Japan has its original calendar and era names, such as Showa, Heisei, Reiwa, and so on. I was born in 1958, and this year falls on Showa 33th. People who were born in this year have been gathering for about fifteen years and holding a party four times a year, on March 3rd, June 6th, September 9th and December 12th. The coincidence of the number of the month and day is derived from the 33th of Showa. I joined this group 5 years ago, or so. In relation to the school year, people who were born in between April 1958 and March 1959 belong to the group.
It seemed that a special party in Hawaii had been planned a decade ago, which would commemorate the turning 60 of all the members. The d-day was set on June 6th in 2019 after all the members would turn 60. The age 60 originally means the starting of the living on a pension in Japan, but 60-year-old people are generally vigorous enough to continue to work. Most members weren't able to get day-offs contrary to expectations and it was only 10 people or so that were able to join the party. Today is the d-day. It should be June 6th, but it was changed to Saturday, 8th to make it easier to join the party from Japan.
The venue was a restaurant called Kai Market adjacent to the beach in the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. When I entered the hotel, I found a signboard welcoming a company trip from our hometown. It was the Ehime branch of Toyota and apparently the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the branch. Admiring the leading company's employees' trip, we headed for the restaurant. The sky was blue and it was only a step to the brilliant sea. There were so many kinds of dishes and I was busy enjoying them and forgot to take pictures. All the participants ate a lot,drank a lot, and some danced the hula. Most people were supposed to visit Pearl Harbor on the next day and then come to my condo, so we stopped by a supermarket on the way back and prepared beverages for tomorrow's party.
(Vocabulary)
venue (会議・競技などの) 会場, 開催地
What 60-year means in Japan:
https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2012/10/reunion.html
Shot by my whole-sky camera:
https://theta360.com/s/psywobrJ9n70qspevD0iRBFey
https://theta360.com/s/sH96xe45JNR4SF8gTMws5GZSS
https://theta360.com/s/bPhLoTivXY98axAQLWWyTy9ey
日本には独特の年号がある。それで言うと、僕の生まれは昭和３３年。この３３年生まれの同年の集まりがあって、毎年３月３日、６月６日、９月９日、１２月１２日に集まっている。
全員が節目の６０歳（多くは年金生活に入る）を迎えた記念にハワイ旅行をしようという計画が１０年くらい前からあったらしい。６０歳というのは一般的に年金生活に入る年齢なのだが、実際６０歳になってみると、定年後も働いている人が多く、参加は１０名あまりの少人数となってしまった。そのそのパーティーが今日。本来なら６月６日なのだが、日本から参加しやすいように少しずらし、６月８日の土曜日に開催することになった。
場所はシェラトンワイキキホテルのビーチに接しているカイ・マーケットというレストラン。ホテルの入口で地元愛媛に関する看板を見かけた。トヨタの愛媛支店の慰安旅行のようだ。５０周年とある。一流メーカーは違うなと感心しながらレストランへ向かった。天気は快晴、ビーチが目の前に見える。いろいろな料理があったのだが、、、、食べることに忙しく、写真撮影を忘れた、、、皆、大いに飲み、食べ、中にはフラダンスの愛好家がいて、ステージのプロと一緒に踊ったり、、、翌日は大部分はパールハーバー観光に向かうことになった。また夕方からは我が家で食事会をすることとなり、とりあえず、帰りに飲み物だけは揃えた。
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