This year, too, I received many delightful, wonderful, and beautiful New Year's cards.

This year, I once again sent my greetings from the Koichi Kuwabara Diary in lieu of a New Year's card.

Ideally, I believe it's proper to send New Year's cards by handwritten mail, but I am weak and have been writing my daily thoughts in a blog format, taking weekends off, pretending to be an iPhoneographer.
I humbly ask for your understanding on this matter.

Now, this year, 'Smile Rock Again' is our beginning.

In a situation where we must declare that there is no future without change,
what we can express is so very small. However,
by taking that small first step,
I believe the next stride will surely be larger... So, we're doing it again this year!
Yes, I live by intuition and hunches, and I'm ubiquitously present.
Guided by these unreliable guides, the feeling this year, as I began to move,

is that evil spirits have been banished.

“Everything will change in the direction you expect.”

According to the 38th fortune at the 100-yen love fortune-telling in Yoyogi Hachiman, 'Chukichi' (middle good luck),

“Direction”

Southwest or East is good, but at times, it's fine to proceed without considering direction.

Since I don't usually carry a compass, I can't possibly determine if the person I have in mind is from the southwest or east,
so my only option is to proceed without considering it. Hmm? Wait, does 'direction' refer to the person's residence?

Southwest means, perhaps, the Kagoshima area?

And someone from the East, like Hawaii?

Hmm. It seems better not to think too much about it.

“Meeting Place”

A place with a fun atmosphere, like an amusement park, is good.

A fun atmosphere. That's certainly helpful, but
amusement parks have far too many people. Rides with two-hour waits.
That's impossible for me. Absolutely not.
It seems better not to think too much about this either.

“Blood Type”

Type O is good. Avoid Type A.

I'm probably Type A, so I must avoid myself.

And the crucial part, “Love Luck”

Even if it's sad, even if it's painful, let's quickly forget this love.

It's for the best for both of you.

Then, pray to the god of matchmaking.

Surely, a new person will appear, and a happy, joyful love will blossom.



Hmm? So, not today, but the person who appears from now on,

will arrive by canoe from the direction of Hawaii.
Someone with Type O blood,
and I will go on a date at Disneyland?

Omikuji (fortune slips) – a Japanese traditional culture? – are truly delightful.



Oh? This is from Yukiko Sawabe of Letterpress Printing,

Is this atmosphere also part of the omikuji culture's lineage?



Whatever the case, let us pray that this year's romance will also be successful.



Whoa! I almost fell off my chair.

After the New Year's hidden talent show on TV disappeared,

my only real enjoyment has secretly been this.

The hidden talent of Mr. Shiraishi, the president of the esteemed Beams,
has now become a New Year's tradition that shakes Japan's fashion industry, and it's safe to say so.
Yes, comparing it to the legendary Masahiko Sakai, the 'East Yokozuna' of those New Year's hidden talent shows, President Shiraishi's New Year's offering, which has long surpassed amateur levels, has become a masterpiece of a hidden talent that never disappoints the expectations of hidden talent fans who eagerly await it every New Year.

Still, last year's display of President Shiraishi's physical prowess took my breath away,
but this year's impersonation and transformation act was hilariously spectacular, bizarre, and eccentric!

The serious commitment of 'If I'm going to do it, I'll go all the way!' makes you feel
the underlying strength of Beams, which has now grown into a mammoth corporation.
In other words, no matter how big the company becomes, Beams' spirit remains unchanged. Yes, we are selling a sense of playfulness.
The essence of fashion, the corporate spirit of Beams,
President Shiraishi's earnest attitude in conveying these through his own body
reveals the secret to Beams' strength.
Yes, precisely because these are such difficult and intense times,
what should be the ideal form of a company that sells joy?

“Hey, you, fashion is,
not that kind of sweet business.”
(In the style of a drunken man returning home)

It's not the time to be acting cool forever~.

Looking forward to next year.

← Diary-T 195-200