Word: ishii
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...weeks ago, I sat down for sushi with one of my co-workers. Before I could attempt to order, my co-worker, Mr. Ishii, lit up a cigarette and ordered a round of beers. Normally, this would not be shocking. After all, nearly every day I have gone out for dinner and drinks after work, and more often than not, my hosts have been chain smokers. The odd thing about this night is that dinner came after an hour of sweating at my company's health club...
...asked Ishii-san how someone so interested in fitness and training (he prides himself on swimming 2,000 meters a day) can also smoke two packs a day. He began by denying my assertions that he has any interest in fitness (I am still not sure whether this is the truth or a case of typically Japanese understatement) and instead said he swims because he enjoys it and smokes because he likes the taste of cigarettes. He added that he drinks because everyone around him drinks...
...something else. I asked for a Diet Coke. I received a blank stare. My bad. They call it Coca Cola Light out here. I tried again in broken Japanese, "Coca Cola Light Onegai-shimasu." This time, the response was only laughter--not only from the bartender/chef but also from Ishii-san and the dozen or so other people in the restaurant...
Following graduation, he set up shop as an acupuncturist-first in Kumamoto, then Tokyo and finally in a rented room in Funabashi. He married a college student, Tomoko Ishii, in 1978, then opened an apothecary specializing in traditional Chinese medicaments. A turning point in his life appears to have occurred in 1982, when he was arrested for selling fake cures. Authorities detained him for 20 days and fined him 200,000 yen--about $800 at that time. The business went bankrupt, and Asahara was reputedly shattered by the incident. Out of shame at what neighbors thought, for some time afterward...
Only hours later, Takuya Iwasaki, president of Nikko securities, the country's third largest securities firm, went before cameras to say he too would step down. Iwasaki was taking responsibility for Nikko's spending $136 million to compensate rich investors and for loan dealings with ex-crime boss Ishii...