Chapter 37: CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Reads: 419
Comments: 1

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

My New Year's vacation turned out to be one long, boring bust. Interspersed here and there by things that were at least sort of interesting.

As New Year's Eve approached I noticed all the housewives in my neighborhood, armed with small brooms, were super-cleaning their houses up and down, down and up and everywhere else they could think of. And when it was my day of the week to take my garbage bag out to my neighborhood's pickup area, instead of the usual four or five other garbage bags, there was a huge mountain of them. Cleaning house to welcome in the New Year?

I also noticed that all the shops and restaurants had notices on them saying they were closing for at least three days and a few for a whole week starting on New Year's Eve. Including that new style 'convenience store.' That's 'convenience?' The restaurant that I usually eat dinner at said it was going to close, too, starting after lunch hour on New Year's Eve and stay closed until the fourth. The liquor store at least said it would stay open on New Year's Eve until its regular closing time so I can wait a bit before stocking up on the beer I'll need to tide me over until it reopened on the fourth. Everybody else, too, it seems wants to stock up on their own favorite drinks before the New Year's shutdowns hit.

I guess I'm going to have trouble getting anything to eat or anything else until at least the fourth. Where and what am I going to eat? All I could think of was stocking up on sandwiches etc. at the convenience store and pray my tiny minifrige could keep them from spoiling despite not having a freezer.

When I went into the convenience store I was surprised at how many customers -- mostly young men -- were cramming in and out of it. Others stocking up for all the shutdowns, too? As usual, I put a lot of ham and egg sandwiches into my shopping basket for my breakfasts. Now what to do for lunches and dinners? I put a lot of beef and lettuce sandwiches in my basket, along with some pork cutlet and mixed salad sandwiches.

Hmm, now what? I saw cup noodles and instant ramen that I could boil the water for on my one single burner electric hot plate and put four of the cup noodles in my basket, too. Unlike the instant ramen, I can eat them directly from their cups without having to use a separate bowl that I don't have. Maybe I can try to eat one as toshikoshi soba on New Year's Eve.

On one shelf I spied a huge supply of boxes with osechi written on them. And lots of customers -- again mostly young men -- putting them in their shopping baskets. Ruriko said osechi was what everybody ate on the three days of Oshogatsu. Then I saw the price tags and gulped. My God, they're charging that much for these little lunch boxes! . . .

Wait, what was the saying? 'When in Rome do as the Romans do.' Oh what the hell . . . I put one in my basket. I'll eat it on New Year's Day and pretend I'm at Ruriko's mother-in-law's house and eating it with her and her husband.

"Well, little buddy, I wish we could go somewhere where we won't feel so lonely. But the streets are freezing up here even in the daytime. God, what must it be like now in the mountains?"

Beeep!

New Years' Eve, turned out to be another incredibly trying experience. I boiled water, poured it into my cup noodle, got a cold beer out of my tiny minifrige and thus armed sat down in front of my ten inch black and white TV with its indoor rabbit-ears antenna. I turned it on early to make sure I'd catch the local news at six forty-five and then the national news at seven. But the program I tuned into was about Kohaku.

Huh? Have I somehow missed the damn thing? But it turned out to be merely some kind of advertisement for it. It was so slaphappyish I felt like switching the TV off. And it went on until six fifty before finally I got a compacted local news report and equally compacted local weather report. At least, it seems my New Year's day is going to be nice and sunny. The national news came on at seven just as it was supposed to. But it, too, was compacted, and except for a brief mention of a disastrous, 'direct-under' earthquake someplace in Tohoku northeastern Japan, the rest was all about Kohaku and who was going to appear in it and ended at seven twenty.

Damn it! Just what is this Red and White Song Festival' or whatever it is, all about? Well, I'm sure as hell going to find out.

