The time I channeled Takaya Kamikawa at a drugstore and suddenly got a passion for languages

The other day, I met up with some fellow noters and had a wonderful time.
The gathering started at noon and broke up in the evening.

We drank, ate, and chatted.
It was such a fun time that the drinks kept flowing.
While I was walking home, feeling light and tipsy,
a sale advertisement for a drugstore caught my eye.

It was likely a tax-free drugstore that attracts many foreign tourists.
The bargain prices were written in large letters alongside Chinese and Korean.
The sale lineup included the detergent and shampoo I usually use, so

thinking, "Oh! My shampoo and fabric softener are almost out, I should buy some," I decided to go in,

even though I had never been to this store before.
Being tipsy made me feel bold, and the low prices on daily necessities got me excited.
Since I was drunk,
(I kind of need to use the restroom,) I thought, but it was only about a 10-minute walk from here to my house.
I figured I'd just grab what I needed and head home, so I decided to go in.

The store wasn't that big, and there were fewer shoppers than I had imagined.
Thinking, "It's so cheap, yet there are so few customers," I kept putting items into my basket one after another.
I found most of what I was looking for on the first floor.
Just as I had filled my basket, I realized the checkout counters were on the second floor.

I see.
That's why there were so few people.

Although I briefly thought, "It's a pain that the registers are only on the second floor,"
I got on the escalator to the second floor, intending to pay quickly and go home,
and as the second floor came into view, I let out a small "hic" behind my mask.

There were product shelves on the second floor too, but
there were six or seven registers. A large crowd of people was lined up in front of them.
I think there were probably more than 10 people in each line.
It's winter, after all, and seeing everyone packed together in their bulky clothes made me feel dizzy.

I had intended to just buy my things and leave,
but I had to wait in this line...

It was a line where it didn't seem to matter which one you joined.
Moreover, the baskets of the shoppers waiting in line were piled high with products.
For a moment,
(Should I just put the items back and go home?) I thought, but
looking across the second floor, where all I could see were people and shelves,
I didn't know where to go to get back down,
and I didn't have the energy to face the hassle of going back to the first floor to return a basket full of items,
so I was at a loss.

As I stood blankly in line,
I began to notice that everyone around me was speaking Chinese or Korean.

(I see... the customers here are tourists.)

People, people, and more people packed into the narrow store.
It felt oppressive. I was wearing a mask, and I started to feel like the oxygen was thin, and as I was finally zoning out, a conversation reached my ears.

I might be wrong, but
the clerks at the registers were saying,

"Are there no Japanese customers here?"
"If they are general customers, they can use register number 1."

They were saying this in a loud voice.

(Hmm? Number 1?)

When I looked for this so-called register number 1,
at the very end of the checkout line,
there was a register with no one waiting,
with a large sign that read "① Japanese General Customers."

(Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Me! I'm a Japanese general customer! Can I use that register? Whoa! Lucky!)

I was so happy that I wanted to jump out of the line immediately, but
I didn't want to risk having misheard the clerk and being made to line up all over again,
and I didn't have the courage to weave through the people in line to get to the register at the end without being sure.

Just as I was wondering what to do,
I suddenly remembered Lu Yixin, played by Takaya Kamikawa, the lead in the 30-year-old NHK dramaDaichi no Ko.Lu Yixin

In the drama, Lu Yixin often said this.
" Wǒ shì rìběn rén (I am Japanese)."

Alright!!!
Lu Yixin (Takaya Kamikawa), please descend upon me.

For some reason, I channeled Takaya Kamikawa in my mind,
and perhaps helped by the alcohol,
I stopped a nearby clerk and said this:

"Wǒ shì rìběn rén"

I think the voice was Takaya Kamikawa's, too.

The clerk immediately replied in Japanese, saying, "Oh! Are you a Japanese customer? In that case, you can pay at register number one. This way, please."
The clerk guided me to register one, and my checkout was finished in the blink of an eye, as if the long line I had been waiting in was a lie.

Although I was a bit bewildered that I, a Japanese person, had spoken in Chinese to say "I am Japanese" only to be answered in Japanese,
more than the fact that the checkout was finished quickly,
I was moved that my Chinese had actually been understood.

A long time ago, I was tricked by my father into attending a Chinese language class for a little while,

but even though I had spoken to a Chinese teacher in the classroom,
I had never used Chinese in a real-life situation,
and I wasn't confident about whether my Chinese would actually be understood by others.

Moreover, the Chinese I used this time wasn't something I had learned in that class,
but rather Chinese channeled through Takaya Kamikawa,
so I don't really know what happened, but

it was an experience where I was moved by the fact that I was "understood" for the first time.

I was so happy that
I'm thinking of trying to study Chinese again this year.

Helped by the alcohol, the drugstore, and Takaya Kamikawa from "Daichi no Ko",
that was the story of how my passion for languages suddenly flared up.