The great mannerism Mito Komon

Hiroshi Abe appeared in Chimpan News Channel. Abe was played by Gomes, so cute!

By the way, what are the long-running shows in your country? I picked Sazae san,Taiga Drama, Okasan to Issho as Japanese long-running TV shows. And "Mito Komon" is another long show still on TV for over 37 years. The main character "Komon sama" is based on the real historical figure "Tokugawa Mitsukun".

37 years is a long term but most (maybe all) of the plots are the same. Komon and his fathful attendants Suke san and Kaku san travel around Japan, they find some troubles or, issues and then solve them in each place. Basically they hide their position "Shogun family and his attendants," so people think he is just a nosey old guy and treat him like that. But when it is absolutely necessary, they come out it, so that finally people know who he is exactly and marvel at him. In the Edo generation, the Shogun's family was an absolute authority. It means nobody can refuse Komon sama's decision and advice.

When they confess who he is, they show "inrou (pocket medicine case)" with kamon (Japanese crest) as the proof of his rank. (Tokugawa's Kamon is this "Aoi") So the show starts at 8 pm. The first 15 minutes are finding the issue time, the next 30 are knowing more time, and the last 15 are solution time. So when 8:45 comes, you will see Komon sama's attendants Suke san and Kaku san show their Kamon and make traditional statements to people.
-Be still, be still. Look at this family crest.
-The man who's standing here is Shogun's uncle, the great lord Mitsukuni Mito.
-Bow your heads , down your knees.

On the official site, they have "let's see traditional statements in English!" page.
-This is nothing to speak of, but please accept it.
This is the statement when some evil person offers a bribe to an evil high official.
-I wish you wouldn't joke with me......
This is the statement when some evil high official tries something with a woman, and the woman refuses it.

In this page, you can see their old and new ads. What a cheesy mood, but it's a great mannerism. Actually people love this show because of the pattern: no unhappiness , no sorrow and justice will prevail in the end. And the best part is of course 8:45, the moment they show their real identity by inro and statements. We have this pattern in another historical TV show "Toyama no Kinsan" (He uses his blizzard of cherry blossoms tatoo instead of family crest.) Well, in a sense they act like spies and show their authority in the end, I may say it's mean way...

Anyway, why am I writing about Mito Komon such a long time? Because I just want to say I laughed to read this article. The main actor Kotaro Satomi had an ear operation. A small insect flew into his ear when he played golf, the insect died and went bad in his ear and his drum membrane was broken. The article title was "A bug makes a hole in one in Komon sama's ear!" Ha, it takes time to tell such a small funny.

Comments

[Mari]

Hi there
Bryce welcome to Tokyo. You can find mexican food but it's expensive in this country.
Anyway I didn't remember when I watched Mito Komon last time....long long long time ago.

[Emma]

In addition to 60 Minutes and Tonight Show, there's also The Simpsons. I believe it's the longest-running cartoon show at over 18 years. I'm also 18 years old. So, The Simpsons has been on as long as I have been alive!

[bshock]

In the U.S., the longest-running show I can recall is the news magazine "60 Minutes," which has been on since 1968. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/60_Minutes

A late-night talk show, "The Tonight Show," has technically been on longer, since 1954. But its various hosts over the years -- Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, and Jay Leno -- have each given this show such a different look and feel that it hardly seems like the same program. I haven't watched it much since Carson left in 1992. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tonight_Show

[bryce]

The "in English" page was interesting...

I liked how 「頭が高い、控えおろう」turns into "Bow your heads, down your knees."

That's so different!

I think a better translation would be to keep the original feel and say something like: "Your heads are held high, bow them now!"

Like always, enjoyed your blog.

今、東京に住んでいます。(留学生）面白いけど、まだ新しいだろう。メキシコ料理が食べたい！じゃ、和食はもいいね。