Ep. 4 We’ll Invent a Local Specialty

Ep. 4 “We’ll Invent a Local Specialty” — English script

Page 1

Demi-katsu bowls... shrimp-meshi... barazushi...

September. Nashigasaka City Hall, the basement.

No food talk on the job!

Are these kibi dango on expenses?

Okayama's got famous food everywhere. Lucky them!

Nashigasaka's got NOTHING!

Page 2

I brought homework back from the main building.

We're to create a signature Nashigasaka dish...

A chance to show the main building results!

I also brought someone who came to the counter for help.

I've got a mountain of pears nobody will buy.

Page 3

Shops won't take pears with a scratch on them.

Every year a tenth of the orchard gets thrown out...

They taste just the same. Such a waste.

Make jam? But who's going to make it and sell it...

...That's good.

Page 4

We'll turn these pears into Nashigasaka's signature dish!!

Register the name as a trademark and the fees roll in.

Ten yen a bowl as my commission, please.

Is a trademark really that easy?

Leave it to me! I'll learn it overnight!!

Page 5

Same name? Whoever files first wins. “First to file”!

Note: Japan's trademark system is first-to-file: whoever applies first gets the mark, not whoever used it first.

—That night.

Place name plus product name can be registered... a “regional collective trademark”!!

Note: Regional collective trademarks (e.g. a place name + a product) can only be filed by bodies like co-ops, chambers of commerce or NPOs — never by an individual.

Only co-ops and such can file... eh, details!

Whoever files first WINS!!

Page 6

This demi-katsu bowl is AMAZING!!

The weekend. Okayama.

The shrimp-meshi's black, and it's AMAZING!!

This barazushi has WAY too many toppings!!

A local dish is somethin' the whole town grew over decades.

Once I've got the name, it's mine.

Pear demi-glace... the “Pear Demi-Katsu Bowl”!!

Page 7

One Pear Demi-Katsu Bowl, coming up!

October. Nashigasaka's shopping street.

The pear makes the sauce so mellow!!

The pears we threw out... every one gets used...

And I've filed! The name is MINE!!

Ten yen a bowl, ten yen a bowl...

Page 8

The whole shopping street wants to serve it too.

Sure. For a hundred yen a bowl in fees.

A local dish belongs to the whole town!

I'M the one who filed!!

Tetsu, there's an envelope from the Patent Office.

Later, later!

Page 9

Notice of reasons for refusal... only co-ops and chambers of commerce may file!

Note: A “notice of reasons for refusal” is the Patent Office's letter saying why an application can't be registered as filed.

I-individuals CAN'T!?

I'll still be collecting my commission.

What's this hundred-yen fee about!!

Now everyone's fighting over the local dish...

Page 10

The shopping street called the main building.

Everyone, we are deeply sorry.

Genda. ...I mean, Mr. Genda.

Note: The boss switches from “Genda-kun” to “Genda-san”. When he gets polite, it's over.

A certificate of commendation. A local dish is something you grow.

The bonus prize: one year of washing dishes at the food stall.

Page 11

We filed a regional collective trademark through the co-op!

—The next autumn. Nashigasaka's autumn festival.

The pears sell out every day now.

The main building says we're getting an award!

I named the large size the “Tetsu Special”!

Wh-what about the fee!?

Zero.