how to make it in tokyo
we met KINGSTON at the ACNE store in omotesando. but before we met him we met SHINJI who asked me how i planned to wear my blå konst north black jeans. scrambling i told him like JAMES DEAN. MM had come with me to return the favour i had given him when i went him to find his japanese hookup from the night prior at PIZZA SLICE. we didn’t find her. he was bored shitless and spoke to SHINJI about hip-hop. like many other japanese SHINJI was interested in AFRICA and spoke about west african sounds. he had on a cool light chambray shirt with a camp collar. with his conquistador facial hair and undercut fade he looked like a cover of LEON. because i didn’t have the necessary cash on hand we had to walk to a 711 to withdraw it. i thought MM might spring me the cash but he didn’t even mention it.
on our return we saw a black man. SHINJI remarked that he thought we weren’t going to come back since we took so long. i gave him the cash and he put it on a small silver tray and said he’ll come back with the goods. KINGSTON came over and introduced himself. he asked if we were british we said no we’re south african. he got excited and said he was ghanian. he was handsome so was SHINJI and many of the other store staffers were as well male and female. he told us his story and made frequent mention of being black and of god and of his mother. he told us about VIRGIL ABLOH being late for a show in chicago and then playing MAGNOLIA. MM and myself were unsure about the direction of the conversation. KINGSTON was obviously lonely here. he told us that in omotesando there were two other black people. a guy who works at ISSEY MIYAKE and a girl who works in the DIOR store. SHINJI came back with my goods and tried to enter the conversation but couldn’t find a way in. KINGSTON told us that he worked for an atelier in Amsterdam and that he understands that he is also a novelty for the japanese shopping. he said he models on the side.
he told us his dream is to sort out AFRICA. he spoke about AFRICA in its totality and also very vaguely. he said that if we (south africa) can’t get things right then he's worried about the rest. he also said that he thinks the future is in west africa.
“Ya’ll niggas down there are too connected to europe and i’ve met south africans in amsterdam and they’re just like the british”
“were they white?”
“yeah”
“yeah”
i got excited and ended up saying something that was essentially nothing. i tried to flex my international studies degree. i tried to cover and mentioned that MM’s family isn’t originally from south africa but from east africa. MM looked at me and then answered that he’s spent his entire life in south africa. i asked KINGSTON how he ended up working in Tokyo. April 2017. since i know it’s difficult.
“lemme tell you and ill tell you since you guys are from the motherland, you know how we do. you need at least 2500 euros to put away to live. then you apply for a japanese language school and then apply for a study visa. heres the flex if you’re learning japanese in japan you can also work here.you don’t need a work visa. so whilst you’re still looking for a job you live off that 2500 euros.”
he gave me his email address and later that evening i would receive an email from him. MM said SHINJI would look at him with an expectant look every time he let his gaze wonder around the store. I said i felt bad for him.