Songs I want to listen to as Obon approaches♪ "Brother-ken" | Summer memories🎐 and milkshakes🍹 felt by comparing Wataru Takada and Humbert Humbert. Easy milkshake recipe included✨

Thank you for being interested in this note♪

Whether you are on vacation or working,
thank you for coming here.


Thank you so much for all the likes
follows, and comments from the other day.
And for adding this to your magazine.


Truly, thank you so much♡


I apologize that I haven't been able to visit everyone's pages.
Even so, I am very grateful


that you are reading my articles like this.
Today, I'd like to talk about music comparisons for the first time in a while♪
This is a niche article


intended for those who want to take a break here,


or for those who have some time to spare.

If you stay with me until the end,
you might feel a cool chill🤭

As if scooping up summer memories🍹

As Obon approaches,
there is a song I find myself wanting to listen to for some reason.


Wataru Takada's
"Brother-ken"


Ever since I first heard it,
I thought it was a mysterious song.


Even though it's a sad song,
it doesn't put the sadness at the forefront.


What is there
is a quiet scene on a summer night.


The wind blows,
a wind chime rings,
and there is cold shaved ice inside the shop.


Just a very ordinary summer scene.


And yet, in that scene,
there is someone I can no longer meet.


That is what stays in my heart, beyond words.


𓂃𓈒𓏸



"Brother-ken" is a work where
Wataru Takada set a poem by poet Katsumi Sugawara to music.

You can listen to Wataru Takada's "Brother-ken" here👇

Set at "Brother-ken,"
which was on Higashi-Ichibancho in Sendai,
it is a story where a deceased father and younger sister
appear on the night of Tanabata.🍧


The two of them are there.


However,
they are not in the same world as the living.


The two who appeared before the protagonist
are quietly eating shaved ice,
just as they used to.🧊


Because that sight is so natural,
it's mysterious, isn't it...


"I'm glad I could see you"

"Thank you"

"I've wanted to see you for so long"

Words like that don't come out.


They are just there.


That is all.


Eventually, the two disappear.


That quietness is
the best part of this song to listen to.


𓂃𓈒𓏸

You can listen to the version
covered by Humbert Humbert
from here👇

When I listen to songs like this,
I think that rather than "remembering,"
people might sometimes "return to their memories."
For example, things you used to eat often🍝


Music you used to listen to🎼


The scent of a summer evening shower🌇


The sound of a wind chime🎐


A cold drink at a coffee shop🍹


The moment you touch such things,


time turns back.
It's not that you have


returned to "those days,"
but your heart is in that place for just a moment.
Perhaps memories aren't just things


stored in your head...?
Sounds, scents, tastes, temperatures, textures.


They remain deep within those physical sensations.


That is why they probably
come back to life in unexpected moments...

𓂃𓈒𓏸


In a Nagasaki summer,
there is something that evokes such memories.


The local specialty, edible milkshake.


Nagasaki milkshakes are
different from typical drinks,
with a texture like sherbet made with ice.


You eat the cold milkshake in the glass
by scooping it with a spoon.


On top, a red cherry
sits cutely.


🍒


When I see this little red cherry,
I somehow remember a retro coffee shop.


A wind chime is ringing.


The noren curtain is swaying.


Something cold is brought to the table.


Scoop it with a spoon and take a bite.


Crunch.


The coldness enters
my hot body smoothly.


It's just that, but
for some reason, it becomes a memory.


Surely, we
cherish these small events deep in our hearts more than we think.
𓂃𓈒𓏸


When listening to Wataru Takada's


"Brother-ken,"
I think that memories might not be things left in the past,
but things that live quietly
within the person I am now.
People I can no longer meet.


Places I can no longer return to.


The self that cannot return to those days.


They do not disappear with time,


but remain in different forms.


They are evoked by a sudden piece of music,
overlap with a nostalgic taste,
or return mixed in with the summer breeze.


And they sit next to us for just a little while.
As if to say, "Have you been well?"
I think it is okay


to have moments where we can reunite with memories like that.


𓂃𓈒𓏸

"Brother-ken" and Obon 🎇

Why do I want to listen to this song
as Obon approaches?


