Chapter 19: Jokes and Farewell
After dropping out of Meiji University in 1970, Kitano Takeshi worked part-time at the "Franza" small theater in Asakusa for two years starting in 1972, working as an elevator attendant and cleaner. Later, he became a stage comedian under the guidance of his mentor, Senzaburo Fukami.
Later, he formed the manzai band Two Beats with his current drinking companion Jiro Kaneko, and used the stage name "Beat Takeshi". With his sharp tongue and sharp criticism of current affairs, he is widely active in the television and radio circles.
They started participating in TV Asahi's "Hostile Big Laugh" program in 1975, and won the Excellence Award in NHK's comedy competition in 1976. Since then, their funny clips can often be seen in programs on major TV stations.
"Do you know what kind of audience I hate the most?" Kitano Takeshi held the wine glass in one hand and looked at Shirakawa Kaede with drunken eyes.
But before Baichuan Feng could answer, he answered himself, "I hate the audience who laugh at everything. They look like idiots."
Brother, is this how you evaluate the audience who are cheering for you? You should know that one of them is right next to you. He looked at Kotaro, who simply raised his glass and clinked it with Kitano Takeshi. After drinking it all, the two laughed.
Baichuan Feng touched his forehead helplessly, then turned his head to look at the indifferent Kaneko Jiro, who shrugged and indicated that there was no need to make a fuss.
Well, it seems that Kitano Takeshi's companion, Jiro Kaneko, has long been accustomed to his unconventional ways.
After finishing a drink with Kotaro, Kitano Takeshi raised his glass to Shirakawa Kaede. "What do you think, kid? Meiji University is boring, isn't it? I'll tell you, a boring life is better than death."
Baichuan Feng clinked glasses with him, the faint smell of wine with a hint of sweetness. This senior brother was considerate of the two teenagers and did not order the kind of spicy sake.
Once Kitano Takeshi gets tipsy, he starts to chatter non-stop, just like in the show, his mouth is like a machine gun.
At this time, everyone tacitly keeps listening and lets him have fun. If you can't argue with him for a few sentences, words like "Baga" and "Ma Lu" will fly all over the place.
"Shirakawa boy, if you don't want to study Meiji, come and learn manzai from me. With your face that appeals to little girls, it's exciting to think about you saying dirty words on stage. This contrast will definitely make you very angry."
Seeing Kitano Takeshi's confident look, Shirakawa Kaede shrugged. "If Senior Brother Kitano plans to make a movie in the future, I can consider it. I also want to be a star."
After saying this, Shirakawa Kaede, Kotaro, Kaneko Jiro and the others all laughed out loud.
"Baga~, you idiots, it's just a movie. Manzai is also fine. Oshima Nagisa-senpai agrees with my idea."
"Haha~Haha~" Baichuan Feng and the others nodded in agreement, you are right.
"Idiot!" After cursing, Takeshi Kitano started drinking again.
No one minded and soon they started drinking and laughing with him again.
Kitano Takeshi mentioned that Oshima Nagisa is the most famous international director in Japan, on par with Akira Kurosawa. Kitano Takeshi once met him on a TV show and expressed his yearning for movies to him.
Oshima Nagisa agreed with Kitano's idea. He thought that with Kitano's style, he might be the Charlie Chaplin of R&B. Kitano was greatly encouraged. He has always been an ambitious artist.
When I was working part-time in Asakusa, I dreamed of becoming an actor in a small theater. After becoming a theater comedian, I aspired to appear on TV shows. Now that I have appeared on the small screen, I am beginning to desire the big screen.
"Anyway, remember this, Shirakawa. If I find you in the future, I will never allow you to refuse me."
"I know, brother."
The two drunken men clinked glasses, then put their arms around each other's shoulders and started laughing.
In the end, this drinking party ended with Kitano Takeshi falling down and Shirakawa Kaede going to the bathroom to vomit.
It’s not that Shirakawa Kaede can drink better than Kitano Takeshi, but Kitano Takeshi drank two bottles by himself, while Shirakawa Kaede started to feel dizzy after drinking a few glasses, and only felt much better after vomiting.
Jiro Kaneko helped the drunk Takeshi Kitano into a taxi, while Torataro hugged the slightly dizzy Kaede Shirakawa and prepared to take the subway back.
"Xiao Feng, your alcohol tolerance is terrible. Why don't you just not say you're from Akita when you go out in the future? Didn't you see the surprised look on Kitano-san's face when he heard that you were from Akita?"
"Go!" Shirakawa Feng hit Kotaro on the shoulder, but the latter didn't care and just chuckled.
In fact, he was not drunk, at least he was conscious. It was just that his sense of direction was a little off, and he walked unsteadily.
It seems that he needs to intensify his training. In fact, since he came to Tokyo, he has begun to consciously strengthen his training at school. However, his foundation is too weak, and he needs to persist for a long time to see results.
When the two returned to Arakawa, the streets were already quiet at night. A foul smell came from the trash cans on the street, and the carelessly discarded beverage bottles and lunch boxes attracted a large number of mosquitoes.
In Tokyo these days, trash cans can be seen everywhere on the streets. It's nothing like later times, where you have to choose a time and place to throw away the trash, just like a date.
How good it is now, Tokyo people enjoy freedom from garbage all the time. In the next 20 years, there will be no such good thing, alas, the times are going backwards.
"Xiao Feng, do you think the person lying on the ground in front of you looks like a human?"
What are you talking about? It's the middle of the night and a hundred demons are parading?
Baichuan Feng raised his head and rubbed his blurry eyes. There were several figures lying in a mess next to the trash can under the street light.
Baichuan Feng's first reaction was that those homeless people who wandered around all day just found a random place to sleep. Although the economy seemed to be getting better, there was no shortage of poor people. There were all kinds of people who didn't want to work and lie down, and those who stole and were often in jail.
"Don't mind your own business," Shirakawa Feng signaled Kotaro to go home quickly. These people were more or less likely to be related to the Yakuza. The Yakuza were very rampant these days, and the police were scared when they saw them.
The government used the Yakuza to maintain social stability after the war, and used them to disrupt strikes organized by the left-wing Red Army in the 1970s. It has only been a few years since this happened, and ordinary civilians are terrified by the Yakuza.
As for the scenes commonly seen on the Internet in later generations where yakuza help maintain order and catch thieves, that was after the "Countermeasures against Violent Groups Law" was promulgated in 1991, and the yakuza had to make changes in order to survive.
Now, the underworld is the underworld, and the number of black industries involved is too numerous to count.
The two men avoided the figure lying on the ground and stayed away from it.
"But Xiao Feng, it's that guy." Kotaro stared at one of the figures, his tone full of surprise.
Baichuan Feng looked at Kotaro strangely, "Who?" How could he see anything in the dark?
Kotaro frowned and said, "It's the guy on the train."
"Hmm?" Baichuan Feng perked up and took two steps closer to see the iconic yellow hair clearly, "Yellow hair?"
"Yes, it's them. I recognize him." Kotaro had a deep memory of the yellow-haired man with whom he almost had a fight.
"Ahem..." Shirakawa Kaede cleared his throat, "Let's just call him Ota, otherwise it's a bit rude." Huangmao was a nickname he and Kotaro used in private, and he just blurted it out accidentally.
Kotaro looked at Shirakawa Kaede strangely and said, "Xiao Feng, it was obviously you who called Huangmao, okay?"
"So what should we do now?" Torataro looked at Shirakawa Kaede, waiting for his decision.
Baichuan Feng has a headache...
