Sightseeing Bus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yakudoshi is a traditional Japanese idea that 42-year-old men should be careful because many bad things happen at that age. Some places have special festivals to avoid these bad things. It depends on the area, but most festivals are organized by people who are 42 years old.

 My town has a festival of this kind. I took part in it a few years ago. I met many old friends I had not met since junior high school. All of us have become terrible middle-aged men.

 On New Year’s Day, we went to a local shrine. The priest said a prayer for us, and we had a party after. It seemed like a class reunion just for males with religious excuse.

 All junior high school class reunions are like that. In the beginning, we behave politely because we were already adults. But we started to become childish when we got drunk. We started calling each other with old nicknames.

 By the way, like the hop-on, hop-off bus in New York and the Original Tour in London, Nagoya has the Shachi Bus. My classmate T was a driver for the Shachi Bus. He also went to the party. Unfortunately, he had to work after. He couldn’t drink any alcohol during the party, so he just drank tea.

 Everyone knew about it, and some started making jokes.

“Hey, waitress! My friend T loves lemon sour. Please bring it for him.”

“Oh, no! We need lemon sour for T. Please bring it immediately!”

Bus drivers are strictly not allowed to drink alcohol before driving. The bus companies check their exhaled breath alcohol concentration. But in front of T was a daze of lemon sour glasses.

 T just gave them a bitter smile. He didn’t drink any of them at all.

 Dear friends! If you visit Nagoya, please take the Shachi Bus for sightseeing. The drivers have an iron will. They are sober. One of them is my classmate.

 I hope T enjoyed his lemon sour after his working hours.

Picture by Shintako