Perhaps it is because this song
has the presence of "someone who seems to be there, but is no longer there."
When I listen closely to this song,


I suddenly remember time that has passed,
places I can no longer return to,
or someone I want to see but cannot.
The season of Obon is also a time
to think about "people who are gone" more than usual.


In Nagasaki, we decorate with Obon lanterns.
We welcome the spirits that have returned.
And then, we send them off again.


In that Japanese summer atmosphere,


the mysterious lingering tone of "Brother-ken"


remains in my heart more than ever.

Here is a different version👇

Even with the same song, the expression changes depending on the singer.


The temperature of the voice.

The way of singing.

The timing of the pauses.

The placement of the words.


Just by changing those things slightly,
the scenery you see is different, even with the same lyrics.



I like Humbert Humbert's
"Brother-ken" too.


I like Wataru Takada's "Brother-ken" too.


It's not a question of which is better.


By comparing the same song,
I realize, "Oh, this song had a face like this too."
That might be the joy of comparing music.

It's okay if the lyrics remain a mystery 😳

Things that remain without the meaning of the lyrics being fully understood,
might actually be very rich.
If you rush to find an answer,


I feel like even the emotions felt along the way
would disappear.
That is why I


enjoy this song along with the time spent
wondering "what does this mean?"

This article is a bit of a self-indulgence🤏

I am worried that I might have left
the readers who have read this far
behind.


Even so.


As Obon approaches,
listening to this song for the first time in a while,
I found myself thinking,
"I really want to write about this song."


I don't think note
is a place where you always have to write
something useful for someone else.
Things you like.


Things that remain in your heart for some reason.


Things that are hard to explain to others,


but are precious to you.
It's okay to write about such things.

Perhaps one's individuality shines through in such "personal likes."

Was it surprising that the style is different from usual?

A loose, casual article like this
is nice once in a while♪

🌼Bonus

　
Nagasaki specialty "Edible Milkshake"


A typical milkshake is something you "drink," butNagasaki's milkshake is characterized by eating the shaved ice with a spoon.

🌿 Origin and History

Nagasaki's milkshake is said to have
originated in Nagasaki City around the end of the Taisho period to the early Showa period.
Regarding its origin, it is said that it began when "Tsuru-chan," the first coffee shop to open in Kyushu,


created a milkshake with crushed ice to help people stay cool during the hot Nagasaki summer.

After that,it spread to coffee shops in Nagasaki City,
and now it has become a local sweet
that represents Nagasaki.

Originally, it was only available in the summer,
but it became popular with tourists, and now,
there are shops where you can eat it all year round.

🥄 Easy "Edible Milkshake" at home

Ingredients (for 2 servings)

• Egg yolk... 1

• Milk... 100ml

• Sugar... slightly less than 2 tablespoons

• Condensed milk... 1 tablespoon

• Ice... 150g

• Vanilla essence... a little

• Cherries... 2 if available 🍒

These measurements are based on a recipe
introduced as a local dish from Nagasaki Prefecture.

👨‍🍳 How to make

① Mix
Mix the egg yolk, milk, sugar, condensed milk, and
vanilla essence well.


② Crush with ice
Put ① and ice into a blender and
blend until slushy.


This is the key point👇
Do not blend until it becomes completely liquid;
stop while some ice crystals still remain.


This creates the texture of
an "edible milkshake."


③ Serve
Pour into a glass, place a cherry
neatly on top🍒, and eat it
with a spoon.

🍒 The secret to its Nagasaki-ness

Looking at the ingredients, it's very simple.


Milk + egg + sugar + ice.


Add condensed milk and the like,
and freeze it until slushy.


Nagasaki milkshakes weren't created
using special ingredients, but rather born from
old coffee shops thinking about
"how to help people enjoy the hot Nagasaki summer."
That's why it feels so nostalgic.


Even though it's cold,


it has the mellowness of egg and milk,
and finally, a cherry sits neatly on top🍒.
In Nagasaki,


you don't "drink" this, you "eat" it.
That difference


is what makes it so uniquely Nagasaki and interesting.🥄✨
Thank you for joining me



this far♡

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#ListeningComparison
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