In May 1975, I was a young, single Foreign Service officer who’d just been assigned to the Canadian Embassy in Japan. Shortly after my arrival in Tokyo, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip paid a state visit of five days to the Land of the Rising Sun.
In celebration of this momentous occasion, members of the Commonwealth were invited to a party in Shinjuku Garden to meet the Queen and the Prince. When my official invitation arrived at the Embassy, it said, “and guest.”
Being new to the city, I didn’t have anyone who fit the bill. But there was a young lady named Sachiko whom I’d seen several times at a restaurant close to my residence. She spoke English well, so, the next time I saw her there, I asked if she’d like to accompany me to meet the Queen. She readily agreed.
On the day of the party, I picked her up at the train station. She looked lovely in a fashionable spring outfit. While we managed to stand close to the Queen herself during the afternoon event, we were actually able to exchange a few pleasantries with the Prince during their walkabout.
Following the garden party a number of Canadians in attendance got together and went for dinner at a restaurant.
About a week later I received a phone call from one of the Canadians who’d joined us for dinner. He asked if I was watching television. I said I wasn’t. He urged me to tune in to Channel 10 and a program called Ginza Night Night. It was a late-night show that was definitely for adult viewers. As the TV warmed up and the picture came into focus, I saw a young woman in an advanced stage of undress.
“Isn’t that Sachiko?” he asked.
I had to admit, it certainly looked a lot like her.
It turns out that it was her. And I soon learned that she was one of Japan’s leading stars of adult entertainment.
Thereafter, I became known as “that young diplomat who introduced the Queen of England to the Queen of the Night.”
West Vancouver, British Columbia