Mabuta # 12
Kanoma's notes in parenthesis ( )
Translator's notes in brackets [ ]
12th installment
Merry Christmas
It's winter. It's become winter. Last night I went outside and my breath was a white frost. That's what my boundary between seasons is, when your breath frosts, I feel that it's winter. The temperature has got to be lower than 10 C when your breath frosts like that. It's better than being hot, but I don't like being cold. But in the winter delicious chocolate goes on sale, and there's Christmas, so I do like it. When Christmas starts to get close, I get excited. I've really liked Christmas, ever since I was a kid. Christmas. This time, I'll write about Christmas.
- Childhood Christmas -
When I was little, Christmas was the most special day out of the whole year for me. For me, Christmas was better than my birthday. It was fun to decorate the tree, and to watch the lights on the tree flicker on and off in your room at night. Eating Christmas treats, and then afterwards saying, ' This year, I'll definitely stay up to meet Santa.' But every year, I would, of course, fall asleep. Then I would open my eyes and presents would be at my bedside, and opening them was the best fun. ..... And then, when I was little, I had no doubt that Santa Claus existed.
What age was it when I stopped believing in him? I think it was sometime during grade 4 that I started to get the feeling that the presents were actually being left by my parents. At about that age, I have a memory which I feel guilty about. One Christmas Eve, my younger brother and I set about to search for our presents behind our parents' backs. And then we came across some beautifully wrapped presents. At that moment, I was attacked by a sudden emotion. I had the conviction that Santa suddenly wasn't real, and felt guilty that I had violated this implicit rule created by adults for children. Of course, inside where you couldn't see, I felt horrible. Incidentally, my presents that year were 2 soundtracks of some foreign movies. If I had still believed in Santa, I would have started doubting his existence when receiving such shitty presents. That was the last year that I had presents that were supposedly ' from Santa.'
- Romantic Xmas -
When it was time to go to High School, Christmas turned into more of a romantic event for two lovers, and I had this resistance to being at home on Christmas. The Christmas illumination outside is pretty, Christmas songs start that warm feeling inside, Christmas-themed dramas and movies come out, and everything is attuned toward the holiday. That way of thinking is really captured by puberty I think. In reality, I don't think I spent a single Christmas at home, but I don't have any memories of a special Christmas that I spent with someone. I spent them with lovers, but there's no good memories left over. Nothing about Christmas had really changed, and there was no special emotion I ever felt. And then, when we really started the core of our band activities, Christmas became less of a romantic event, and more of a celebration. Of course, that's just as fun as well. Last year, and the year before last were especially fun. The year before last we organized a dinner show and divided it into two parts, with quite a strange program. Last year we spent a lot of money on decorating for the show, and were quite poor because of it, but it was a free live for everyone to attend, and it's really become a fond memory.
But, but, this isn't really Christmas as I don't have any real romantic experiences associated with it. And so, this year I've decided to have a romantic Xmas theme. What's a Christmas memory that is so special to you, you'll have it your whole life? Leaving your dream and lining up your problems in reality, the answer to all this would be: the cruising party on December 24th (*1). I'm the organizer of the event, but even if there's only one participant, I'm planning for it to be fun. Secondly, let me tell you now, the boat's quite small and can only hold about 50 people. I understand that to have a chandelier and a boat that's 2 ~ 3 stories would cost from several hundred yen to several thousand. So please, to all of you who are planning to come, don't get your hopes up.
- Santa Claus -
Essentially, Christmas is a Christian holiday. I think all of you know this, but December 25th is Christ's birthday. If Christmas is intended to be a celebration of his birth, then who is Santa Claus? By chance I became interested in this. And so, being me, I had to find the answer. Before Christianity, there was a god in Norse mythology, Odin, who would bring presents during the winter solstice. According to legend, Odin would gallop across the sky on his magic, eight-legged horse. If a house was locked up, Odin would enter using the chimney, and deliver the presents that way, it's said. Surely, this is too close to Santa's image.
In the 4th century, a bishop named Saint Nicholas lived in Myra, in Asia Minor (now a part of Turkey). He was a wealthy man, and was always happy to give his money to those who were in need. At that time, there was a father who was unable to come up with enough money for the dowries of his three daughters. Because of this, he was going to be forced to sell them to slavery. Becoming aware of this, Nicholas threw bags full of gold into their house. According to another version, Nicholas threw the bags of gold down the chimney, and they ended up in stockings that were being hung on the fireplace to dry.
It seems that Santa Claus was born from tales such as these. Incidentally, it seems like his name has changed slowly throughout time: Saint Nicholas ---> Saint Nicholaus ---> Santa Claus. This is due to language change in other countries, and the naming is often heard in Japan as well.
Furthermore, the famous look of Santa Claus that we know is further perpetuated by companies like Coca Cola. It's horrible, but it's the power of business and corporate strategy.
The rest is basically jokingly about Santa.
There's a real Santa in Greenland. But, that Santa is unable to deliver presents to children throughout the world all by himself, and he's recognized throughout the world, and he has apprentice-like helpers. Incidentally, we also have a recognized Santa in Japan, ' Paradise Yamamoto.' Normally, he has the lifestyle of a Latin musician, and he appeared on an educational program on NHK. In mid-summer on a really hot day, he went from his house to Narita airport wearing a Santa suit, and flew to Denmark. He did this in order to take a difficult test that would allow him to be officially recognized as a Santa by an association in Greenland. Hmm... I really can't see the link between mambo and Santa Claus. I sort of don't like this Santa. But, I sort of want to be a recognized Santa as well. ' Truthfully, I ... I'm friggin' Santa. ' I'd love to be able to say that.
*(1) I've planned to have this cruising party at Tokyo Bay on December 24th. On the day of the event, there will be a mini-live with a piano and vocalist, singing Christmas songs. There will also be a buffet-style meal ( plus a barbeque ), a night view of Christmas, and I hope that it will be a fun event. Thanks to all of you, we've reached the capacity limit of 50 people who will be attending. Please, with all your strength, come drunk.
