International Relationships and a Restaurant

 Once, I needed to entertain a business partner. I invited her to a restaurant.

 Inviting an important person to a restaurant is not easy. An expensive, high-class restaurant is not necessarily the best option. The important person would worry about me, so it would not be a smart move.

 I want her to think, “Oh! I didn’t know there was such a restaurant here. It is clean, stylish, and reasonable. I want to come here again with my family or friends. Kudos Shujiro! He must know many good restaurants. I want to have a meal with him again!” This is my goal when inviting someone to a restaurant.

 I knew the best Chinese restaurant in my town. It was little more expensive than other Chinese restaurants, but still acceptable. It was also stylish and delicious. In the restaurant, they displayed the Chinese chef’s photo and testimonials. He had won many chef competitions.

 I proudly invited my business partner to the restaurant. But it had changed a lot.

 The restaurant still had the same name. It was located in the same place. Even the phone number was the same. But the interior decoration had changed. There had been a photo taken in Shanghai, but instead of that, they now displayed traditional Japanese pictures. The staff had all changed. The menu had completely changed. Most importantly, the taste had changed. I could cook better! What had happened to the restaurant!

 At that time, the relationship between Japan and China was really not good because of issues over some islands.

 This is my guess as to what had happened. The chef had left the restaurant because Japan was difficult to live in for a Chinese at that time. There was no photo of him nor testimonials to him in the restaurant. If the chef had gone, they couldn’t cook the same way. I think he left Japan. A good chef can work all around the world.

 I had invited my business partner to the wrong restaurant. However, as a result, the dinner was almost successful. My business partner said, “This is delicious!” But I knew she was lying to me. It was not delicious. I knew it. She was being diplomatic, as I was also an important business partner to her.

 I was in bed for a few days as a result of this shocking incident.

 I have a good relationship with that business partner even now. Our business is succeeding.

 But sometimes I worry she might think I have a unique sense of taste.

 Some people say the relationship between Japan and China is now at its worst. I worry nice Chinese restaurants are silently disappearing from Japan.

 If we want delicious foods, we need to maintain good relations with all countries.

 The best way to good food is peace.

 I wish for lasting peace for good food.

Proofreading by ProofreadingServices.com

Picture by illustratorbk

 

Time Bomb Joke

I was a high school student. One day, in an English class, the English teacher did a mysterious thing. I have forgotten almost everything about high school, but I can remember what he did clearly.

 

The teacher wrote two sentences on the blackboard. Then he stopped for a few seconds and stood in silence. Usually, he explained the meaning of the sentences he wrote. But that time, he didn’t. Then he took an eraser and said “This is inappropriate.” He erased the sentences without any explanation. My classmates and I didn’t react. No one understood his actions.

 

For the next few years, I continued studying English. One day, I suddenly understood the sentences.

 

It had been a joke. Furthermore, it was a dirty joke.

 

We were teenagers. We had female classmates. Of course, that was an inappropriate joke in the classroom. That was a dirty joke, but it was a good example for students who were studying grammar. He wanted to explain the meaning of the sentences. But he was a teacher who couldn’t explain in Japanese. He just wrote on the blackboard for a few seconds. I think he believed some of us might keep studying English and someday would understand the joke. He wished someone would laugh in the future. That joke was for the future; it was a time bomb joke.

 

There are many kinds of jokes. Time bomb jokes must be one of them.

 

Teacher, your joke certainly worked!

Proofreading by ProofreadingServices.com

Picture by Gugu 

Counterattack of Marmite

 

My wife and her sister love natto. If you are familiar with Japanese food, you have heard of natto. It is a traditional Japanese fermented food. Some Japanese love natto; some Japanese hate natto. I eat natto because I have heard that it is good for your health. My wife will be in a bad mood if we don’t have natto in the fridge. Her sister married a British person. They live in the UK. He loves Japanese food, except natto.

 

A few years ago, my sister and brother-in-law came to visit our house from the UK. They brought us a nice present. It was marmite. I heard some people love marmite and some people hate marmite. It might be like the UK version of natto. I heard there are many movies on YouTube of Japanese people’s first reaction to eating marmite.

 

             I had heard and read about marmite, but that was my first time seeing it. My wife and I ate it in front of my brother-in-law.

 

Actually, it did not have a surprising taste for us. We liked the taste, but we didn’t have a strong reaction to it. If you can eat marmite, you can eat natto, I guess. I was sorry for my brother-in-law: he had brought me a special present from the UK, and I should have reacted with a noticeable change in my expression.

 

If you have never tried either of those foods, please try them and react strongly.

 

Proofreading by ProofreadingServices.com

Picture by T.H

 

Stumble

When I was an elementary school student, we played our very first soccer game in physical education. The gym teacher explained the basic rules of soccer, and we started to play.

Children are childish. Most of my classmates wanted to kick the ball. They crowded around it. I was a child who didn’t want to join such a crowd, so I stood alone, away from the crowd. Then, somehow, the ball rolled in front of me. I kicked it toward the goal. There was no one between me and the goal. Everyone went after the ball, but no one could run faster than it. The ball entered the goal.

My soccer experience had started successfully. I had successfully shot the first shot. That was also the final goal. After that, I never took an interest in soccer.

When I was a high school student, we played our very first rugby game in physical education. The gym teacher explained the basic rules of rugby, and we started to play.

