People Are Not... As They Seem...
I'll be abrupt, but has anyone ever experienced things such as this?
1. You were just walking down the street, and yet the police questioned you...
2. You were just riding your bicycle, and yet someone calls you to stop, saying that the bicycle was stolen...
3. You were just trying to help a troubled elderly person, and yet for some reason they jeer at you and run away...
Have you? Such things... they all apply to me. It appears that my garments and hair style probably invited all these things. However, I still can't accept it. Why should a person be judged based only upon what you see of that person's appearance? In society, there are many people and they have various personalities, therefore it's only natural that each person differs from one another. Yet, no matter how hard humans may try, that is to say, our preconceptions about any person's manner, personality, etc., that we get from their appearance, is only a guess, and such things seem to be decided arbitrarily... When I talk about these things, it's likely that there are people with "?" floating in their heads...
For example, recently Mr. Shimoda Kageki no longer has a remarkable appearance, but his is a prime example. His body bundled in eccentric fashion, and often having a blue head, he appears on television sometimes, but I think there may be a few people wondering why he can be called 'sensei'. I'll write it just in case there are people who don't know, but to be honest with you, he's an author who won the Naoki Prize. I think there are many such people, but as far as I can remember, there has never been a person who instilled such shock in me. Therefore, the thing I want to say is this, "Don't judge people on their outward appearance!!"
If you ask why I shout out such a thing now, it's because in its own way it's nothing other than a misfortune. Previously, I put up three points of misfortune... I think everyone can revisit these one by one, but (Incidentally, I have a record of being stopped by the police ten times in one night!!) when this can happen all in one go, even the heart can give in...
For the first ten days of February we were doing an early-morning photoshoot, and on one of these days I got out of bed around 3 AM and entered the bathroom. I fixed up my hair, and got fired up in high spirits as I left home. Because the trains weren't running so early in the morning, I tried going to work on my bicycle after a long time, but as soon as I left my house, I found I couldn't really stand the coldness so I went back inside once more to put on my scarf and a hat. If I think about it, it was hopeless... In order to not be exposed to the cold wind, I wrapped the scarf around my neck and face as much as I could, and because my ears also seemed frozen, I pulled my wool hat down over them. Standing before the full-length mirror in my entrance way, I thought, with regained spirits, 'All right! I'll be okay this time!'
Sitting upon my bike again, I descended the hill road in front of my house that I always used when heading to work - was that an elderly man collapsed alone on the roadside? He seemed to have used up all his strength while struggling home after getting quite drunk... I returned toward him, although I knew very well that the meeting time for work was drawing near, but I thought if I left him lying down in such a place he'd freeze to death. I resolved myself and called out to him.
"Sir, won't you catch a cold when you lie down in such a place? Sir?" I tried calling him two or three times, but the elderly man didn't get up at all. After a fleeting glance at my watch, I dismounted my bike and pulled him to sit up.
"Sir. Hey, sir, get up!!"
Finally, he opened his eyes. I was relieved.
"Sir, you'll catch a cold. Don't you think you should get home quickly? Where's your house? In the neighborhood?"
However, the elderly man still seemed only vaguely conscious, with groans of "Ooaa," and "Mnnwaa," and I couldn't quite grasp the situation I was now in. Becoming increasingly worried, I looked around nearby to see if there wasn't anyone else in the area. According to my watch, the meeting time had already passed by... I was hesitating, unsure what I should do, when a bicycle light illuminated me from behind. This was surely an appearance of Buddha in hell! Luckily, it was a police officer doing regular patrol and happened to pass by. I promptly stood up.
"Excuse me! Excuse me for a moment!"
When that light seemed to turn to my voice seeking help, something surprising happened. Until some time ago, I thought the elderly man to be in clouded consciousness. Suddenly he stood up and of all things, turned to the policeman. "Help! H-help!" he started crying out.
That policeman was likely surprised too, but I was the most surprised. What was that? For a moment I couldn't understand what happened, but when I promptly realized it was an unlucky state of affairs. I frantically explained the facts of the incident to the policeman. Then, a little while after listening to my story, he opened his pursed lips for a brief comment.
"You, hm~? I pretty much understand your story, but... your appearance, well, isn't he complaining that your appearance seems suspicious? Hmm?"
Wasn't that a hateful thing to say. Surely I, dressed in black from top to bottom, complete with a scarf and hat, only resembled a bank robber at a glance but, since I have a kind heart, talking like that did not suit my actions!! It was, to a great extent, a biting remark, but when I noticed, the elderly man was gone... 'Okay then...' I thought, and turning my back to the policeman I was going to leave that place, but...
"You, just wait for a moment."
"Eh? What is it now?" I answered, turning around.
"Is that bicycle yours? Or did he fall a little while ago and you took it?"
And so the final blow came, didn't it.
"Of course, and look at the time already! I'm in a rush, you know!!" I pleaded, though he seemed not to be compliant. I was there for yet another twenty minutes, listening to this and that, and after feeling around in the pockets of my pants, I showed him that I had only 1020 yen in my wallet. During that time, my phone was vibrating with continuous calls from my manager...
When I was finally released I hurried to the office, but when I arrived, I'd passed the supposed meeting time by 45 minutes and got stuck with apologizing to everyone. Tension always plummets when a day holds such incidents, and so each one of my pictures from that day showed sadness seeping into my facial expression, and I was the only one with strrangely few OK cuts. I had no choice but to do retakes a day later...
