A weird thing which I feel natsukashi about are the little 20¥-off coupons that Seicomart, the Hokkaido-based konbini chain, would give you for bananas. They were little things–one could say forgettable things. However, those little coupons turned out to be some kind of papier-mache social bond for those of us living in towns small enough to have only one Seicomart as the sole konbini.
I once connected with another JET, who I otherwise didn’t know very well, over those little coupons. We commiserated about how odd it was that we could feel so much guilt over habitually forgetting our coupons and missing out on saving a pittance. Part of that guilt came from how earnest the Seico Ladies behind the counter were about asking you for your coupons, and how serious they were about guilting you when you forgot them.
My favourite of the Seico Ladies was the most elderly one at the Furubira Seicomart, with whom I conducted an impromptu eikai-wa every time I went in there. I’d taught her how to say “Your card, please,” and “Would you like it warm?” I even felt a bit like I was sealing my own guilt-ridden doom when I taught her the phrase “Do you have a coupon?”
Sadly, I finished my time on JET before I could teach her “Please remember your coupon!”
Written by Nick Jones, Current JETAA Toronto Co-Chair