As a new arrival in Tokyo, fresh off the boat with no housing or job, I stayed at a "dorm" for the Chinese staff of a barbecue restaurant.

The shabbiness of the place was staggering. A grotto without electricity, ramshackle, depressing and dank, it had "no visa" written all over it.

Alienation set in, but then my eyes fell on a film poster warped on the wall — a token escape left behind by a previous dweller, perhaps a down-on-his-luck Chinese who liked Westerns. Despite the Japanese titles, I recognized the movie as being "Hondo" from the yellowed 1950s John Wayne firing his rifle in a crouch and defending a damsel against Indians.