　　　“Not wasting too much time, I phoned back to Yabe in the early next morning.” Takano-san continued his story. “Yabe’s point was, to be brief: He has a long time friend, named Kobayashi. Kobayashi is preparing to start his business in the Philippines, and needs to survey its prospect And the man wants me to help his survey. ..Why did the man know me then? Yabe told me that, when he had enjoyed some chat with his old friend Kobayashi a couple of months earlier, he had mentioned of one of his friends -obviously me- hanging around in the Philippines for a while. And Kobayashi had recalled that.

　　　“Kobayashi is a proprietor of a button factory in the city of Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Yabe told me. And the factory manufactures a variety of shell buttons for high quality apparel.

　　　“By the way, to be honest, Trina, I didn’t know there still was a factory that produces shell buttons in Japan. According to Yabe, there still are a few factories remaining in that field of business in Japan, including Kobayashi’s, and the rest has been eliminated by foreign competitors that have been able to take advantage of their countries’ low labor costs and so forth.

　　　“And that’s why Kobayashi has always been telling himself that he must lower his costs more to survive such a situation. Especially the costs of purchasing and importing material shells. As a matter of fact, Kobayashi has been importing the shells from some countries near the equator, including the Philippines, through a small trading company in Kobe.

　　　“And one day, Kobayashi got acquainted with a Filipino. Then, eventually, he entered into a contract with the Filipino to cooperate an export-import business through which he could obtain material shells directly from the Philippines, cheap. ..That’s the business Kobayashi was planning to start in this country, Trina. And their contract states that the Filipino is obligated to establish and operate a system in the Philippines in order to purchase material shells for Kobayashi and export them to him.

　　　“A few months after they had entered into the contract, the Filipino reported from the Philippines to Kobayashi that their shell-purchasing system in the country had been established as planned. Now it was time for Kobayashi to make a final check on the system by himself.

　　　“However, to be embarrassing to him, so said Yabe, Kobayashi speaks no languages but Japanese. He wasn’t confident at all that he could travel to a foreign country alone, much less to talk about his business in any language other than Japanese. And that was the situation in which Kobayashi recalled that Yabe had a friend who had been hanging around in the Philippines.”

　　　Takano-san curled his lips, somehow managing a smile.

　　　　　　　　　　-----

　　　“Kobayashi called Yabe. And then, Yabe phoned me.” Takano-san maintained his pace of talk leisurely. “When Yabe was finished with his rough explanation, Trina, I promised him without hesitation that I would help Kobayashi if and whenever he came to the Philippines. Well, I thought at that time, ‘Hey, Kobayashi is Yabe’s old friend. I have to do whatever Kobayashi wants me to do, for Yabe’s sake’, assuming that all I had to do was to guide him around here and translate some business conversations for him.

　　　“But, Trina, Yabe’s response was a little different from what I had anticipated. He said, ‘No, Takano, that’s not what Kobayashi wants you to do.’ And he added that Kobayashi wouldn’t be able to come to the Philippines, and so, he just wanted me to check for him if or not the system of purchasing and exporting material shells, which his Filipino partner had reported had already been ready, was practically functional. Kobayashi wanted me to check it with terms that he would pay me a fee according to the days I would spend to complete my work, plus all the cost necessary for the survey, not to mention.

　　　“Whether with the fee or not, I thought, ‘All right. The man –Kobayashi- may be one of those always-busy, very diligent, typical entrepreneurs of small businesses in Japan.’ ‘It will be understandable if he can’t leave his factory for many days because he is occupied too much with his daily operation.’

　　　“Having made sure I had consented, Yabe gave me a few names of people, to begin with, whom I had to see, and the addresses of places that I had to visit in the Philippines. ..As you’re guessing right now, perhaps, Trina, those places were all in Cebú.

　　　“Yabe then explained to me, Kobayashi wanted me, firstly, to see if or not their system of purchasing and exporting material shells had been completed as his partner had reported, secondly, if I could, to judge and evaluate if or not the system was practically functional or reliable as his partner had claimed.”

　　　　　　　　　　-----

　　　“Well,” said Takano-san, “looking back at it, I think I should’ve been more alert when I was told that Kobayashi wanted me to do the survey secretly, that was, not revealing to anyone who I was or what I was there for. I also should’ve been alert about the fact Kobayashi hadn’t told Yabe of his partner’s name.

