Me and My Big Mouth

The skies of Westport are always changing. October was a little over half gone when Minako came to this small fishing village in southwest Washington State for a five-day stay. Ever since the giant expanse of the Pacific Ocean captivated her some years earlier, she and husband Shigeo had spent two weeks here each July. What drew her to the area this time, though, was an unquenchable desire to see the deserted autumn shoreline, which must be very different from its look in summer. Shigeo had said there was no way he could take off from work, so she decided to leave him at home and take her first solo trip, a prospect she found both daunting and liberating. The low off-season rent was another attraction. Nearly 34 years had gone by since Minako and Shigeo immigrated to America. Now 65, Shigeo ran a restaurant in Seattle. Minako at 53 was a full twelve-year cycle younger than Shigeo by the traditional calendar. She had been a high school student in Yokohama when he first spotted her and began ardently pressing his suit. They married as soon as she graduated despite the unified opposition of her friends and family. Minako had a complicated family background. Her mother was a fairly famous model who, instead of a husband, had a steady stream of boyfriends. Minako did not know her father. She was raised by her mother's mother. She was one-eighth white, enough to endow her with nearly transparent white skin and naturally curly chestnut hair. These attracted the interest and envy of her teachers and classmates, some of whom proceeded to bully her. By the time Shigeo came along, Minako felt ready to escape. Shigeo was earning a good salary then as head chef in one of Yokohama's top hotel restaurants, but he had always wanted to go independent, and his determination only increased when he married Minako. Sushi and sashimi were just beginning to gain popularity in America in those days, so when a major food company