A Tuna sandwich is a staple of mine…. It originated around the 19th century when Americans started combining the leftover fish scraps from dinner with mayonnaise for lunch.
In 1977 while serving as a Marine Corps military policeman at MCAS Iwakuni Japan, I longed for American style food and in particular an old style tuna sandwich… Restaurants in Japan almost always have a display case filled with plastic reproductions of their menu… and try as I may a tuna sandwich was no where to be found..
While patrolling the small village of Kawashima not far from the base one evening I noticed a sign that read American Food… so I thought I’d stop in to take a look see… I approached the mamasan (mamasan is usually a woman in a position of authority) and asked her in English “do you serve Tuna Fish sandwiches”?
She sported a big smile and said in Japanese…..
Hai ….. “2Tsu no savanna no sandoitchi”!
I understood the Japanese word …Hai … which meant yes and was so excited that I blanked on the rest..
But just to be sure.. I asked again.. Tuna Fish Sandwich ….Hai???
The answer was a solid Hai Hai ….. 2Tsu no savanna no sandoitchi!
Now I got really excited.. and thinking this could my new go to place for Mana’s cooking… I responded “Domo…Domo Arigatogazaimasu”. which basically means …thank you very much…
I sat down and waited for my home style dinner … I could already taste the Bumble Bee Albacore drowning in Hellmenn’s Mayo… I’d been living in Japan for almost a year now and found that here everything there tasted the same like fish oil..even the fries in the Hiroshima Mickey D’s tasted like fish oil.. I refused to let that stop me on my quest. How could she not know Tuna Sandwich… fish parts are part of the Japanese staple for goodness sakes…
And then it came… …The tuna sandwich turned out to just what she said it would be Two Fish Sandwiches… That’s not what I asked for but it certainly was what she said.. This was truly my first case of he said / she said…
I looked at the sandwich…it looked back at me… and I thought to myself..
Maybe it got lost in translation… but I thought to myself …If you give a man a fish he eats for a day… if you teach a man to fish in the local language he eats what he wants every day…
The Bow Legged Blogger 
Hey Fergy-san! Your story brought back my own Tokyo culinary memories from 1975 while stationed at Yokota. I stumbled across your blog while researching CHLS class reunions. Your posts are thoughtful, humorous and written with a keen eye on life experiences. Hope all’s well with you and family!
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Hey Craig. Thanks man I appreciate your kind feedback. It’s been a long time my friend since you left us bound for San Francisco… I remember our conversation about your goals for the move back then and your answer was simply ….I want to live in San Fransisco. At the time I must admit I was a bit bewildered by the simplicity of your goal and thought it lacked substance. Well father time has taught me many truths since our conversation … the truth I read now in your photo blog profile reveals that your ability to keep things simple back then allowed you to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary could reveal itself as you journeyed west. Stay in touch… be Well. Fergy
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