1. You were just walking down the street, and yet the police questioned you...
2. You were just riding your bicycle, and yet someone calls you to stop, saying that the bicycle was stolen...
3. You were just trying to help a troubled elderly person, and yet for some reason they jeer at you and run away...
Have you? Such things... they all apply to me. It appears that my garments and hair style probably invited all these things. However, I still can't accept it. Why should a person be judged based only upon what you see of that person's appearance? In society, there are many people and they have various personalities, therefore it's only natural that each person differs from one another. Yet, no matter how hard humans may try, that is to say, our preconceptions about any person's manner, personality, etc., that we get from their appearance, is only a guess, and such things seem to be decided arbitrarily... When I talk about these things, it's likely that there are people with "?" floating in their heads...
For example, recently Mr. Shimoda Kageki no longer has a remarkable appearance, but his is a prime example. His body bundled in eccentric fashion, and often having a blue head, he appears on television sometimes, but I think there may be a few people wondering why he can be called 'sensei'. I'll write it just in case there are people who don't know, but to be honest with you, he's an author who won the Naoki Prize. I think there are many such people, but as far as I can remember, there has never been a person who instilled such shock in me. Therefore, the thing I want to say is this, "Don't judge people on their outward appearance!!"
If you ask why I shout out such a thing now, it's because in its own way it's nothing other than a misfortune. Previously, I put up three points of misfortune... I think everyone can revisit these one by one, but (Incidentally, I have a record of being stopped by the police ten times in one night!!) when this can happen all in one go, even the heart can give in...
For the first ten days of February we were doing an early-morning photoshoot, and on one of these days I got out of bed around 3 AM and entered the bathroom. I fixed up my hair, and got fired up in high spirits as I left home. Because the trains weren't running so early in the morning, I tried going to work on my bicycle after a long time, but as soon as I left my house, I found I couldn't really stand the coldness so I went back inside once more to put on my scarf and a hat. If I think about it, it was hopeless... In order to not be exposed to the cold wind, I wrapped the scarf around my neck and face as much as I could, and because my ears also seemed frozen, I pulled my wool hat down over them. Standing before the full-length mirror in my entrance way, I thought, with regained spirits, 'All right! I'll be okay this time!'
Sitting upon my bike again, I descended the hill road in front of my house that I always used when heading to work - was that an elderly man collapsed alone on the roadside? He seemed to have used up all his strength while struggling home after getting quite drunk... I returned toward him, although I knew very well that the meeting time for work was drawing near, but I thought if I left him lying down in such a place he'd freeze to death. I resolved myself and called out to him.
"Sir, won't you catch a cold when you lie down in such a place? Sir?" I tried calling him two or three times, but the elderly man didn't get up at all. After a fleeting glance at my watch, I dismounted my bike and pulled him to sit up.
"Sir. Hey, sir, get up!!"
Finally, he opened his eyes. I was relieved.
"Sir, you'll catch a cold. Don't you think you should get home quickly? Where's your house? In the neighborhood?"
However, the elderly man still seemed only vaguely conscious, with groans of "Ooaa," and "Mnnwaa," and I couldn't quite grasp the situation I was now in. Becoming increasingly worried, I looked around nearby to see if there wasn't anyone else in the area. According to my watch, the meeting time had already passed by... I was hesitating, unsure what I should do, when a bicycle light illuminated me from behind. This was surely an appearance of Buddha in hell! Luckily, it was a police officer doing regular patrol and happened to pass by. I promptly stood up.
"Excuse me! Excuse me for a moment!"
When that light seemed to turn to my voice seeking help, something surprising happened. Until some time ago, I thought the elderly man to be in clouded consciousness. Suddenly he stood up and of all things, turned to the policeman. "Help! H-help!" he started crying out.
That policeman was likely surprised too, but I was the most surprised. What was that? For a moment I couldn't understand what happened, but when I promptly realized it was an unlucky state of affairs. I frantically explained the facts of the incident to the policeman. Then, a little while after listening to my story, he opened his pursed lips for a brief comment.
"You, hm~? I pretty much understand your story, but... your appearance, well, isn't he complaining that your appearance seems suspicious? Hmm?"
Wasn't that a hateful thing to say. Surely I, dressed in black from top to bottom, complete with a scarf and hat, only resembled a bank robber at a glance but, since I have a kind heart, talking like that did not suit my actions!! It was, to a great extent, a biting remark, but when I noticed, the elderly man was gone... 'Okay then...' I thought, and turning my back to the policeman I was going to leave that place, but...
"You, just wait for a moment."
"Eh? What is it now?" I answered, turning around.
"Is that bicycle yours? Or did he fall a little while ago and you took it?"
And so the final blow came, didn't it.
"Of course, and look at the time already! I'm in a rush, you know!!" I pleaded, though he seemed not to be compliant. I was there for yet another twenty minutes, listening to this and that, and after feeling around in the pockets of my pants, I showed him that I had only 1020 yen in my wallet. During that time, my phone was vibrating with continuous calls from my manager...
When I was finally released I hurried to the office, but when I arrived, I'd passed the supposed meeting time by 45 minutes and got stuck with apologizing to everyone. Tension always plummets when a day holds such incidents, and so each one of my pictures from that day showed sadness seeping into my facial expression, and I was the only one with strrangely few OK cuts. I had no choice but to do retakes a day later...
Notes:
Kageki Shimoda is a drama actor and an author. I couldn't really find much more information about him, but you can see a picture of him here. In 1980 he won the Naoki Prize for his story 'Yellow Fang'.
Kageki Shimoda is a drama actor and an author. I couldn't really find much more information about him, but you can see a picture of him here. In 1980 he won the Naoki Prize for his story 'Yellow Fang'.