The Story of a Comet Hunter's Life

    A Sunday market is held every Sunday under the gaze of the national treasure Kochi Castle. The market has a 100-year long history and is a famous tradition of Kochi city. It becomes crowded with visitors starting early in the morning. Whether you buy something or not, just browsing there is fun. It has been featured by the media and TV programs many times across the country. Around 1966 it was featured in an NHK program called "Night Album", which was broadcast throughout the country. I played guitar for the program in the background throughout the series. The music I played was Vincenzo Galilei's "Siciliana", which matches the relaxed atmosphere of the market scene. He was the father of famous Galileo Galilei and lute player.
    About 15 years ago, a reporter of a newspaper company covered a market scene on a day with a fewer visitors around than usual affected by rain and wind. He photographed the sight and wrote an article trying to give an impression that the market attendance was declining. I suspected he tried to make it look like his scoop, but it was his hasty conclusion in order to get a quick credit. The market's popularity hasn't waned even a bit. Recently, shoppers outside the prefecture and foreign visitors have joined the crowd increasing the total number of visitors every year, though some changes have been obvious. Surely, some of the common features of traditional Sunday markets have changed such as their novelty, low prices, and a warm feeling between the visitors and sellers.
    In make-shift stalls all lined up a lot of fresh vegetables are sold, but dear old cotton candy and red and blue cinnamon-flavored water are seen too. The scene like this will remind you of walking along the stalls at a night-time festival of a shrine and make you feel happy. It is a sort of place you run into old friends, too. However, what is sold there is not just foodstuffs. You will find antiques and curios such as phonographs with horns, ship's screw propeller and large steering wheel, large Meiji-period pendulum clock, huge one-meter-diameter hibachi brazier, strange-looking armor, ninja's throwing knife, and curiously field gun bullets fired by the Japanese military during the Sino-Japanese War. You may also come across astronomy-related articles. As Kochi was ruled by Yamauchi Kazutoyo (late 16th century), you may find "inro" boxes with the Yamauchi family's crest printed, a telescope used by Lord Yamauchi, "makimono" scrolls depicting the stars, as well as an armillary sphere. One day I found a black Russian hat hanging at one of the stalls. According to the information on the label, this hat was worn, believe or not, by the Russian leader Anatoly Stessel at the time of his meeting with Japanese General Maresuke Nogi during the Russo-Japanese War. It was unbelievably cheap. Such a historically significant article would never be available for sale in a country town like this, but visitors buy this sort of thing being fully aware that they could be a fake. It is a familiar scene only possible at a Sunday market and makes people smile, too.
    "At a Sunday market, selling vegetables while basking in the sun"
    This funny "senryu poem" (a 17-syllable humorous or satirical poem) crossed my mind.

    Here is a little digression. I will tell you a beautiful episode. Around 1948 a young mother was helplessly sobbing and crying. Curious onlookers on their way back from the Sunday market gathered around her and were gazing at her. Someone asked, "What's happened?" She replied sobbing, "I've lost a purse with 3000 yen it it. I don't know how I can live from tomorrow." Three thousand yen was a large amount of money in those days. A man looking like a day laborer had been looking at her for a while. Then he took out 3000 yen from his wallet and gently tossed it toward her, saying, "Ma'am, please use this money if you don't mind" and quickly walked away. The startled women shouted, "Please wait! Tell me your name, at least." But the man said, "I am not good enough to tell you my name", and kept on walking fast.
    The man who offered his goodwill did not appear rich at all. This incident was reported in the morning newspaper the following day by a reporter who happened to witness it. The article impressed the readers as a heart-warming incident. It was a dark depressing period immediately after the war ended. Markets which attracted crowds held various stories of joys and sorrows. It was the time Comet Honda was shining in the sky. Looking back on these days, I would say the appearance of Comet Honda was the starting point of my life with the stars.