From Osaka to Tokyo
Adventures of a French girl when she traveled to Japan

By Pierre Coda   Continued from previous page:  Disney theme party

The show was over.  The lights came back on.  It was time to present the gifts.  Miho sat on a small cushion towards the end of the room.  I had no idea that this would be such a big deal.  I was used to the western practice of giving gifts on arrival which were put on a table until the end of the party when they would be opened one by one with the usual sighs of "how cute, how nice, how pretty" and such.  But there was not much of a show.  This was very different.  This was a continuation of the Mickey Mouse theme party. 

Not only were we expected to formally present our gift, we were also supposed to show our commitment to Mickey Mouse.  When I saw Ayu put on a Mickey Mouse overall and bow to Miho before presenting her gift, I knew I had not done enough preparation for the theme party.  Monica should have known better.  She herself had at least three items of Mickey Mouse clothing – a scarf, socks, and top.  There were other girls who stripped to show off their Mickey Mouse underwear.  When my turn came, I felt so unprepared as I bent my head to show my headband.  I heard some whispers until Haruka, who I thought was the quiet one, shouted, “She is hiding something from us.  She is shy.  Like us she is wearing Mickey Mouse panties.  Let us see.”  I heard shouts of approval from everyone.  I tried to explain that I was not but I don’t think anyone heard me.  

As everyone looked at me I lifted my skirt to show my underwear.  While I heard some sighs of frustration, there were oohs and aahs when they saw my panties.  “Oh how cute!” Miho shouted.  “But she should have dressed in Mickey Mouse underwear,” Aiko shouted.  “Well then let her ask her to change,” Miho suggested.  Even before I could protest, Ayumi, Haruka, Noriko, and Aiko surrounded me.  As I looked at them horrified, my top was gone in time revealing my purple bra.  My white skirt was the next to go as Monica gently collected my clothes and folded them.  Miho crawled on her knees to come towards me and using her teeth, she pulled my panties down.  Everyone clapped when she was done.    

I am told that many Japanese women always go out of the house with one set of underwear in their purse.  Noriko offered me her pink panties with a smiling Mickey Mouse.  I received another round of applause when I bowed to everyone wearing my new Mickey Mouse outfit.

The rest of the party was a lot of fun.  We had some great Japanese food, though I was skeptical about trying all of the dishes.  I was finally starting to lose my fear of Japanese food.  Several individuals that I had seen at expatriate parties had expressed their frustrations about making friends in Japan, but it appeared that each one of these girls was already my intimate friend.  Didn't they all see me without my underwear?  I was already feeling at home in Japan and I was writing down phone numbers in my diary.  I had invitations to go shopping together, visit museums, go to an onsen, and even more theme parties.

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Next part:  Continuing to discover the mysterious Japan   Trip to real Tokyo Disneyland    How to be like the French women?

Disney Kids Choice award photos     Tokyo Girls collection    How to look good in underwear