This photo and essay book was written by Moon Troupe Top Star Sena Jun and published during promotions for the 2008 show ME AND MY GIRL, where Top Musumeyaku Ayano Kanami retired. It’s very charming and occasionally emotional.

Some chapters are very short, or contain only pictures, and thus are combined.

The book also featured dual Japanese and English chapter titles, which were not always the same. Where these differ, both are included, with the translation of the Japanese title following in brackets. (For example, Chapter 8 is That time [The era of Asa and Osako])

002. Strawberry Battle [Strawberry Battle (childhood)]

I’m a mama’s girl. I love my mom.
I talk about my mom everywhere…so,
Since I always end up neglecting my father, I’d like to give him some time in the spotlight here.

My father is a salaryman.
You often hear ‘nothing but a salaryman’ but it’s just the opposite.
Salarymen are incredible.
And among them, my father is a ‘Super Salaryman’.
(Though I couldn’t say what he actually does at his company.)

When I was little, my father always got home really late at night.
Sometimes he was tipsy and in a good mood, sometimes he was cross…
But once in a while he would come home early with presents he had bought for us.
And on the days he’d bring strawberries…
Our family’s traditional ‘Strawberry Battle’ would commence.

The four of us would sit in seiza around our kotatsu.
On the kotatsu are dishes for each of us and the strawberries.
Rock-paper-scissors.
Adults, kids…that doesn’t have anything to do with it.
The winner of each round gets to grab a strawberry.
One day, I didn’t win a single time, so I didn’t get even one strawberry.
But after all, I’m still just a kid in the first grade of elementary school.
Surely Mom or Dad will give me one?

…Not likely!

Dad: ‘You’re not getting one!’
Mom: ‘I’m sorry, but…’
Big Brother: ‘……. (silently eating)’
…I cried. I cried really hard.
And then my father looked at me with a smile.
Dad: ‘They’re delicious…’
No pity.

That’s the kind of dad he is.
And that dad, two years ago, had his first grandchild.
This is what my dad said before it was born.

Dad: ‘But in the end, I think my own kids come first, before my grandkids.’

For real…?

And right now, my dad’s cell phone wallpaper, instead of a picture of Sena Jun, is a photo of a cute little 2-year-old.

(end)