It began with the introduction of the team leaders. One male for the white team, one female for the red team. And the banter between them was so slaphappy again and their jokes so pie-your-face that I already hated this Kohaku. Then the white team leader introduced some male singer I'd never heard of. And he belted out an enka song I'd also never heard of. Oh God, is it all going to be this bad? I hate enka -- a sort of mixture of traditional Japanese folk singing and Japanese pop singing. When he finished, the red team's first singer also belted out an enka song. But the next white team singer at least sang a Japanese pop song instead of enka. But I don't like most Japanese pops any more than enka. Then as the second female singer began her song, I noticed that they were putting up subtitles with the number of times that particular singer had appeared on Kohaku before. Most of these singers are either first-timers or only appearing for their second time.

They're beginning with the farm-league singers first? I sure hope they're saving the the better ones for later!

As the program continued, I noticed that more of the singers were appearing for their third or fourth time. But some were still appearing for the first time. Again more enka but some of the pop songs that were better than the first. But this damn program is still driving me stir-crazy.

This is what Ruriko said almost all Japanese watch on New Year's Eve? God, they must be ultra-masochists! I looked at my watch. Only a little before eight for God's sake! I'm going to have to sit through almost three more hours of this torture?

Wait a minute!

What did Ruriko say about NHK Educational at eight? Beethoven's Ninth! Well, it can't be any worse than this, can it? I grabbed the TV channel knob and twisted it from NHK General to NHK Educational just in time to catch the program from the very start.

The announcer said it was going to be played by the NHK Symphony Orchestra that I didn't even know existed. Well, that's just one more thing I can gain from my subscription fee for the national broadcaster that damn NHK collector keeps banging on my apartment door for every month. I'd long since given up on the minpo commercial channels. Their programs were so absolutely horrible. And half of each program was jammed with godawful commercials. It was almost worth the subscription fee to watch programs commercial-free -- as required by law for the national broadcaster. Though obviously NHK loved to advertise its own programs like Kohaku.

The conductor was introduced. Is he any good? The orchestra looks like it was a full symphony orchestra, all right. Can they play? And behind them were the chorus and soloists for the fourth movement of the 'Choral Symphony.' They also look very professional in their formal attire. Can they sing?

The conductor, wearing a tux, mounted the podium, bowed to the audience to great applause, turned to the orchestra. He tapped his wand against his lectern. The orchestra members simultaneously brought their instruments into playing position. The conductor waved his wand in the air and the symphony began.

My God! They're good!

Fascinated, I watched as the first movement movement came to a close. And hardly noticed the time or anything else while they played through the second and the third. Then it was time for the fourth movement and the 'Ode to Joy.' Are the singers as good as the orchestra? There was a slight pause as the chorus stood as one and the soloists took their places behind their own lecterns. The first soloist belted out his 'Oh, Freude.'

Hey, he's got a great voice! And he knows his German! Then the Chorus came in with their choruses. They're really great, too! And so it went. I don't particularly like the tenor. But the other three and the chorus are really great!

When it ended, the audience jumped up as one and gave them a thunderous standing ovation. I was about to jump up, too, when I forced myself to remember I was watching all this on my tiny TV and not in the NHK Orchestra Hall. I'm making a resolution to watch more orchestra performances that I've seen listed in the TV guide of 'The Japan Times' for NHK Educational that I thought would be poor imitations of American orchestras. God, am I wrong! This performance was just as professional as any I've seen in the States.

What a wonderful surprise!

Then it was nine thirty and the program ended.

Crestfallen, I twisted the channel knob back to NKH General and more Kohaku. And faced two more hours of torture again. The singers this time had been on Kohaku for more times than before. Their singing was a little better than the others but not much. And lots more enka naturally.

But then one of female singers named Momoe Yamaguchi who was appearing for her sixth time started her song. Hey, she can really sing! And though I didn't catch the tittle of the song, the lyrics went "I'll give you my woman's most precious thing!"

My God! She's singing about giving her virginity to him! When she finished the applause was thunderous. And as the camera panned the audience I could see many -- mostly young girls -- giving her a standing ovation. I'm going to have to ask Ruriko about her when college starts again.

