Jiji

 

We went to Tokyo Disneyland for our honeymoon. It was an extremely near place for a honeymoon. My generation experienced the bubble economy. Most of my friends spent their honeymoon in foreign countries. We couldn’t go abroad because my parents had serious diseases and we were the only caregivers in our family. We needed to go back to our hometown immediately if something happened.

After my father’s death, we still needed to take care of my mother who had Alzheimer’s disease. In those days, even a one-night travel was difficult for us.

Now that my mother is in a nursing home, we can go to foreign countries. Let’s go overseas! Actually, we haven’t gone yet.

We often visit theme parks in Japan. My wife loves them. I didn’t have any interest in them until I married. Now I find them interesting, especially when some of the visitors wear costumes that resemble their favorite characters. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

The last time we went to a theme park, I wore a cute cap with a printed black cat. His name is Jiji from the film Kiki’s Delivery Service by Studio Ghibli.

When we entered a restaurant in the park, two young waitresses were in the entrance. One of them recognized my cap and said to the other waitress, “Look at him! Look at him! He is Jiji!”

The other waitress looked surprised and whispered, “He is not Jiji!”

During the meal, I kept thinking about their conversation. I couldn’t understand the meaning.

Finally, I reached a shocking conclusion. The other waitress had not watched Kiki’s Delivery Service as it was an old movie; she didn’t know Jiji, so she misunderstood.

“Jiji” could be a name for a cat. But the Japanese language has similar pronunciations for common nouns such as “jijii,” which has a negative meaning to describe an old man. The conversation was actually like this:

“Look at him! Look at him! He is Jiji!”

The other waitress might think, You should not call a customer a jijii. He is not (a) jijii!

The Japanese language doesn’t have articles.

They didn’t mean that. Both of them were on my side. If I didn’t have any sign of old age in my appearance, this misunderstanding would never had happened.

In 1998, I studied in the USA. My favorite comedy drama was News Radio. I was especially touched by Phil Hartman’s acting. When I had to leave the country, I thought, I want to see Phil Hartman. If it is possible, I want to become his pupil. Japanese traditional comedians have a master-and-pupil system. I assumed I could be his pupil.

When I started researching about him, I found a shocking fact. Phil Hartman was already dead. The News Radio that I always watched and laughed at every night was a rerun.

Jiji in Kiki’s Delivery Service was his final voice acting role. After the recording, he mysteriously died at age 49.

Now I am of the same age as Phil Hartman when he passed away. By next week, I will be older than him. I have a complex feeling about surpassing the long-dead person’s age.

When I started respecting Phil Hartman, I was in my twenties. I felt he was an old man. Now I am considered as an old man by young people. It is fair to him.

Phil Hartman was a great comedian. He was also an attractive actor who had a thousand faces and voices. I just wanted to be like him. But now I am just older than him.

Picture by FUTO