Tomohisa "Tom" Yasimoto is a young Japanese Canadian man living in the City of Trenton, Ontario. He was born in the environs of Nagoya, Japan, and has lived in Canada for most of his life. Tom is married to a beautiful young Japanese immigrant named Mara Kuriyama, and for the most part, they lead a charmed life. They own a nice restaurant called Empress Jito's Palace, one of the nicest eating establishments in the Trenton area.
Tom Yasimoto and Mara Kuriyama couldn't be more different, in spite of their shared heritage. Tom Yasimoto was born in Japan, but he has lived most of his life in Canada. At this point, he is more Canadian than Japanese, and it shows in his every thought and action. For Mara Kuriyama, a proud native of Japan, her husband Tom Yasimoto may not be Japanese enough, among other things.
Tom Yasimoto is a very basic man, at least that is what most people think upon meeting him. He is five feet nine inches tall, stocky, bronze-skinned and dark-haired, slightly balding, but still handsome. Tom studied business management at the University of Toronto, graduating with honors before ditching the world of business for a career in culinary arts. Tom visited his hometown of Nagoya, Japan, and met Mara Kuriyama, a tall, athletic young Japanese woman who simply took his breath away.
Mara Kuriyama, the daughter of Nagoya metropolitan police chief Eli Kuriyama, is a young woman destined for greatness. Standing six feet tall, statuesque and sexy, with bronze skin and long dark hair, Mara Kuriyama is a gorgeous gal. She always wanted to be a model and an actress, even though she graduated with honors from the civil engineering programme at Osaka University. Mara wanted to be the face of Japan, with her combination of beauty, smarts and sex appeal.
Mara Kuriyama has appeared in a few Japanese television programs and TV commercials, but her acting career didn't pan out. By the time she met Tom Yasimoto, Mara was rethinking her career plans. She wanted to live in the United States of America, but the American Embassy in Tokyo refused her a visa. America was not too welcoming of foreign visitors in those times. When Mara Kuriyama met the naïve Tom Yasimoto, the ambitious young woman saw her golden ticket.
Tom Yasimoto was quite surprised at how receptive Mara Kuriyama proved to be after they were introduced at a party in Nagoya. Tom was not the smartest or best looking man at the party, but he radiated North American coolness, and Mara Kuriyama was drawn to him. Feeling that this might be his lucky night, Tom Yasimoto hollered at the tall, beautiful model in the crimson dress, and that's how the two of them met.
When Tom Yasimoto proposed to Mara Kuriyama after a summerlong romance, she accepted. The two of them got married, and then he sponsored her. That's how Mara ended up moving to Ontario, Canada. As a permanent resident of Canada, Mara Kuriyama had a much easier time in her new environment than she would have if she'd come as a tourist or an international student. Mara thought she was going to have a great life, but fate had other plans...
Tom Yasimoto and his wife Mara Kuriyama are having marital problems, in large due to him being bisexual. Mara is having some issues with the fact that her husband Tom swings both ways. She's worried that Tom might leave her and run off with another man. Lots of women married to bisexual men share the same fears as Mara, and this is most unfortunate. Tom, like the majority of bisexual married men, loves his darling wife Mara, and would never leave her. What's a Japanese Canadian gent to do under such circumstances?
"I love you and would never leave you," Tom assured Mara, on more than one occasion. Mara looked at Tom and frowned, not believing a word he said. Mara is far more attractive than her husband Tom, and she feels he ought to consider himself lucky that she deigned to marry him. In Nagoya, Japan, lots of handsome and wealthy young men sought Mara's hand, but she wanted a life outside of her storied homeland and turned them all down.
