I am a literary giant in Japan

Iwai Shunji successfully became the apprentice, and Kitagawa Hideya happily became his fourth disciple.

After his wish was fulfilled, Shunji Iwai knew that he could no longer disturb his master's family's "family gathering", so he found an excuse to leave.

My mother-in-law and Mengzi brought out the prepared New Year’s Eve dinner, and the whole family sat around the table neatly.

This year's New Year's Eve dinner is no longer as simple as before.

Kitagawa Hidekazu Yumeko spent his first New Year at Peter Cat. After a large group of people had a party and dispersed, they ate the simplest frozen dumplings.

The New Year of the second year was spent in the large flat in Qingshan Building. Although the house was bigger, the food was still very ordinary.

This year's New Year, with the concerted efforts of a group of mature women, young women and young girls, Kitagawa Hide finally had a real Japanese New Year's Eve dinner.

It’s really not easy!

Yumeko, the housewife, represented the whole family, kneeling down and toasting the head of the family, Kitagawa Hide, in a serious manner.

This is a family custom that has existed since the Heian period, but modern Japanese families have gradually abandoned this custom because they emphasize equal relations between men and women.

Although my parents-in-law are modern doctors, they attach great importance to this ancient custom.

Therefore, Mengzi, who was raised by them, also grew up big, and when he and Fuzi sang the toast with ups and downs, it really sounded like the real thing.

The toast was in ancient Japanese, and its general meaning was to praise Kitagawa Hide for his hard work for the family over the past year, and to thank him for sheltering the family from wind and rain, and ensuring that the whole family had enough food and clothing, and lived in peace and happiness.

After Mengzi sang the toast, the father-in-law and mother-in-law also toasted Kitagawa Hide one by one. This treatment was almost the same as the mother-in-law of a certain anchor lighting a cigarette for him, which made Kitagawa Hide truly feel their love and recognition for him.

Kitagawa Hideya waited solemnly, raised the wine glasses with both hands, and drank them one by one.

After the serious custom ended, the family returned to the cheerful atmosphere.

The two little ones, Toru Kitagawa and Midori Kitagawa, probably inherited Kitagawa Hide's athletic genes. They were only two and a half months old, but they were already crawling when they were placed on the ground, which made their mother-in-law chuckle.

Mengzi got up and turned on the TV, and began to busy herself with various chores. On TV, the originally festive Red and White Song Festival was a little deserted this year.

Many celebrities went bankrupt due to stock and real estate speculation, and then turned to illegal activities. Several were arrested and forced to work on sewing machines.

Three or four popular stars were missing, and the newcomers who came in as substitutes were totally unable to hold the stage, resulting in such a classic TV show being much worse than before.

"A Xiu, do you have any new plans for next year?" My father-in-law Rongji poured a glass of wine for himself and him.

"Write books, organize awards, travel, and take good care of these two little guys." Beichuan Xiu answered without hesitation, "What about you, Dad?"

Agatsuma Eikichi smiled and said that he wanted to open a cancer treatment and recuperation center in Osaka, and then invite his former classmate and friend Satomi Shuji to serve as the director of internal medicine.

Upon hearing that his father-in-law had a specific idea, Kitagawa Hide immediately expressed his willingness to pay money to help him realize his wish.

As the economy goes into recession, medical and health expenses will continue to rise, and beds in national hospitals will be hard to come by, so private hospitals like this will make a lot of money.

Whether from the perspective of saving lives or making money, he supported my wife Rongji's ideas.

After talking about work, Yumeko brought over soba noodles, and the family of six happily slurped the noodles. The TV happened to be showing Izumi Sakai and Akina Nakamori performing on stage.

The TV station probably also received a strict order, so the song the two sang together this time was not a love song, but Izumi Sakai's most classic song "Don't Give Up".

In the melodious tune, time passed by minute by minute, and soon it was approaching midnight.

Kitagawa Hide helped up his slightly tipsy father-in-law, and they all put on thick cotton-padded jackets. The two little ones were not left behind either, and they were wrapped up tightly as they went out together.

At midnight, the Asakusa Shrine was packed with people, and countless people came to pay New Year's greetings and hold the first festival.

Perhaps because the economic ups and downs in 1997 were too drastic, the people who came to the shrine to pray were basically praying for wealth.

Mitsuha Miyamizu, who is in charge of this aspect, is both happy and depressed.

My income from working these days has increased, but my working hours have also increased significantly.

"Happy New Year~ Mr. Kitagawa! Can you sign an autograph for me? I want to be the first lucky person to get Mr. Kitagawa's autograph on the first day of the new year!"

Mitsuha Miyamizu placed her hands on her lower abdomen, greeted Kitagawa Hide's family in a serious manner, and suddenly took out a copy of "Norwegian Wood" and spoke in a low voice.

"Haha, of course."

Kitagawa Hideto liked this "greedy" but very cute little witch. He looked around and made sure that no one noticed him. Then he quickly signed his name on the title page of the book.

"By the way, Mitsuha-chan, is there any blessing you'd like?"

