Back from Kumeta's breakShibuya Near Family chapter 155: A cat statue has undergone research>[A.D. 3222]>Professor.>This cat statue is quite famous, isn't it?>It's commonly known as the "Downwards-looking Cat".>We think that it was made sometime in the early 3rd millenium.>But, based to recent research,>this statue...>May actually have been part of a *pair* of statues.>A pair?>You mean, there was another statue that it was supposed to face...?
>(*Endless stream of people...*)>(*Staaare*)>Do you know what day it is today?>February 22nd - Nyan Nyan Nyan, thus: Cat DayDerived from the fact that 2 in Japanese is "ni", presumably. >It's Cat Day!>Aren't you ashamed to be admiring a dog statue today!?>I mean... Not really.>Shibuya is a city of dogs, after all.
>Wrong!>Shibuya is a city of cats, too.>We've got things like Cat Street,>or that film, "Cats On Park Avenue".As has been mentioned in the past, this is the Western title of a movie about cats in Shibuya's Koen-dori, Park Avenue being a literal translation of the street's name.>Shibuya prides itself in its diversity,>so it's weird we don't have a cat statue, too.>...And, thus...>As a generous contribution from our syndicate,>I have manufactured a cat statue for you.>Behold!
>That's not a statue of cats,>that's a statue of a tout.Eru contrasts the loanword "cats" with another loanword, "catch", which refers to touts among other things.>Well, Shibuya has more touts than cats.>I figured this would be more suitable.>Certainly, there are places that would be better described as Tout Streets.>Even those people>don't hold a candle to Shinjuku, though.
>Well... I suspected you might say that, so...>I prepared another statue, too.>Did you just buy that from a store?>I guess making the tout statue took up most of the budget.>You can find plenty of those just by going to any Don Quijote.Don Quijote is the name of a chain of discount stores.>What I want...>Is a cat statue capable of surpassing Hachi!>Just so you know,>beating Hachi is going to require more than just a lavishly-made statue.>After all,>Hachi also has a "story" that tugs at people's heartstrings.>That's the secret to its popularity.>True enough.
>(The loyal cat...)>...No,>that really doesn't feel like something a cat would do.>If anything, the human would be the one swearing loyalty.>Ah...>That's it!>We can make a cat statue that comes paired with a human statue.>Paired with...>A human statue...?>A play I performed with my theater company last week>featured a story about a human who swears loyalty to a cat.>This is the original book it was based on.
>Anime picture book - Loyal Human IchikouHachi's full name is Hachikou, written with the same kanji for "kou" as here. Hachi means "eight", while ichi means "one".>I've never heard of a story like that before.>It's based on a folk tale from Scotland.>It's a story of a villager who is saved by a cat, and becomes devotedly loyal to it.>Ichi... kou...>Understood. In order to create a statue of a "loyal human",>I'll place all the resources of the Miorosu syndicate at your disposal.>This is Picard,>a world-class sculptor.>(*Whisper*)>It seems that he'll need a model to solidify the image of Ichikou in his head.>LOYAL ICHIKOO!>THE IMAGE OF LOYAL ITSUKO!>Itsuko...>I'm pretty sure he said Itsuko just now.>I knew it... It's going to be me, isn't it?Ikko's full name is probably Itsuko, with Ikko being a nickname due to the "tsu" symbol doubling as the symbol of consonant gemination in Japanese.
>I've never seen a human swear loyalty to a cat like this before!>You're a genius, Ikko-san!>(Mrgrgrgr...)>But, Picard doesn't seem satisfied!>More!>Prostrate before the cat>even more!>They're both geniuses!>They're struggling to reach heights that normal people could never hope to attain!>I never thought that I could be this moved>just by a human swearing loyalty to something!>I guess...>We can stick with using that as the cat.>Shibuya duty diary - These days, Hachi isn't the one waiting — people are waiting to get their turn with him.>Sidebar: She understands that she needs to show respect by lowering herself. That's the power of a loyal human for you! And are those Ciao Churus on her foot!?Ciao Churu is a brand of cat treats.Thanks for reading! Are you a dog or cat person?
Chapter 154: Dad goes to see a blockbuster>>286218173Thanks for translating! I prefer cats, but dogs do have their charm too.
And that's all for today. Thanks for reading!
>>286218600Thanks for typesetting!Mame has entrenched herself in the cast pretty solidly, hasn't she? I wonder if they're ever going to bring up the whole Ikko's rival thing again.
