MusicMarketplace.com
When Queen Elizabeth II came to Japan a long time ago, she paid a visit at an imperial villa located in my hometown. A procession of their cars passed on the street near my neighborhood. The small hamlet I used to live was swallowed by this huge event. People were agog to get a glimpse of Queen of England and that was the talk of the town. They had their relatives over just for the procession, which my family also did. I was a child who was a big fan of a teen-boy group called ‘Zutorubi’. The group was a pop idle of the teenage girls. Its name ‘Zutorubi’ came from what is pronounced ‘The Beatles’ upside down. As the name implies, it was a comic group rather than a handsome boy group. My mother never approved of me being a fan of them. When the time for the Queen’s procession approached and my whole family including my relatives and my grandmother, who had a bad leg and usually didn’t like to go out, were excitedly about to leave the house, my mother noticed I didn’t prepare to go out. I was sitting in front of the TV. The procession time coincided with my favorite TV show of ‘Zutorubi’ and I chose ‘Zutorubi’ over Queen. Naturally my mother gaped at me when I said I wouldn’t go. “Are you out of your mind? It’s Queen Elizabeth!” she said furiously. “It’s the chance of a lifetime! You can see ‘Zutorubi’ every week!” Still, there was no comparison to me between that week’s ‘Zutorubi’ and once-in-a-lifetime Queen. “You will regret this for the rest of your life!” My mother left taking a parting shot. Literally all residents in my hamlet gathered alongside the street. Even the bedridden people were carried out of their houses to see Queen. It was quite certain that I was the only one that stayed at home. If a burglar had been working in my neighborhood at that time, he or she would have had a good haul. When I finished watching the show in rapture, my family came home. They told me they got a glimpse of Queen’s face and how beautiful she was. My mother threatened that I made a grievous mistake and not seeing Queen would harm my life in the future. I didn’t understand how, and still doesn’t…
