprisingly frugal, their house is modest. They have not much in savings, either. Yet the company he works for wastes money like anything.
    "The other night I was invited by a certain business firm to a so-called after-dinner drinking party in a back street of Ginza. I could help myself to whatever drink or food I liked—you just order it yourself. For curiosity's sake I inquired of the bartender how much they charged for a glass of brandy; 8,000 yen was the reply. I was astounded. My company does not authorize any hospitality item exceeding 25 dollars per person, which is incidentally the equivalent of the cost of a glass of brandy in that bar.
    "I think this expense-account business has gone too far in this country. This unethical practice is now their way of life. It will cripple the Japanese economy in the end."
    Alice was deeply interested in what this American businessman had to say and thought of Saburo's nightly jaunts with his clients and colleagues. "Yes," she thought, "Our house is a matchbox affair, perhaps a little better than a dog kennel. We have not got much savings. I cannot tolerate Saburo's being a slave for the rest of his life. I must do something. Things cannot go on like this."
    Alice was firmly determined.
    The Genzo Tanakas came to Yokohama. Their object was to see their newly born grandchild. Upon hearing the news of Toshio's birth, they had hoped to come immediately, but the old Mrs. Tanaka was ill again, and they had had to delay their visit.
    Saburo's apartment was so small that there was little room for the two visitors to move about. As soon as they arrived Alice ran to the entrance and greeted them with a cordial smile.
    " Irasshai-mase [Welcome. I am so glad you came]," Alice said, and bowed.
    Thereupon Saburo introduced his mother to Alice, and after that had to interpret most of the conversation.
    "Papa has told me much about your blue-eyed wife," the shriveled old woman said to her son. Then, turning to Alice, the mother-in-law spoke in Japanese.
    "I've long wanted to come and see you, but I've not been well lately, as you know. Upon hearing the news of the baby, though, I suddenly began to feel better and made up my mind to come to Yokohama by hook or crook."
    The old couple