The show continued. Again more enka and Japanese pops. But none of them anywhere near as good as Momoe Yamaguchi. Finally, finally, they introduced the last female singer. She was appearing for her thirty somethingeth time. God, is she fat! And she sings another enka song. What else? And her voice is hushed and ragged with age.

It seems just like in America, 'It ain't over til the fat lady sings'!

Then came the counting of the votes to figure out which team won. The whole attending audience was given all of one vote. A top sumo wrestler got one vote. A famous Japan League baseball player got one vote. Then some other famous athletes and celebrities got one vote each, too.

My, what an well-informed jury for a singing contest!

The announcer turned on a tall jukebox-like hoop with white lights running up one side and red lights running up the other. As the votes were being tallied the white lights started lighting up rising from the bottom, then the red lights. Both gradually began rising to the top which would show the winner. Finally the red lights got to the top and went over to the white side. The red team wins.

Probably because of Momoe Yamaguchi.

Then at last -- at long last -- the whole damn program was over ending my torture. I was just about to switch off the TV and go to bed . . .

Wait!

What did Ruriko say about the program that followed? Something about showing how the New Year is being welcomed in all over Japan and the ringing of temple bells? And the best thing is it only lasts thirty minutes! Well, I've already gone through God knows how many hours of torture mixed with that brief interlude of wonderful symphonic music. I guess I can hang on for another thirty minutes more before calling it a night.

I watched as Yuku Toshi, Kuru Toshi or 'Going Year, Coming Year' began. It started with the ringing of a temple bell in Hakodate in Hokkaido. Technically it was a gong since it had to be struck with a hammer on the outside. Then they showed a temple gong being struck in a temple in Sendai. Then a temple in Tokyo. Apparently they were starting from northern Japan and going south.

What a soothing change from that damned Kohaku! And a feeling that, yes, a new year is beginning. I'm glad I stayed up to watch it.

The one I really got a kick out of was a temple with the largest gong by far in some place I didn't know. The 'hammer' to strike it with was actually a huge log that was strung with ropes from a pyramid-like frame. It took four monks to swing it back and forth, each with his own rope tied to it, until they had built up enough momentum to finally swing it far enough to strike the gong. And one of the monks still holding onto his rope going with it!

And if that monk that went with it wasn't deaf before, he sure as hell is now.

The show ended with the ringing of a gong in a temple in Kumamoto, southern Kyushu. I'm going to tell Ruriko I'm really glad she told me about this program, too. What a wonderful soothing change from Kohaku! And what a wonderful way to welcome in the new year!

Hmm . . . Now what did Ruriko tell me they were going to do after watching Yuku Toshi, Kuru Toshi? . . .

Now I remember! They're going to go to a shrine near their house for hatsudumode. Well, there's a fairly large shrine within walking distance of my apartment. But I can save my first visit of the new year to a shrine until tomorrow morning.

Make that this morning! And the New Year!

Submitted: December 25, 2023

Romance romance japan gaijin travel-in-japan japan-1970s

Like
Shelfit

Chapters

T
Prologue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64

Add Your Comments:

Sign in to write a comment

Comments

B Douglas Slack

When I was there, NHK had a much broader scope of programs. They were quite good. Our maid got my wife hooked on several of the samurai soap operas. I always watched the "Eleven-PM Show" for the stripper they always had on at eleven-ten. Sounds like they've added a couple of channels similar to our PBS channels.

An informative chapter, ken.

Bill

Fri, January 12th, 2024 2:26pm

Author
Reply

Yes, NHK has many fine programs on their regularly scheduled nights and Dave watches them including the Historical Drama. More on that in later chapters. But the programs for New Years Eve and all of Oshogatsu are completely different and almost all about Kohaku. Note Dave did enjoy Yuku Toshi, Kuru Toshi. And I got a kick out of 'Eleven PM' back then, too. Now, of course, with the internet and YouTube etc. we have a much greater choice of programs than Dave did.

Fri, January 12th, 2024 6:38pm