　　　“Well, Trina, I asked Yabe why the survey must be done secretly, in fact. Yabe’s answer was, ‘I failed to ask Kobayashi that question, Takano. But my guess is that he may be afraid he might get suspected by his partner that he might be suspecting the partner.

　　　“I thought, Trina, ‘What a typical Asian-style, ambiguous business relationship that is!’ Don’t you think so? Kobayashi could’ve told his partner, ‘Hey, be ready, my partner, since I’m going to do some necessary survey, before we start our business officially, on the system you’ve established there,’ couldn’t he?

　　　“Kobayashi had the reason why he couldn’t frankly tell his partner like that. Well, their relationship was indeed ambiguous, but, Trina, that had nothing to do with Asian-style business practice.”

　　　　　　　　　　-----

　　　“I checked in Raja Hotel at Osmena Circle in Cebú City.” Takano-san’s mind was already in Cebú. “And, on the following day, I visited Cebú-Mactan Shell Industries at the north-east end of Mactan Island -on which is Cebú International Airport- directly bridged to Cebú Island. The Industries are shell handicraft factories located a little farther north-east of where Lapu-Lapu Monument and Magellan’s Marker are. And near the factories, Trina, there was an office of a Mr. Fernandez whom Kobayashi wanted me to see.

　　　“This Mr. Fernandez was said to have been described in the report written by Kobayashi’s partner as ‘a person who can supply Kobayashi all kinds of material shells for button manufacturing’. Having strolled around the Industries for a while to get some basic idea about shell handicrafts, I visited this man, counting on the address I had been given.

　　　“I found Mr. Fernandez’s small office exactly at the address I had received. Well, judging from its empty appearance, the office didn’t look enjoying big business lately. But I was satisfied anyway with the fact that it was right where it should be: For the fact already meant to me that Kobayashi’s shell-purchasing-exporting system, at least a component of it, had actually been set up in the Philippines. So, at that moment, my duty in Cebú appeared to be rather easy and going to end soon.

　　　“Pretending to be an import manager of a small trading company in Tokyo, I started talking to Mr. Fernandez. He was in mid-fifties, I guess. He introduced himself as a person who, as daily activity, would look for buyers of the shell handicrafts the Industries produced and would purchase material shells for them. But, I had to think, if shell handicraft business was an apple, button manufacturing was an orange. These two look very different each other, don’t they, Trina? So, I plainly asked Mr. Fernandez if he could export shells for buttons to Japan. No time was wasted. He replied me very confidently, ‘I can export to Japan any kind of shells, any amount of shells, wherever in Cebú they’re fished out’.

　　　“However, Trina, his full confidence didn’t last very long. When I tried to make it clear that he could purchase such material shells regularly, always in a specific amount, so that a Japanese factory could keep manufacturing shell buttons without interruption, he couldn’t response me immediately.

　　　“He was frank, however, to admit that he had never had any practical business in the shell button field. Well, he didn’t forget to insist, at the same time, ‘Try me with an actual order, Mr. Takano. I’ll show you I can collect any kind of shell, all kinds of shells any Japanese company needs, by gathering all the capacities of all suppliers and fishermen who’ve been supplying me material shells. And I’ll never give you any trouble, believe me.’”

　　　　　　　　　　-----

　　　“Trina, I didn’t take too seriously the fact, the fault, however, that Mr. Fernandez wasn’t familiar with shell button business,” Takano-san went on, “because, first of all, he was the very person whom, no one else, Kobayashi’s partner had already judged reliable as a material shell supplier. And second of all, as I told you moments ago, Trina, I was very satisfied with the fact that he was in fact doing his business at the place Kobayashi’s partner had reported where his office was. Besides, since I myself had little knowledge of shell button business, I couldn’t fully tell how pivotal such his fault was, to be true.

　　　“And those were the reasons why I came to such easy conclusions, like, ‘As long as Mr. Fernandez’s portion is concerned, Kobayashi’s system is present just as the report told him.’ ‘Mr. Fernandez should learn more about shell button business, but a test order to him better be made by Kobayashi since it is virtually impossible for me to judge if his portion of the system is practically usable or if he really is a reliable person, only from the conversation I had with him.’”

