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In 16th-century Japan, it is said that a peasant serving warlord Oda Nobunaga once placed the leader’s sandals in his pocket to keep them warm during a harsh winter. This simple but thoughtful gesture caught the attention of Oda, who eventually promoted him to the highest ranks of his clan. This peasant would then go on to succeed Oda and become one of the most powerful men in Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

When Toyotomi died in 1598, his soul scattered like the somber yet brilliant sparks of a senko hanabi and gently floated throughout time and space. How it got there is anyone’s guess, but it could be said that one of these sparks ended up in the heart of our very own Seiji Nakazawa.

Although it was now a harsh summer rather than winter, Seiji was filled with the overwhelming urge to care for his leader’s well-being. His boss Yoshio had left his glasses in the office, and it was up to him to keep them at a nice temperature before returning them.

So, he did what any loyal employee would and rushed out to Muji to buy a deep tray to put the glasses in.

He then filled the tray with water.

Finally, he took the tray and put it in the freezer.

Three days later, Seiji removed Yoshio’s glasses from the freezer.

His plan had worked perfectly. The glasses were completely encased in a block of ice. They resembled a wooly mammoth that had slipped into a crevasse and was perfectly preserved for millennia, made eternally majestic.

This was only the beginning, though. If Seiji tried to give his general’s glasses back in this condition, he might be demoted to the front lines to get lunch for everyone in the office.

He prepared his tools for the next stage: a soldering iron and heat cutter.

Seiji got to work at cutting and melting away the unwanted ice in order to make the ice glasses wearable again.

However, despite their heat, these tools cut rather slowly. A chisel would be more efficient but Seiji was just a lowly peasant with no such sculpting skills.

The job was made more complicated by the fact that the ice he wanted to keep was melting as he worked on removing the excess ice. This meant he would have to periodically stop and refreeze the glass before continuing, all over the course of another three days.

Luckily, the nature of the job kept people out of the office for days at a time, but Seiji knew Yoshio would be back the next morning. Time was of the essence.

Feeling he had done enough, Seiji returned the processed ice glasses to the freezer and waited for his date with destiny.

The next day, Yoshio arrived on schedule and began searching around his desk.

▼ Yoshio: “Hmm… I could have sworn I left my glasses here.”

Seiji, who was at the desk next to Yoshio’s, turned to him and smiled brightly. The time had finally come.

He guided Yoshio into the next room to show what happened to the glasses.

This was Toyotomi handing Oda his warm sandals – the pivotal moment that would propel Seiji to become the most powerful man in Japan Internet news.

▼ Seiji: “You see, because it’s so hot these days, I just thought…”

▼ Yoshio: “Fahhhhhh…”

▼ Yoshio: “…”

▼ Yoshio: “What is this?!”

▼ Seiji: “I know it’s great, right? Here, try them on!”

▼ Yoshio: “Gyah! My eyes! MY EYES!!!”

It seemed as though the glasses were much colder than Seiji anticipated and possibly giving his boss’s face frostbite.
As luck would have it, the Earth was currently experiencing the hottest summer on record, so Seiji hurriedly ushered his boss outside to warm up in the blazing heat.

▼ Seiji: “Now, doesn’t this feel better?”
Yoshio: “I CAN’T FEEL MY FACE!!!”

However, after a moment, Yoshio’s cries of agony grew silent. His face seemed to suggest a gradual change in his condition.

The apocalyptic heat was working its magic and soothing the boss’s frozen face. Since he couldn’t see at all through the ice, Seiji guided him to a park with more exposure to sunlight.

Yoshio seemed to be processing the conflicting extreme temperatures when suddenly, a smile appeared on his face.

▼ Yoshio: “This… This is kind of nice.”

It worked! Seiji’s boss told him that once the ice started to melt, it began to feel more pleasurable and the cool water dripped down, soothing the rest of his head.

He described it as feeling like autumn from the neck up, which is rather amazing and unheard of with relatively conventional cooling techniques like parasols or straw hats. After about 20 minutes most of the ice had already melted.

Soon after that, it had all melted, leaving Yoshio drenched in the cool water. He walked back to the office with a big smile on his face.

It wasn’t just the cooling effect of the glasses, but something about walking back from the park soaking wet that took both these men back to their youths. They were no longer boss and employee, but friends.

Back then the sun was bright and high in the wide open blue sky. The world was theirs to explore and full of possibilities. It’s not clear when, but somewhere along the way all that changed and everything became much more cramped.

For just a brief moment, Seiji and Yoshio had reclaimed that sense of wonder and optimism at what lay ahead as their laughs echoed with the chatter of the cicadas.

▼ “Nobody on the road, nobody on the beach♫”

▼ “I feel it in the air, the summer’s out of reach♪”

▼ “Empty lake, empty streets, the sun goes down alone♫”

▼ “I’m driving by your house, though I know you’re not home♪”

▼ “But I can see you, your brown skin shining in the sun♫”

▼ “You got your hair combed back and your sunglasses on, baby♪”

▼ “I can tell you, my love for you will still be strong, after the boys of summer are gone♫”

Toyotomi Hideyoshi didn’t become a ruler overnight and nor will Seiji take the throne of Internet Daijo Daijin just yet. But this one moment of joy in a dreary summer may have been what altered his trajectory from struggling artist to true greatness.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]