＜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
<Edward VI (King of England)>
Just recently, Mary Trump, President Trump’s niece and clinical psychologist, published a tell-all book titled “Too Much, Never Enough,” in which she revealed that President Trump had a substitute take the exam for the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. This comes from a president whose reelection prospects are in jeopardy due to the publication of former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s tell-all book, and who is rumored to cheat even in golf. And since this testimony comes from a family member, it seems highly credible.
While ordering extra noodles after consuming noodles at a ramen restaurant is also called “kaedama,” the kaedama we’re introducing today is a “fake” version.
1. The Prince and the Pauper
American author Mark Twain (1835-1910), famous for “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” also wrote a children’s story called “The Prince and the Pauper.”
On October 12, 1537, two boys were born in England. One was a “prince” and the other a “beggar” living in a London slum.
The “prince” was modeled after Prince Edward (Edward Tudor), a real person who lived in England in the mid-16th century. He later became King Edward VI of England, but died at the young age of 15.
Edward was tired of the strict court life and longed for a free life outside.
The “beggar,” on the other hand, is a fictional character named Tom Canty, who grew up with an alcoholic and violent father and a mother and sister who tried to protect him. With no money and unable to buy even bread, Tom was constantly shivering from hunger and cold, and had to beg every day.
One day, Tom attempts to enter the palace hoping to catch a glimpse of the prince. The prince, who happens to be passing by, welcomes Tom and shows him around. Though the two are complete opposites in terms of birth and circumstances, they grow closer as they talk. Learning that Tom admires the prince’s clothing, they exchange clothes. The two are spitting images, and the exchange of clothing makes no difference.
When Edward puts on rags, the gatekeeper mistakes him for a beggar and throws him out of the palace. The prince yearns for a life of freedom despite his poverty, but is angered when he learns of the absurdity of the law. He is also touched by the warm hearts of the poor and deeply moved.
Meanwhile, Tom is confused by the upper-class lifestyle he longs for, but gradually adapts. He continues to treat people with the kindness he developed as a poor man, but gradually begins to feel intimidated by the weight of his new position.
Through being thrust into a completely different environment than they ever imagined, the two had a valuable experience that would change their lives forever.
What Mark Twain meant is likely the following quote from “The Merchant of Venice,” quoted at the beginning:
“The essence of mercy…is twofold in its benefits.
Mercy brings happiness to both the giver and the receiver.
It is the highest virtue in the most powerful.
Mercy is many times more worthy of a prince’s crown.”
2. Exam Substitutes
In 1991, Nabe Osami made the news when he had someone else take the entrance exam for his son, Nabe Yakkan, at Meiji University.
After this incident came to light, a police investigation revealed that more than 20 people had passed their exams through “organized proxy exams” between 1984 and 1990.
It’s mysterious how such a large number of proxy exams could have gone undetected for seven years. This suggests that there may have been an organized connection between the proxy exam intermediaries and the backdoor admission intermediaries.
The university, which overlooked the exam fraud, should also be blamed for turning a blind eye to it.
In 1975, at Tsuda University, a father cross-dressed to take the exam in place of his daughter, a scheme that was discovered on the second day, creating “the most unusual incident in entrance exam history.” The father was no doubt desperately determined to take the exam for his daughter, but I’m curious to know what happened to this father and daughter’s lives afterward, even though it’s not theirs. Incidentally, the father was a high school teacher.
3. Substitute Appearances
We sometimes hear news reports of secretaries or family members appearing in lieu of lawmakers involved in traffic accidents such as hit-and-runs.
I’ve also heard stories of gang leaders committing crimes and young members of the gang appearing in their place, serving their sentences, and then being “promoted two ranks” upon release.