I'm the oldest of the Bokumo staff (by far the older one), and the majority of the people working at the Bokumo counter are younger than me. The Bokumo Wine mail order shop is made up of people of about the same generation.
In reality, I was the real younger brother, the one that everyone recognized as an unmistakable younger brother, until I was 20 years old and still living at home.
Later, when I started working as a student AD at a radio station, I was the youngest staff member, so people would call me things like, "Hey, Naoki!" and I still felt like a younger brother.
However, as more and more younger people come along and he starts being called "Iwasu-san" more and more, he finds it harder to remain spoiled.
Although it was difficult for me, I gradually moved away from the younger brother role and began to play the role of "this is what it means to be an adult."
Before I knew it, the character had become my own and I began to distance myself from the sweet boy who lived at home.
Now, I think I have succeeded in toning down my younger brother image, to the point that people say to me, "Iwasu-san, are you the youngest? I didn't look like it." By "success," I don't mean that I wanted to tone it down. It just happened naturally, I was nurtured.
However, the other day, something happened that made me realize that I really am the younger brother.
My brother sent me a shirt.
Since we weren't able to meet this New Year, my brother and his wife sent me some rare and delicious sweets from Tokyo as a New Year's greeting. For some reason, the box also contained a cute gingham checked cotton shirt (for men).
It's rare to receive clothing. In fact, it's the first time.
Wondering what his intentions were, I sent him a LINE message and got this reply:
"It shrunk after washing. I hardly ever wear it, so I thought I'd put it in there as a cushion for some sweets, in case you like it. If you don't wear it, throw it away."
Oh! Hand me down!
Looking back, although my family wasn't wealthy, I don't really remember my parents making me wear hand-me-downs from my older brother.
I think my mother probably didn't do that to me because she hated having to wear hand-me-downs when she was younger.
I guess even when I was little, I hated hand-me-downs.
But now that I'm older, my perception of hand-me-downs has changed a lot. Or rather, I learned that this shirt has changed my perception of hand-me-downs.
When I was a child, I used to fight with my siblings.
During our adolescence, we didn't keep in touch much.
Now that we both have families, we occasionally drink wine together.
After going through all these changes, the brothers have become old men.
Then I put the shirt on and couldn't help but laugh.
"Wearing your older brother's hand-me-downs? You're such a little brother!!"
Oh yeah, I was the younger brother.
The shirt brought me back to my home position, which I had been away from for a long time. I felt like I was reunited with my old self.
That's right. I'll wear this shirt to Tokyo and have a drink with my brother. Yes, that would be great. I'm sure I'll be able to immerse myself in my brother even more.