　　　　　　　　　　-----

　　　“By the way, Trina, I got kind of embarrassed with one plain question made by Mr. Fernandez.” Takano-san smiled cynically. “He asked me if the shell button business was booming in Japan now. Well, I had no idea on such a matter and couldn’t guess what had made him ask me such a question. So, I retuned him my question, ‘Why do you, Mr. Fernandez, suppose so?’ He answered me, ‘Well, I told you moments ago I had never had any practical business in the field, and that was true. But in fact, you’re the second person, during the last six months, who’ve come see me and talked about the shell button business in Japan.’

　　　“It seemed to be really a big deal for him -who didn’t look too busy with his daily work- that he had had two business talks on the shell button business involving Japan within only six months. He looked even proud when he said he had once sent a sample set of material shells to a Japanese factory. ..Well, he didn’t mention the name of the Japanese factory, and I didn’t ask about it. But it looked quite obvious to me that the Japanese factory Mr. Fernandez had sent the sample shells to was Kobayashi’s and the person who had come see him six months before had been Kobayashi’s partner.

　　　“No matter how proud he looked momentarily, however, for Mr. Fernandez, there was one fact he didn’t feel too pleasant with. And that was that he hadn’t yet received any order from the Japanese factory though the person who had visited him had already notified him that the factory had sounded to be satisfied with the sample set of shells. Mr. Fernandez was unhappy with it, in fact. Well, I speculated like, ‘Kobayashi -Mr. Fernandez’s prospective Japanese customer- may not have wanted to make his first order until his shell purchasing system was fully established, including his Cebú Harbor office.’ ..The office that I’m going to talk about later on, Trina. Or ‘Kobayashi may have had a plan, from the beginning, to order Mr. Fernandez the material shells only after finding a person like me who would investigate for him if the Filipino shell supplier was truly reliable. Or rather, only after letting the person finish his investigation.’ Otherwise, ‘For Kobayashi and his partner, Mr. Fernandez may have been merely an emergency back-up in case other portions of their system, like Cebú Harbor office, don’t work very well.’ But, Trina, I didn’t tell Mr. Fernandez any one of those speculations of mine, of course. ..Well, it also was a possibility, Trina, that Kobayashi’s partner had deemed Mr. Fernandez only to be a person who would collect sample shells and send them to Japan, nothing more than that.”

　　　　　　　　　　-----

　　　“Anyway, Trina, to my eye, Mr. Fernandez didn’t look to be any problem. He talked straightforwardly, didn’t sound fraudulent. ..So, on the third day in Cebú, I made a whole-day sightseeing trip around the city, taking advantage of being in that beautiful island. ..To such well-known places as Fort San Pedro, Magellan Cross and Basilica Minore del Santo Nino.

　　　“Oh, Trina,” Takano-san said, “I should’ve asked you this question in the first place. ..Have you ever been there?”

　　　“No, not yet, Takano-san, to my shame.” I answered. “I’ve read about those places in history books or travel guide books and have some knowledge about them, though. Well, I’ve never left Luzon Island for anywhere. ..Except for Japan, which I’ve visited twice already.”

　　　“I see.” Takano-san paused for a few seconds, and said. “I hope you, too, have a chance to visit Cebú someday, Trina, for that’s a quite appealing place.”

　　　Listening to Takano-san, I was recalling my husband, Cesar, had once resolutely declared that we would make a trip to the island together with me, someday, as our second honeymoon.

　　　At that particular moment, we were enjoying looking at the pictures taken only about two weeks before, during our two-day first honeymoon to Baguio, our nation’s best-known summer resort.

　　　“Well,” I responded to Takano-san, being unable to even imagine with whom, when and how I could visit the island, “I hope so, too, indeed.”

　　　　　　　　　　-----

　　　“Tsugiwa (Next) Takano-san.” Suddenly, Manuel’s voice came out of loudspeakers, notifying Takano-san that his turn to sing on the stage had come. “‘Futarino Oosaka’ desu.”

　　　Takano-san gestured to Manuel to tell he had not requested any karaoke music to be played for him.

　　　Manuel nodded back to Takano-san, and brought the microphone to his mouth. “Lisa-san to isshoni douzo (Please, sing with Lisa).”

　　　“Oh.” Takano-san turned toward Lisa. “That’s Lisa’s request.”

　　　Lisa was taking care of the third group of customers on the night, consisted of more than ten people -men and women, young and old, Japanese and Filipinos, relatively rare mixture of people at Sakura.

　　　Having noticed Takano-san’s eye, Lisa knowingly waved her hand to him.

While singing, Takano-san looked very happy. ..As happy as Lisa looked.