＜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
Recently, I casually watched NHK’s BS Premium and saw a program with a rather unusual title, “Gairoku (街録).
This is an abbreviation for “street recording,” and although it may be a cloak for people in the mass media, it was the first time I had heard of the term.
The content was very interesting, so I would like to introduce some of it.
By the way, “street recordings” remind me of the scene where TV announcers point a microphone at people on the street at the end of consecutive holidays or after the Bon vacation and ask, “How did you spend your consecutive holidays (Obon vacation)? I am reminded of the scene where the TV announcer turns to the microphone and asks people on the street, “How did you spend your consecutive holidays?
Recently, it seems to be fashionable to “abbreviate” any word, such as “Sarameshi,” which is short for “salaryman’s lunch (hirumeshi),” a program on NHK featuring the voice of Kiichi Nakai, and “Uta-Kon,” in which Shosuke Tanihara and Tomoko Kogo serve as “concierge for songs” and MC the show.
1. what is Gairoku?
The program is broadcast on BS Premium every Wednesday from 11:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. (rebroadcast: every Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.).
The concept of the program is as follows.
Learn about life from the “real” voices of people on the street! How did they face and overcome life’s challenges and happenings? What have they gained from their experiences? You will find the courage to live a life full of peaks and valleys!
2. what I saw of the program
Narrated by Daisuke Maki, the program features three guests who appear on a weekly basis. The guests at the time I saw the program were Shiro Sano, Michiko Hada, and Kanji Tsuda.
(1) A man who saved my life but I don’t know his name (female)
This woman, who realized her youthful dream in a citizens’ musical, was riding her bicycle down a hill without braking when she was in high school. She looked back for a moment, looked ahead, and hit a utility pole, badly injuring herself.
She was at her wits’ end on a mountain road with no cell phone reception, but when she saw a truck parked at a nearby construction site and asked for help, the truck not only lent her a towel to stop the bleeding, but also kindly drove her to the hospital.
The person who helped me left, saying that I had not finished my work yet.
When I went to the accident site after I was discharged from the hospital, I found that the construction site office had been removed and the benefactor was not sure who or where he was.
She said, “I want to thank the person who saved my life.”
(2) Sudden death of a friend caused her to reconsider her life (middle-aged woman)
A friend who had been chatting cheerfully until recently had not responded to her repeated e-mails, which made her suspicious. She then learned that the friend had suddenly died. This made him realize the transience of life and the fragility of it all, and gave her a chance to reexamine her own life.
(3) After suddenly falling ill and struggling to pay for medical expenses, he learned the kindness of others through the help he received from those around him (freelance photographer)
Suddenly he became ill and went to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and had to be hospitalized. He had little savings and was worried about whether he would be able to pay for the treatment, and even if he recovered, he feared financial ruin. However, thanks to his younger brother’s appeal for support through friends and social networking services, he was able to escape his predicament, and the kindness of people in the world touched his heart.
(4) A businessman who lost his wife at retirement regains his livelihood (77-year-old man)
A businessman who had been depressed after the death of his wife at the time of retirement decided to join a circle activity with a determination that he would not stay like this forever. As a result, he found a new partner with whom he got along well by watching movies together, and he found joy in his daily life and regained his zest for life.
I was impressed by her words, “I will not forget the past, but I will not look back”.
＜動画配信おすすめU-NEXT（ユーネクスト）で無料視聴できる！登録＆解約・退会方法＞