New Year's Day 2005: To the Endo West District Neighborhood Association New Year's Party | Keiichi Yoshino (Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care)
2005.01.06
The heavy snow from New Year's Eve, as if aware that it was the first New Year's snow in the city center in 21 years, had firmly withstood the rain that followed, turning into a crisp layer covering the roads. With the help of snowshoes, I safely arrived at the SFC North Gate guardhouse at the appointed time of 8:50 a.m. As if to dispel my doubts about whether something like this could really be happening on New Year's morning, I was relieved to see Dean Kumasaka and Counselor Nishino warming their hands over an electric heater in the back room of the guardhouse. Deciding that a car was safer than walking (because it has four wheels?), we took Nishino's car to the nearby Endo West District Community Hall, located behind the post office. There, we met up with Dean Kojima and Graduate School Dean Tokuda. We changed into what looked like easy-to-maintain red vinyl slippers and entered the neat and tidy hall.
Oh... nearly 100 people of all ages (mostly men in their 60s) were already waiting, packed tightly into their chairs! I was told this neighborhood association consists of 105 households, which made me wonder about the source of its power. There were about five new member households, and some young couples were introduced. In most cases, one spouse was originally from the district. The four of us were seated in rather prominent seats, but it was a bit of a shame as we had our backs to three-quarters of the people. Also, I had gone hoping for some mochi rice cakes, but on the table were only canned beer (sake was served later) and a few dry snacks, which was also a little disappointing.
After speeches from the neighborhood association chairman (an honest-looking man who read from a single, wrinkled, handwritten A5 sheet), a member of the House of Representatives (who, seemingly involved in education, boasted to Tokuda about his closeness to President Anzai), and a member of the prefectural assembly (a young man from the area who gave a rather long speech), Mayor Yamamoto, who had been running late, arrived at the perfect moment just before the toast. These dignitaries were at the head table, a position from which they could see all the attendees, with the *tokonoma* alcove, so to speak, at their backs. It seemed one of the purposes of this New Year's party was to make local petitions, and this time, the topics included the river improvement of the Koide River, which had raged during Typhoon No. 22 last year and caused major flooding at the post office.
Mayor Yamamoto made a witty remark, suggesting that since the petition was also directed at Keio University, we should move to their seats. While I felt a bit awkward about sitting in the "petitionee" seats, I was relieved to find it was physically impossible as their seats were already full. At the same time, I felt a little disappointed because I had wanted to get a better view of all the participants.
After the toast, there was some pleasant conversation. A short while later, the four of us were asked to speak. We talked about things like Keio University's 150th anniversary.
Again, we chatted for a while. Just as the drinking party was about to get lively, probably around 10:00 a.m., Dean Kojima said, "Well, we'll be on our way," and the four of us made our exit in a "swift and shuffling" manner. Dean Kojima's timing for leaving is, as always, nothing short of brilliant. It seems the wisdom of the over 3,000 years of Chinese history that he specializes in is alive and well here. And this "swift and shuffling" exit is also important, as it makes it difficult for others to stop you.
Thanks to this, I was able to safely fulfill my duties, return home in the early afternoon, and spend the rest of New Year's Day napping at home.
(Date published: 2005/01/06)