Ep. 14 Nashigasaka's Own
The End
Ep. 14 “Nashigasaka's Own”
Read the English script
Ep. 14 “Nashigasaka's Own” — English script
Page 1
A Nobel Prize!? How much is the prize money!!
October. Nashigasaka City Hall, the basement.
The prize is over 100 million yen.
I'm winning one too!!
...For what research?
Announced evenings, Japan time.
One per weekday, starting next Monday.
Page 2
From the Mayor's staff, main building.
...I couldn't say no.
Banners... and the budget?
Use the backs of old banners, they said.
Before anyone else...?
Be first, and the TV crews come!!
Page 3
When a prize is announced, the winner's hometown and alma mater...
Note: When a Japanese scientist wins a Nobel Prize, their birthplace, old school and workplace race to hang huge congratulation banners on city hall and claim them as "a person with ties to our town" (yukari no hito).
...check the facts, then hang a banner on City Hall.
Born, studied, or worked in Nashigasaka...
...Researchers with ties here: zero.
Not even at the local university...
...No, wait!! There IS one!!
There's a professor on the ground floor of my building!
Page 4
Welcome home, Fifth Floor. Neighborhood notice.
Onedaira Housing Estate. Where Tetsu lives.
Gramps, you were a university professor, right?
Long ago. I studied pear trees.
Know any Nobel winners!?
...Can't say I do.
Page 5
The day the pear blossoms open...
Every year for 42 years.
...These are ALL notebooks!?
Research takes decades.
Prizes often come 20, 30 years later.
...Nobody to carry it on, though.
42 years, and ONE thank-you letter!?
BORING!!
Page 6
Long ago, Nashigasaka was a post town.
Note: A post town (shukuba) was a rest stop on Japan's old highways, where travelers stayed overnight.
Everyone who passed through...
...has ties to this town, you see.
...Everyone who passed through?
Just passing through counts!!
Changed trains at Nashigasaka Station? You've got TIES!!
...Oh?
Page 7
Rule one of ties!! Changed trains here!!
Two: ate a pear!! Three: used our ballpoint pen!!
Applied to the list... that's nearly everyone.
Nominations stay secret for 50 years.
Predicted winners: 41. All guesses.
Then celebrate EVERY guess!!
...Would that work?
Page 8
The fastest banner in Japan!! Live nationwide!!
My face on every TV in the country!!
The Mayor's staff is counting on us...
My ticket back to the main building!!
Is hanging them on commission?
100 yen a banner!! Out of my own wallet!!
...I'll leave it to you, Genda.
Page 9
Battery Guy!! Light Guy!! Cell Guy!!
That's 41.
And the finisher!! One banner that works for ANY winner!!
Congrats, Person With Ties!!
A banner with no name on it...
Page 10
Ten... twenty...
Tying them one by one isn't in my commission.
I bundled them.
Aren't these all tied together!?
Just pull by the ribbon color!
Page 11
The weekend.
Our hashtag is trending.
Monday morning.
My grandpa ate a pear too!!
I'm making 3,000 boxes of souvenir buns!!
Ten yen a box to me--
We CAN'T take that!! Civil servants!!
Then put my name on the box!!
If it hits, from the second batch.
Note: Second printing: the shop will print his name on the boxes only if the buns sell well enough for a second batch.
Let us broadcast live from the roof on the big night!!
Page 12
Foreigners have ties too!!
Monday night. Nobel announcements, day one.
Our ballpoint pens aren't sold overseas.
STOP IT!!
Tuesday night. Nobel announcements, day two.
I said STOP!!
We've still got Wednesday!! Gramps, be our commentator!!
If I'll do.
Page 13
Wednesday night.
Nashigasaka celebrates FIRST in Japan!!
The Mayor's staff is on the line.
Pear trees, too, take years to bear fruit.
From 6:45 p.m., Japan time.
Page 14
Three winners, including a Japanese researcher.
The field is... compounds in plants.
...We don't have THAT banner.
Time for the ultimate banner!!
Page 15
His hometown is celebrating...
...his old university, cheering.
And first of all... Nashigasaka City?
The Mayor's staff... hung up...
"The city that celebrated 41 total strangers"
3,000 boxes...
They ate a pear!!
Page 16
Nashigasaka City hung a banner claiming ties to you...
Nashigasaka... I'm sorry, I've never even been.
I just kept doing the same thing for 40 years.
Ties are a precious bond between a person and a town.
They're not ours to decide on our own!!
Research takes decades.
Celebrate those who keep at it, quietly, right here at home.
Page 17
...Forty years...
H-his tears... stopped...
Yes... on the national news... forty-two...
Yes, Gotokuji speaking.
...Understood.
Page 18
That was the Mayor's Office. ...Mr. Genda.
All 42, tonight. With your own hands.
Safety harness, always.
From tomorrow, carry this guestbook stand on your back...
Note: A kichodai is a lectern holding a guestbook, set out at ceremonies for visitors to sign their names.
...and go visit people who are still doing their research.
There's no Nobel winner! Visit WHO!?
Finding them is your job, Mr. Genda.
It's nine. Taking them down isn't in my commission.
Page 19
Light Guy, quit tangling me!!
Late that night.
...This one, though, wasn't wrong.
A banner stands out best from the fifth floor.
A few days later.
...Fifth Floor...
Forty-two banners, and forty-two notebooks...
Page 20
Please let us continue your notebooks!!
...Well, well.
A follow-up on the national news.
"Congrats, Person With Ties" buns, sold out!!
My big moment, at last!!
At least show my FACE!!
This is a work of fiction. Nashigasaka City is invented, and nothing here reflects the real operation of any person, organization or public office. It is not an official publication of any government body.
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