#kashitaro

思えば遠くへ来たもんだ

見慣れない景色に

戸惑いながらも微笑んで

疲れた顔隠す

 時は流れ　流されていく

不安なまま　生きてる

心の中　そういつだって

思い出すはあたたかい　幸せなあの場所を

 帰ろう　

うちに帰ろう

何もかもを忘れて

「ただいま」しよう

 帰ろう　

うちに帰ろう

ただその言葉が欲しい

「おかえりなさい」

 ああ寒いな

でも平気

もうあと少しで見えてくる

帰ろうよ　マイホームタウン

 ひとりぼっちは怖くないと

言い聞かせ歩いた

寂しさはやがて友になり

もうどれくらいだろう

 振り返らず　まだ止まらずに

なぜ頑なに　進むの

胸に浮かぶ　あの思い出が

 きっと弱気な　僕のこと

優しく𠮟っている

 帰ろう　

うちに帰ろう

どこに行けばいいのかを

迷い続けて

 帰ろう　

うちに帰ろう

当たり前にあるものが

見つからなくて

 幻でも

構わない

心の中にある場所へ

帰ろうよ　マイホームタウン

 生まれた場所は

人それぞれだね

当たり前のもの持ってなくてむ

優しくなりたい気持ちだけは

なくさず来たつもりだよ

 ほらごらん夜が明ける

星空の向かう側　見えてくるだろう

ボロボロの体を　迎えてくれる場所が

見えてくるだろう

 帰ろう　

うちに帰ろう

何もかもを忘れて

「ただいま」しよう

 帰ろう　

うちに帰ろう

ただその言葉が欲しい

「おかえりなさい」

 ああ寒いな

でも平気

もうあと少しで見えてくる

帰ろうよ　マイホームタウン

 いつの日か 帰ろうよ　マイホームタウン

いつまでも 大切な　マイホームタウン

 Romaji:

Omoeba tooku he kitamonda

Minareta keshiki ni

Tomadoinagara mo hohoenda

Tsukareta kao kakusu

 Toki ha nagare nagasareteiku

Fuanna mama ikiteiru

Kokoro no naka sou itsudatte

Omoidasu ha atatakai shiawase na ano basho wo

 Kaero

Uchi ni kaerou

Nani mo kamo wo wasurete

[tadaima] shiyou

  Kaero

Uchi ni kaerou

Tada sono kotoba ga hoshii

[okaerinasai]

 Aa samui na

Demo heiki

Mou ato sukoshi de miete kuru

Kaerou yo my hometown

 Hitoribocchi ha kowakunaito

Ii kikase aruita

Sabishi ha yagate tomo ni nari

Mou dore kurai darou

 Furi kaerazu Mada tomarazu ni

Naze kataku nani Susumu no

Mune ga ukabu Ano omoidega

 Kitto yowakina boku no koto

Yasashiku shikatteiru

 Kaero

Uchi ni kaerou

Doko ni ikeba ii no ka wo

Mayoi tsuzukete

 Kaero

Uchi ni kaerou

Atarimae ni aru mono ga

Mitsukaranakute

 Maboroshi demo

Kamawanai

Kokoro no naka ni aru basho he

Kaerou yo my hometown

 Umareta basho ha

Hito sorezore da ne

Atarimae no mono ga mottenakute mo

Yasashiku naritai kimochi dake ha

Nakusazu kita tsumori da yo

 Hora goran yoru ga akeru

Maboroshi no mukou gawa Mietekuru darou

Boroboro no karada wo Mukaetekureru basho ga

Mietekuru darou

 Kaero

Uchi ni kaerou

Nani mo kamo wo wasurete

[tadaima] shiyou

 Kaero

Uchi ni kaerou

Tada sono kotoba ga hoshii

[okaerinasai]

 Aa samui na

Demo heiki

Mou ato sukoshi de mietekuru

Kaerou yo my hometown

 Itsu no hi ka Kaerou yo my hometown

Itsumade mo Taisetsuna my hometown

 English:

If you think about it, we came from far away

To unfamiliar sceneries

Confused still, we smile

Hiding our tired faces

 Time flows away, dragging us

Anxious still, we live

It’s always like that in my heart

Remembering that warm and happy place

 Let’s go home

Let’s go to our home

Forget about everything else

And let’s say “I’m home”

 Let’s go home

Let’s go to our home

I just wanted to hear those words

“Welcome home”

 Ah it’s cold

But it’s alright

Just a little more and we can see

Let’s go home to my hometown

 I told myself

I’m not scared to be by myself

And loneliness soon become my friend

How long will this continue, I wonder

 Without looking back, still not stopping

What’s making me stubborn like so

Those memories that float in my heart

 Surely, the weak me

Will be gently reminded of it

 Let’s go home

Let’s go to our home

I keep lost on deciding

Where I should be going

 Let’s go home

Let’s go to our home

I can’t find the things

That was so obvious

 Even if it’s just an illusion

I don’t care

Let’s go to the place resided in my heart

Let’s go home to my hometown

 Everyone’s birth place

Is different for each person

Even if I don’t have that obvious thing

The feeling of wanting to be nicer

Is the only thing I don’t intend to lose

 Look, the night has opened

Revealing the starry sky inside it

Look, the place that starting to be visible

The place that will welcome my worn-out body

 Let’s go home

Let’s go to our home

Forget about everything else

And let’s say “I’m home”

 Let’s go home

Let’s go to our home

I just wanted to hear those words

“Welcome home”

 Ah it’s cold

But it’s alright

Just a little more and we can see

Let’s go home to my hometown

 Someday, let’s go home to my hometown

(T/N: Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Japan as a day for girls to give chocolate to boys. “White Day” is celebrated on March 14th as a day for boys to return the favor and give gifts to the girls who gave them chocolate on Valentine’s Day. Also, in his previous post he mentions that he has been trying to make a silver star necklace out of metal clay but needed the correct equipment for it. That’s what this story is about.)