"A blessing, um. Actually, there is one, which is," Mitsuha Miyamizu smiled embarrassedly and lowered her voice, "If possible, could Teacher Kitagawa write a sentence 'May you find the person in your heart'?" "Ah, do you have a boyfriend?" Kitagawa Hide teased her.

"No, not really." Miyamizu Mitsuha shook her head and simply told him about the strange dream she had recently had.

In her dreams, she, who was still in high school, seemed to always exchange bodies with a boy from Tokyo. It was strange, shameful, and real.

"I see." A certain memory of Kitagawa Hide was evoked. He heard that Makoto Shinkai wrote "Your Name" because he had heard a similar story during his long-term field research.

He thought about it and decided to have a good chat with Miyamizu Mitsuha about dreams later. As for that sentence, he thought about it and changed it to a more impressive one: "Lovers will eventually get married."

Seeing a row of Chinese characters, Miyamizu Mitsuha was completely confused and couldn't help but ask what it meant.

"This poem comes from a famous ancient novel next door, The Romance of the Western Chamber, and it has a similar meaning to what you want."

Kitagawa Hide gave a brief explanation.

Miyamizu Mitsuha quickly bowed to express her gratitude.

The Japanese admire Chinese culture very much. Compared with the simple haiku, the ancient poetry is more popular among the upper class.

After bidding farewell to Miyamizu Mitsuha, the parents-in-law took the two little ones to the side hall to pray for health and safety, while Kitagawa Hidenori went to the main hall hand in hand with Yumeko to pray for love and wealth.

"Honey, I've finished writing this year's vision. Let's hang it together."

Mengzi rarely showed her cute side and waved the red paper in her hand at him.

Kitagawa Xiu nodded, and when he saw the words "Kitagawa Yumeko" written on the red paper, his heart suddenly felt warm.

Lovers will eventually get married.

This sentence seems to be very applicable to me and Mengzi as well!
The year 1997 came to an end at the stroke of midnight and became a thing of the past in everyone’s memory.

1998 has come.

The Spring Festival Gala next door also released a very classic song "See You in 1998" at this time, hoping for a new look in the new year.

But it is hard to say whether the Japanese performance in 1998 was better than that in 1997.

According to the original history, 1998 was the worst year for Japan's economy and the most desperate twelve months in the lost thirty years.

Yamaichi Securities' voluntary bankruptcy, the Wakayama Miyako Coffee incident, the LDP's disastrous election defeat, and Hashimoto Ryutaro's dismal resignation
Various major events occurred one after another, leaving the Japanese people with no chance of breathing.

At the same time, Japan’s unemployment rate reached its highest level in history, exceeding 10%!

This means that one out of every ten Japanese is unemployed, which is really scary.

Previously, Ryutaro Hashimoto frantically asked banks for help, but the 116 trillion yen he had saved with great difficulty was completely wasted, without even a splash in the financial tsunami.

Oh, the Japanese government’s debt did increase by 133%, accelerating the Japanese economic recession.

Japan is also the only country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that has experienced negative growth for two consecutive years. It is better not to mention the Nikkei Index.

In this wailing New Year, wave after wave of guests came to visit Kitagawa Hideo's family.

According to Japanese social etiquette, the closer the relationship with Kitagawa Hide is, the earlier the visit will be. However, his social circle is so wide that since the first day of the new year, there has been an endless stream of people coming to visit him.

The ones who came on the first day were Kawaide Shizuko, Saito Rena and Jabami Rei. These three are the godmothers of the two little ones. When they came, they brought a cart full of children's daily necessities and toys, which almost made the security guards suspect that a rich man had opened a children's toy store in the villa!
The next day, four disciples of Kitagawa Hide came.

Among them, Mayumi Aso came with her daughter. My beloved daughter, who had just finished elementary school, was loved by my wife Rongji and his wife, and they gave her a big red envelope.

After the four major disciples said goodbye, a group of leading figures in the Japanese literary world, including Takeuchi Osamu, who were friends with Kitagawa Hide, also came in the afternoon.

Originally, he and Yumeko should have visited these predecessors one by one, but at this time, he had already been honored as the "number one in the world" in the Japanese literary world, and in the eyes of these people, he was the one who should be visited.

On the third day, celebrities from all walks of life came to visit one after another. Kitagawa Hidetoshi had never met many of them, so it was difficult for them. After thinking for a long time, they finally came up with a reason to visit him.

Among them, the most popular couple among the Kitagawa family are Izumi Sakai and Takuya Kimura.

On the afternoon of the third day, Kaoru and other new generation students also came to wish Kitagawa a happy new year. It was the first time that Chihaya Ruri and others saw their idol in person. Their incoherent appearance reminded Kitagawa Hide of the former Tokyo University Kitagawa fan group.

On the fourth and fifth days, almost all the people who came were Kitagawa Hide's friends, such as Hikigaya Nako, who was already very successful in the Metropolitan Police Department, Mori Tetsutaro, who was far ahead in the literary criticism circle, Nishiguchi Shigeo, who was unrivaled in the underworld, and so on.

In the first week of 1998, Kitagawa Hide experienced the New Year of celebrities.

Just one word: tired! (End of this chapter)