Inside KAZOO's Wardrobe (46) NHK E-Tele "SNS Eigojutsu" #StPatricksDay (aired 2019/03/14)

1.Prologue

Our theme on the show this week was #StPatricksDay, which is celebrated on March 17th on the supposed date of St. Patrick’s death. From before the American Revolutionary War in the 18th century to former President Barack Obama—whose mother had Irish roots—Irish-Americans have played an integral role in U.S. history. On the day, Irish pride is celebrated across America: on the streets in parades held across in major cities such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, and indoors at Irish pubs, where Irish-Americans and wannabes alike down Guinness beer and Jameson whisky.

There is only one rule, and that is to wear an item of green clothing. As early as grade school I would always make sure to wear something green on St. Patrick’s Day—otherwise, you were liable to get pinched. When did pinching become a part of the tradition? Some say it originated as a way to shame someone for not demonstrating Irish pride. Whatever the case, the day was also like Christmas for bullies and sticklers.

It’s still unclear to me whether or not we were wearing green to honor Ireland and Irish-Americans or simply to avoid getting pinched, but most of us complied. Some would come to school wearing essentially all green, but usually just a single green item would suffice to avoid the dreaded pinch—like green socks, or green suspenders. Kids who had forgotten to wear green—or didn’t have any green clothes to begin with—would rummage through their backpacks or ask friends to lend them something green. You could always spot those kids, as you would come across them holding a green pen and green notebook as if they were brandishing a sword and shield. Kids who had green eyes would frantically try to signal as such before they could be pinched, but unfortunately for them, eyes usually didn’t count.

And depending on the region, there was an addendum to keep in mind—one that meant the bullies and sticklers had to be absolutely sure before going in for the kill. If you pinched someone and then found out that person had actually been wearing green, the victim was entitled to pinch the pincher back ten-fold.

2.Clover cufflinks by MFYS

Buy on Amazon

I purchased these cufflinks from the cufflinks vendor MFYS on Amazon.co.jp. Since the theme of the show this week was St. Patrick’s Day, I went with this four-leaf clover design, for luck. Despite the low price the cufflinks are well made and sturdy, and look just as great as a pair costing five times as much.