Author Archives: Henkka

Learning by Drinking: Dazai Osamu

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Dazai Osamu
If you’re broke but you drink anyway
Author | 19 June 1909 – 13 June 1948

“Wait here. I’m gonna go take out some money.”

One night around twenty years ago, I was out for drinks with a college senior of mine. He’d told me he was buying. And yet, he had just moments before left the establishment, leaving me behind like some sort of a sacrificial offering.

Were the same thing to happen today, I would just tell him to pay with his credit card and be done with it. But seeing as the two of us were students back then, both of us the sort of people who blew whatever money we had left and right, we didn’t carry such dangerous items with us.

I knew he wasn’t the sort of person to just abandon one of his juniors. But unfortunately, this guy was drunk. And not just drunk—he was plastered.

Would a man who was this drunk be able to successfully withdraw money from the ATM? And if so, would he be able to find his way back in his unconscious state? What if he passed out on the way? Did this man even have a clear understanding as to his present location?

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Learning by Drinking: Introduction

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(See here for a synopsis of this book.)

You feel so incredibly sick and hungover that you can’t even get up.

I would venture to guess that quite a few of the people reading this book have experienced the aforementioned feeling before. If only you hadn’t gone to that second or third bar last night; no, if only you’d just passed on that last drink.

But lying in bed regretting such matters isn’t going to solve anything.

Just as it is apparently important for a company employee to remain at work even when they’re doing absolutely nothing, I have similarly been told by many people older and wiser than me how, come hell or high water, company employees must always strive to make their way to the office, no matter what.

I must say, though, that it has always been a mystery to me how a human being who literally has to crawl their way to the toilet could possibly make it to the office of all places.

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Takahashi Yuichi – Tooi Machi (English Lyrics)

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遠い街
Distant Town

In a distant town, surrounded by mountains, stands an old gas station
Day after day, waiting for customers, the man there works away

Unconcerned with the oil and sweat sullying his hands
He simply smokes his cigarette

In the scorching afternoon heat, he opens the half-broken faucet
Cool water spraying against his tanned, brawny arms

In a nursery school, near the gas station, is where his lover works
She yearns for the big city; says it’s her dream to live there

She would always tell him
“Let’s leave this place together!”

Not saying a word, he would light his cigarette
Always a hint of sadness on his face, removing his glasses

Staying here would ruin them, she would insist
Him, always just quietly listening, wiping his glasses

Dust blowing in the dry wind across the road
Today, just as every other day, he heads to work

Even if everyone else was to go, leaving him in his lonesome
He alone would remain in this town, no matter what

Her feelings grow distant — she gives up on the halfhearted man
And one morning, she quits her job and gets on a long-distance bus

As they parted the man spoke
“Think of me when you get lonely”

Dust blowing in the dry wind across the road
The bus, with her inside, vanishes into the distance

While everyone else abandons this place, leaving it behind
He alone would remain in this town, living there forever

Today, just as every other day, he lights his cigarette
Only a hint of sadness on his face, removing his glasses

Even if everyone else was to go, leaving him in his lonesome
He alone would remain in this town, no matter what

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Takahashi Yuichi – Yume (English Lyrics)

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夢
Dream

That night I had a dream
One I just can’t forget, try as I might

On the stage of a small pub
A man held his guitar
As he sang his song

A sad song about trying to stop his lover from leaving
Singing it over and over again
It’s like he was singing about me
And when I thought of you, it hurt so much

Trying to catch a glimpse of his face
It would only blur like paint

I couldn’t even hear his voice as he sang
And yet I found myself singing along
Dreams can be so strange…

A sad song about trying to stop his lover from leaving
Singing it over and over again
It’s like he was singing about me
And when I thought of you, it hurt so much

The dream ends, but since you’re no longer here
I’d have preferred to just keep dreaming
A sad song about trying to stop one’s lover from leaving
And it’s me who’s singing

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Takahashi Yuichi – Ano Natsu no Companion (English Lyrics)

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あの夏のコンパニオン
Summer Companion

That summer at my part-time gig
I saw you and your long hair, and I was in love

I remember us sneaking out the shop
Walking endlessly on the beach

“When summer ends and we stop seeing each other
You’re going to forget about me”
Oh, how sad you looked
That summer evening

Since then I’ve come back to this town
Once or twice I even got in touch, but…

With the cold wind blowing outside the window
I was yearning for someone by my side

“When summer ends and we can’t see each other anymore
Even then don’t forget about me”
Oh, how lonely you looked
That summer evening

Summer ended and we stopped seeing each other
Sure enough, it feels like I’m about to forget you
You begin to vanish into the scenery
Summer days growing distant
Summer days fading away

That summer… That love…
That summer… That you…

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