Letter #14: Daruma satellite

🟡 I almost forgot that I bought a Daruma doll this year. Daruma is like a lucky charm used in Japan. When you have a goal you want to accomplish, you fill one eye. And you fill another when you accomplish. (It’s a must-item for companies with project teams or an election campaign.) Daruma is our province’s specialty, so I see them everywhere in different sizes and colors. The yellow one is for wealth, the pink is for love, and the green is for health…? I think there are also gold, silver, purple, black, and blue ones…but I don’t know what they are for. I think the classic one is red and white. At the beginning of this year, I bought a mini-size red daruma to wish for a peaceful year, but then I forgot. It’s always there, but I didn’t pay attention. And maybe that tells me it was a peaceful year.

🟡 If it was a power of daruma, maybe we should install a giant daruma in each and every country or continent.  Or a daruma satellite to watch over the planet? 

🟡 Speaking of satellites, I listened to some tracks of BOOM BOOM SATELLITES this year. It’s been a while. When I first heard their song “Joyride” on the radio, I was sure it was a track from a new UK band. Back then (at the end of the 90s), there was a more obvious gap between Japanese sound and Western (meaning Europe and North America) sound. When I hear their songs, I always remember how shocked I was when I discovered they’re Japanese.

🟡 About 10 years ago, I saw high school girls form a band for their school festival and play BOOM BOOM’s “Kick it out” on the outside stage. That was also a shocking experience for me. Till then I didn’t realize high school bands use the laptop for the gigs… silly me, yeah of course they do… it’s 21st century after all…