The high school students were not so different from children. Most of my classmates wanted to touch the ball. They crowded around it. I was a kid who didn’t want to join such a crowd, so I stood alone, away from the crowd. Then, somehow, the ball rolled in front of me. I picked it up and ran to the goal line. There was no one between me and it. I scored a try.

My rugby experience had started successfully. My first try had succeeded. That was also the final try. After that, I never took an interest in rugby.

When I was an elementary school student, we had a school performance. We planned to stage The Emperor’s New Clothes. I was looking forward to the play. I memorized all the lines of all the roles. I wanted to be the emperor or the cunning merchant. But I caught a cold and was absent on the important casting day. I was given the role of a doctor. Of course, it was not an important role. I had just one line: “Emperor, do you have headache or stomachache?” Oh, that was a shame!

I continued to pursue drama in junior high school, high school, and university. Even now, I am in touch with the theatrical community. It has given me a lifetime of pressure.

When you start something, a stumble might be a good beginning.

Proofreading by ProofreadingServices.com

Picture by freehand 

Guide Cat

January 2007. My cat, Mary, passed away.

Mary was born in Osaka. When I was studying in the U.S., I took her with me. So she also studied abroad. Her airplane ticket was more expensive than mine.

Then I moved back to my hometown, Nagoya, with her. I had heard that cats hated moving. I was sorry about subjecting Mary to that, but I didn’t have a choice.

One of my neighbors told me our city crematory could accept pets. I also considered burying Mary in my yard. But I reckoned that if I could hold a funeral for her in the crematory (like I would have done for a human), that might be better for her.

I could have gone to the crematory by train. But I was not sure I could take the train with a dead cat. I felt that the other passengers might think it was spooky. In the end, I decided to take Mary in my car.

At the time, I was learning how to drive. The crematory was a bit far from our house. I needed to drive through the downtown area. I was really nervous. I thought it would be a long journey.

A week later, my grandmother, who lived with me, passed away. My mother was the chief mourner. But she already had Alzheimer’s disease, so I served as the actual chief mourner.

Thus, I found myself going to the city crematory again. But this time, I was not driving the car. Rather, I was in the passenger seat of the hearse. My mother should have been in that seat. But we were worried that the hearse driver might get confused if he talked with her. And so I watched the driving from the passenger seat. The driver might have been one of the best pro drivers. His driving was safe and polite.

My grandmother had died. A week before, Mary had died. One of my neighbors said, “The path to heaven might be long. Mary left first; now she is acting as a guide for your grandmother.”

Cats are mysterious animals, so that could be the case.

Proofreading by ProofreadingServices.com

Picture by jumsica

Important Letters

 

One of the problems we had when my mother had Alzheimer’s disease was that lots of mail was delivered every day. My mother was an active person. She had many friends and many kinds of jobs. Many people sent mail to her.

She hired a licensed tax accountant and advised me to manage the letters. I didn’t want to do it, but no one except me could. I didn’t have a choice.

We lived together, but I was really hesitant to open the letters to my mother. I felt as if I was doing something wrong.

I started to manage the letters to my mother. There were a lot of letters. A few cardboard boxes were full of them.

She ran a supplementary school, so many of the letters were advertisements about teaching materials. We decided to close the supplementary school. I called the companies and asked them to stop sending us more teaching materials. I called about 100 companies.

There were polite handwritten letters. I couldn’t throw them away. I thought they might be important letters. When I visited the memorial halls of great persons, I saw their handwritten letters being exhibited. So I kept those letters.

There were letters from public offices. Those were written ritualistically. They were boring, so I threw them away.

There were letters from financial institutions. They were made up of just numbers. I couldn’t understand them, so I threw them away.

One day, the accountant scolded me extremely hard. I believe my heart had been in the right place, but I’d done the opposite of what I should have done.

My mother had lived a successful life. She was famous in her industry. She was a great person, but she was not so great that someone would build a memorial hall for her. The polite handwritten letters had been important, but most of them had not been urgent. I should have continued her correspondence on her behalf, but I hadn’t had time for that.

The letters from the public offices and financial institutions had not been heartwarming, but they had been important. Someone should have taken care of them. I called the public offices and financial institutions and asked them to reissue the letters. It was an extremely complicated procedure.

I haven’t sent a handwritten letter in a long time. I haven’t received one in a long time either. Most people might be the same.

If I were to visit the memorial hall of a future great person, there might not be handwritten letters. There might be exhibitions of their social media correspondence.

Proofreading by ProofreadingServices.com

Picture by Tugumi Kougei

 

Maturity

The “light novel” is a category of Japanese novels. Novels that target the younger generation are considered light novels, and some Japanese animations are based on light novels.

When I was a teenager, the term “light novel” did not exist, but some publishers printed novels for the younger generation. I loved to read those novels.

Once, one of my favorite novelists made a shocking statement during an interview: “If no one dies at the beginning of the story, the product is not interesting.” I thought it was not a good thing to say.

A few decades later, the social media world dawned. I looked for the creators of my favorite animations and novels on social media because I couldn’t find some of their works on TV or in bookstores. Maybe some of them had quit creating. It was possible that some of them were not so popular anymore.

I found some creators’ accounts and followed them. Their statements interested me. I found the account of the novelist who had made the not-so-nice comment. As it turned out, he was always posting pictures of his cat. He would post only cat-related stories. I didn’t know what had happened to him. I guessed he had passed his prime.

Proofreading by ProofreadingServices.com

Picture by freehand