image: Qi Rari“I was dead broke. It was winter.”
I was dead broke. It was winter. The owner of a small sake-ya across the street from my flat had access to promotion merchandise from the brands he stocked. Chalk it up to “nomunnication” [1] because my Japanese was really bad, but he had somehow taken a liking to me. So, after one look at me in a t-shirt, I found myself the recipient of a brand new, brand-sponsored winter coat. It was big, black, shiny, and I thought, wonderful.
To the ever brand conscious Tokyoites, however, the big red patch on the left chest that read “Wonda Coffee,” [2] while intriguing, was repulsive. Their faces reflected my binbou[3] status. Those vainglorious glares acted as a cold counterweight to the heavy lining of my coat, so every now and then I’d provide a warm cup full of a fresh brewed witticism: “I’m Tiger Woods” or my favorite, “I’m dating Yuko Ogura.” [4]
One day, as I walked out of Yoyogi Park and waited at the crosswalk, I felt a chill. After turning to deliver my line, I soon found myself in a trance, wondering exactly what everyone else had - where did you get that coat? It was one of the homeless men who lives the park. And he was wearing my coat. Indeed, a Wonda-ful life.
referenced works
- Nomunnication: Nomu (Japanese: to drink) and Communication. The result is "nomunnication", that close feeling you get when drinking. ↩
- Check out Canned Coffee for all of your canned coffee inquiries. ↩
- Binbou: Poor ↩
- Tiger endorsed Wonda Coffee and Yuko has appeared in at least one commercial. ↩
location information
- Name: a crosswalk outside Yoyogi Park
- Address: Tokyo Japan, Yoyogi Park
- Time of story: afternoon
- Latitude: 35.66848
- Longitude: 139.697471
- Map: Google Maps
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