A Dog's Feelings | Ikuo Kaneko (Dean, Graduate School of Media and Governance)
2008.05.22
Many faculty members at SFC, myself included, probably have connections with the mobile phone industry through various research projects. Opinions are likely divided on matters such as how to interpret the trends in number portability that have been much discussed in the media, or how to evaluate the breadth of call coverage and customer service. However, when it comes to TV commercials, that family of dogs is by far the most interesting.
The latest one is about the father dog attending his elementary school reunion for the first time in a while (I think). He reunites with his first love, but after the lively reunion ends and he returns home, he seems somewhat down. He gives a vague reply to his daughter who asks, "Did you have fun?" Was it because he didn't have much chance to talk to the person he fancies, who was as popular as ever? Among his friends who were laughing loudly, saying things like, "I'm a surgeon, and you're a company president?" was he wondering why he was the only one who had become a dog? Or perhaps he just wanted to quietly immerse himself in the bittersweet feelings of the past.
I went to Keio Yochisha Elementary School, where, for better or worse, my classmates, both boys and girls, got along well without any sense of gender distinction. Because of that, I've never experienced a class reunion like the father in the White family. Instead, I have a faint memory from another elementary school I attended before transferring to Yochisha in the second grade. Due to somewhat complicated circumstances, I essentially went through the second grade of elementary school twice, but I now vividly recall a scene from my first year there: a girl in the second grade, standing alone with a sorrowful expression. I had a few girl friends with whom I would walk home, often bickering but still getting along, but the image of that particular girl is stored in a special memory space.
I don't remember her name. Since it was a school I entered and soon left under "special" circumstances, I have never once received a notice for a class reunion. If, by some chance, a reunion notice were to arrive, I might be able to understand how the White family's father dog feels.
(Posted: 2008/05/22)