My Father and Samurai Dramas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My late father loved to watch TV. His favorite programs were the news, baseball games and samurai dramas. He worked for a newspaper company, so he liked to see what was on the news. And the newspaper company owned a baseball team, the Dragons, so he liked watching their games. But it seemed strange that he liked samurai dramas as he was not interested in any fictional stories and most samurai dramas were fictional.

A few months before he passed away, we had a party with our relatives. At the party, he shared a secret that he had never told anyone before. Apparently, he had worked with a star actor on a stage production when they had been students. The star’s name was Gou Katou. He mainly acted in famous samurai TV dramas, and most of the Japanese knew about him. He was a superstar. My father and he studied in the same theater department at the same university. Gou was his classmate.

At that point, I understood why my father used to watch samurai dramas. He was supporting his classmate by watching TV. Gou Katou acted in almost all the samurai dramas on TV. But I didn’t understand why my father had had to keep it secret. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to boast about it?

Dear friends with whom I have worked on the stage, I hope some of you become famous like Gou Katou. I will secretly support you, even as an old man. I want to be able to boast about you right before my death.

Picture by Chipori