Nozomu Itoshiki is depressed. Very depressed. He’s certifiably suicidal, but he’s also the beloved schoolteacher of a class of unique students, each charming in her own way: The stalker. The shut-in. The obsessive-compulsive. The girl who comes to class every day with strange bruises. And Kafuka, the most optimistic girl in the world, who knows that every cloud has a silver lining. For all of them, it’s a special time, when the right teacher can have a lasting positive effect on their lives. But is that teacher Itoshiki, a.k.a. Zetsubou-sensei, who just wants to find the perfect place to die?
Chapter 26: As Gregor Samsa Awoke One Morning He Found Himself Carrying a Mikoshi
Previous chapter:Be mindful of first-timers; please use spoiler text for any spoilers. __________
>As Gregor Samsa Awoke One Morning He Found Himself Carrying a Mikoshi This title is a reference to Franz Kafka’s 1915 short story The Metamorphosis, which opens with the line “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.”
>Omikoshi or mikoshi Amikoshi (or, in more respectful language, omikoshi) is a portable Shinto shrine that serves as a vehicle of a divine spirit. It is beautifully ornate with carvings and gilding, and borne on the shoulders by mikoshi carriers by means of two poles. During festivals, a mikoshi is carried around the neighborhood and down the main streets and the excitement can get intense.
>Assorted references “Kaoru-hime” refers to volleyball player Kaoru Sugayama (1978- ), often called Kaoru-hime (“Princess Kaoru”) or shiroi yosei (“white fairy”) because of her good looks. “Todai’s Seiko-chan” refers to politician Satsuki Katayama (1959- ), a graduate of prestigious Todai University. Due to her looks, she has been compared to singer/songwriter Seiko Matsuda (1962- ). “Sakurai Misuchiru” is short for Kazutoshi Sakurai (1970-), a Japanese musician most famous for his band Mr. Children. Mirai Moriyama (1984-) is a Japanese actor and model. Yawara is the title character of Naoki Urasawa’s 1986 sports manga Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl. When real-life Japanese teenager Ryoko Tamura won a silver medal for judo at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, she was nicknamed “Yawara-chan” after the character.
>Assorted references “Tama-chan,” aka “Tamao Nishi,” was the name given to an Arctic bearded seal who took up residence in various Japanese rivers in 2002. When he moved to a river in Yokohama, the amused locals of Yokohama’s Nishi ward registered him as a citizen. Later, a small pup seal appeared in Japan’s Isatomae River, where it was nicknamed “Uta-chan” by the residents of nearby Utatsu-cho. “It stands!” refers to Futa-kun, a red panda at the Chiba Zoo who became a big attraction due to his ability to stand on his hind legs.
>“If a person just dies in a novel...” This is a reference to a tear-jerking Japanese romance, Kyoichi Katayama’s Socrates in Love, published in 2001. A massive bestseller, it was adapted into manga, a TV drama, and a live-action film.
>Assorted references Junichiro Koizumi (1942-) was the prime minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006, during which time he became known as an economic reformer. “The piano man” refers to Andreas Grass! (1984-), a German man found wandering the streets in England in April 2005, who remained unidentified for more than four months due to his refusal to communicate apart from drawing and playing the piano. Actor Yuya Yagira (1990- ) became the youngest person ever to receive the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in the 2004 film Nobody Knows. The Seakagoke Spider (seakagoke gumo) was a poisonous spider that became the focus of a public health scare when it was discovered to have extended its habitat around Osaka Bay. “Minus lon” devices, also known as “negative ion” devices, are a type of air purifiers that are supposed to cause health benefits by ionizing air molecules. Naniwa Ward is a neighborhood in Osaka, Japan. Japanese department stores are famous for selling food in their basements, often in high-class restaurants with famous chefs, and the competition among stores is intense. “Ramen Wars” refers to a 2005 incident in Japan when a jealous ramen shop owner kidnapped and beat a former business partner who had founded a more successful ramen shop by himself. The “Korean Wave” refers to a huge surge in the popularity of South Korean pop culture throughout Japan and the rest of Asia in the 1990s; some Japanese people reacted against this with expressions of anti- Korean sentiment. The Roppongi Hills Zoku, or “Hills Tribe,” is a nickname for the flashy, new-money tenants of Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills business megacomplex, opened in 2003. Agaricus is a mushroom known for its purported medical properties. “Suicup” is a nickname for Eri Furuse, a former NHK newscaster known for her large breasts (suika means “watermelon”). Odaiba and Shiodome are trendy neighborhoods built on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay.
>Assorted references The Avex Group is a music label and entertainment company in Japan, known for repackaging fading stars’ music, such as with the 2005 group Cutie Mommy, made up of three idol singers from the eighties. Corocoro Comic is a manga magazine aimed at elementary school kids, featuring many toy and video game manga. Hakkutsu! Aruaru Daijiten (“Excavate! An Encyclopedia of Facts”) was a 1996-2007 TV infotainment program. In 2007 it was canceled when it was discovered that they had fabricated data about the health benefits of natto (fermented basedbeans).
>Moe boom Moe (literally meaning “budding” or “sprouting”) is Japanese slang for a fetish or a great love for characters in manga, anime, and video games. In a broad sense, it can mean any beloved hobby, but the original context is of male otaku who obsess over cute big-eyed anime girls. In the following page, the otaku vainly attempts to popularize hore (“fascinating”) as a replacement for moe, a term which has been overused by the mainstream media.