“Valentine's Episode 2” This is Ito Kashitaro! The date has changed and now it’s White Day! Sorry that this post is so late… Here’s a White Day image as an apology. This is, once again, the position I’m in as I write this blog post. (Picture of Kashitaro with his two cats on his lap) ~Summary of the previous episode~ Valentine’s Day. A day where sadness and joy come together. I, Kashitaro, was confined to a basement studio to work on music, but I happened to go outside and stop by a 100 yen shop with an area that sold candy-making equipment…! Yes, I was looking for a star-shaped silicon mold to use. I headed straight for the candy-making section. There were about 3 different kinds of silicon molds, each with a different size and shape. Whichever mold I picked would have a big effect on the finished product with the metal clay I was using, so I was seriously troubled over which one to buy. Maybe it was because I was surrounded by girls in a corner of the fancy candy-making section, standing there with a grim face, or perhaps maybe a 180 cm tall man standing in front of the shelves stood out, or both of those reasons together. Now that I’m writing this, I realize it must have been for both of those reasons. An employee approached me and asked me this: “Are you looking to make something for your girlfriend? Like a reverse Valentine.” Reverse… Valentine…? (Picture of famous baseball coach Bobby Valentine upside down)

Was this what they meant…? Their unfamiliar words made me picture an image of Coach Bobby Valentine upside down in my head. The famous coach of the Chiba Lotte Marines. Yo! Okuchi no Koibito! (T/N: Phrase associated with the company “Lotte”) How annoying!!!! Valentine’s Day is a day for girls to give boys chocolate, so reverse Valentine must mean when boys give girls chocolate, I suppose. It’s not like the employee had done anything wrong. Anyone would notice a simple-looking Japanese man standing in front of a candy-making area in deep thought on Valentine’s Day and come to the same conclusion. At that moment, 19 year-old Kashitaro suddenly entered my mind. ~Cue Flashback~ I was crazy obsessed with books at the time, so reading them 24/7 and researching anything written in them that caught my eye was my way of life. I was reading a novel by Takemoto Novela and came across the word “Gothic Lolita,” which was a fashion style that I was unfamiliar with, and I couldn’t stand not to research this word. Being the type of person who likes to find things out with his own two eyes, I found the location of a store online and went there myself. Of course there weren’t any clothes for men there, but with my curiosity I found myself intently looking at it all. From an employee’s perspective, I must have looked like a simple Japanese man who was there choosing a present for a woman. Naturally, this is what they asked me: “Are you looking to buy a gift for someone?” That simply wasn’t accurate. Since I’m an honest person, I answered: “No, I’m not!” It would have been great if the conversation had ended there. But the employee continued. “Oh my, then are you looking for something for yourself?” (Picture of a Gothic Lolita dress) Me, wearing clothes like this…? Why Japanese People!!!! (T/N: He wrote this line in English) I was still just a teenager at the time, and in my shock I said a bit loudly: “No, I’m not!!” That was my answer. I was so young. I should have just said I was buying a present when they asked me if that’s what I was doing.... ~End Flashback~ Going back to the 29th year of the Heisei Era (T/N: That’s 2017) I had gotten myself in the same situation once again. But I’m more of an adult now than I was before. “Are you looking to make something for your girlfriend? Like a reverse Valentine.” When the person asked that, I said: “Yes, I am.” I was able to give that answer. I’ve truly become an adult, huh~

Is that what you thought I’d say!! My honest self said:

“No, I’m not.”

That was my answer. But I think I was definitely able to say it more calmly and quietly than before. The employee responded:

“Oh my! Then is it... For your boyfriend…?”

They put their hand over their mouth, looked kind of happy, and sort of whispered the world “boyfriend.” I wish I could replay that moment again in my mind.

Everything from there on out was the mature Kashitaro. My teenage self would have said, “No, it’s not!!” and ended it with those words alone.

“I guess… maybe it is?”

That’s what I said to them. I felt like saying those words might end the discussion without ruining the happy expression on their face (lol). After all that, here’s what I got.

(Picture of bear and star-shaped molds for making chocolate)

The employee politely followed me to the register and even rang up my item. Even though I’m only using it for the small star shapes in the middle, they definitely must have been imagining me using the bear shapes to make chocolate for my boyfriend… (lol)!

But if they seemed to enjoy it more that way, then that’s fine!

Alright, now that I’ve completed the necklace and chain, I’ll upload a picture of the finished product!

Is that what you thought!!

Take this! It’s a picture of Wladimir Balentien, not Coach Valentine!

(Picture of the baseball player Wladimir Balentien)