＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
１．Casey Takamine, a lifelong performer.
Casey Takamine (1934-2019) was popular for his “sexy medical comic stories” with medical jokes and undertones, but sadly passed away in April 2019.
His maternal side of the family has been a family of doctors for generations, and his mother was an obstetrician-gynecologist who provided medical care on a “life-long” basis. She was a doctor like Shigeaki Hinohara. Many of his family members, including his siblings, are doctors and dentists.
He was sent to Nihon University’s College of Medicine, but he did not agree with his professors and transferred to the Faculty of Arts. According to his own story, he transferred because he was bullied because of his appearance.
His stage name was taken from “Ben Casey,” a popular TV drama at the time featuring a neurosurgeon, and “Hideko Takamine,” an actress he admired.
His repeated use of mysterious Latin greetings such as “gracce” (“thank you” in Italian), “señor” (Spanish for men), and “señorita” (Spanish for women) became a popular phrase.
His comic storytelling style was unique: he wore a white coat like a doctor, and while speaking his comic stories, he would make difficult faces and write various things on a blackboard to get laughs.
In 2005, he was diagnosed with tongue cancer and returned to the stage after a complete recovery.
Despite his convalescence, when he gave a solo performance, he did not speak a single word in front of a blackboard, but performed on stage using only gestures and written communication.
He charmed the audience with such gags as “My cancer is… uterine cancer” and “My face is malignant.
In April 2018, he was diagnosed with emphysema and needed an “oxygen cylinder” to live. Still, he was inspired when he saw rakugo master Katsura Utamaru, who passed away in July 2018, performing on a stage with an oxygen cylinder.
He was so enthusiastic that he said, “If there is an offer, I will gladly put on an oxygen cylinder and go anywhere.
I remember him fondly as a “Showa-era comedian.
２．British comedian who collapsed and died on stage.
In April 2019, veteran British comedian “Ian Conyatt” suddenly fell ill and died after performing a comic routine on stage on the topics of “heart attack” and “stroke” and “imitating a heart attack”.
He was in his 60s, and while he was “impersonating a heart attack,” he exhibited physical symptoms, sitting up and twitching his shoulders, but the audience accepted this as part of his “art.”
It is often said, “An actor would be happy to die on stage.”
Perhaps it should be “a comedian’s best interest” to have collapsed on stage while performing the art of heart attack.