Father's Day 2025 - If Father Were Here Now

Twenty-five years have passed.
The years since my father passed away.

With my mother, we had many conversations even in her later years and my memories remain vivid, but when it comes to conversations with my father, somehow I can't remember much.
Was he naturally taciturn, or was I perhaps still too young at the time, or were we all caught up in the busyness of daily life?

Yet strangely, only my childhood memories remain remarkably vivid.

Whether in elementary or middle school, as someone who was always at the very front when we lined up due to my small stature, my father was truly my hero.
No, he was Superman.

Playing rugby covered in mud as a scrum half, working as a cook in the occupation forces' kitchen during the post-war chaos while competing as a professional boxer in four-round matches, and later working in the cutting-edge field of thermal management at a steel mill.
Even as an adult, he was active in prefectural competitions in swimming, volleyball, golf, and baseball, and when he drank, he would dance the Cossack dance endlessly - these images of my father remain vivid even now.

Among all these memories, playing catch in front of our company housing is my treasure.
Standing on that narrow road, my father would create a scenario for each pitch.
"Leading 4 to 3, bottom of the 7th, two outs, bases loaded, the count is 2 strikes, 2 balls... now, strike him out right here!"
He would set up his mitt while providing this play-by-play commentary.

Following his voice, I would throw with all my might as if I were standing on the mound at Koshien.
My small pitches sometimes went wild, but my father would leap gracefully to catch them, laughing and saying "Nice pitch!"

Recently, when I read Maha Harada's 'The God of Cinema' and saw the reference to the movie 'Field of Dreams,' I realized anew that playing catch was a special ritual for boys.
Like that final scene in the movie, if I could play catch with my father just one more time... such thoughts fill my heart.

If your father is still alive, please be sure to express your gratitude through words or gifts this Father's Day.

A casual word or a gift picked up on a whim might become an "irreplaceable memory" in the future.

Postscript: For Father's Day 【As a Form of Gratitude】

If such a father were still by my side, I think I would have wanted to deliver this sound to him.

For the generation where hearing gradually becomes more difficult, television sound can sometimes be "hard to hear," while simultaneously becoming "too loud" for the family.

What gently embraces such sound discrepancies is M's system's 'TV-dedicated Speaker MTVS'.

"Sound that reaches the entire body" - something that cannot be achieved with headphones or hearing aids.
Rather than relying solely on the ears, by gently resonating the space itself, only the necessary sounds reach you naturally, comfortably, and effortlessly.

As a gift to say "thank you," consider the choice of a sound gift.
Using Father's Day as an opportunity, why not give the gift of sound that doesn't just "reach the ears" but "reaches the heart"?