Sato-Ken: Mr. Kenji Satou(佐藤賢慈). Called "Sato-Ken" or "Tadareta Kenja Sato-Ken"(Burned-out Philosopher, Sato-Ken) by Susumu Hirasawa. He is a music producer and has worked as a staff of Chaos Union. He wrote about Susumu Hirasawa's life and work and posted it regularly on Hirasawa's official website in the 2000's, which was called 「賢者sato-kenのHIRASAWA番日誌」(Kenja Sato-ken no Hirasawa-ban Nisshi/Hirasawa's Assistant, Philosopher Sato-Ken's Journal). He has been one of the trusted assistants of Susumu Hirasawa's in Thailand. He currently lives in Thailand with his wife and his daughter.
Wai: Mr. Wai Rachatachotic, who was one of the hard-working assistants of Susumu Hirasawa's and guide living in Thailand. Susumu asked Mr. Wai so many different tasks to be done in Thailand. Mr. Wai passed away on April 12, 2016.
＜In memory of Mr. Wai Vol.1 Narita Airport Story＞
(It was uploaded on April 13, 2016 and can be viewed until April 20, 2016.)
Sato-Ken: I'm Sato-Ken.
Wai: I'm Wai. Sawadee krap.
Sato-Ken: Sawadee krap. Well, my next story is about what I experienced at the very important airport, Narita Airport, which we two(Susumu Hirasawa and I) always depart from to go to Thailand. We usually meet in front of Thai Airways' counter desk. We were to meet there at 8:30 in the morning.
Wai: Yes.
Sato-Ken: And I was waiting for him(Shisho:Susumu). He came at 8:30 in the morning. "Good morning, Sato-Ken.", he said. I said, "Good morning, Shisho. OK, give them your passport and your ticket. You have to check in. And check in your baggage and let's go." So Shisho(Susumu) handed his passport and his ticket to the girl(clerk) at the check-in counter. I was saying to Shisho something like, "Thank you for coming so early in the morning today. I'm glad you made it and let's enjoy our flight." Just then, the girl said, "Sir, I'm terribly sorry, but..." in apologising tone. I thought, she says, "I'm terribly sorry, sir..." that means there is something wrong. I said, "What? What? What is it? What's wrong?" I thought, "When I was having a happy conversation with Shisho, she says, 'I'm sorry'... What on Earth is it?" She said, "Sir, Mr. Hirasawa, this ticket is an old one from your previous flight. It is not the ticket for today." Suddenly, I turned as pale as ashes to hear that.
Wai: Yes.
Sato-Ken:You know, when you take a flight, after checking in, you get a boarding pass which is a long card made of thick paper, and its stub is torn right before going through the Immigration check-point, leaving you the other longer stub. Shisho had kept that stub from his previous flight to Thailand like a treasure or something. He doesn't throw things away. So he had mistook his old boarding pass for the ticket and he handed it with his passport to the clerk. Oh, my God! What are we going to do? I said, "You don't have it with you? Where is it?" "I left it at home." "Heh?" It was at 8:30 in the morning and our flight was scheduled at 10:00 or 10:30 or so, I remember. So, to his home we had to go back. We called our driver and went back to Shisho's home to get his ticket. His home was relatively close to the airport but we wouldn't be able to make it to the flight. So, what did we do? We cancelled our flight (With his eye rolling) and reserved a different flight in the late afternoon. Now we had a few hours before the flight. So I decided to take a nap at Shisho's home, and then we were ready to go. I said, "So, Shisho, you do have your ticket, right? You have your passport, too, right? OK, let's go." And we went to Narita Airport the second time. Have you ever seen somebody (so careless) like that in your life? No, never.
Wai: (Nods)
Sato-Ken: Well, that's Shisho. And we arrived at Narita Airport. OK. This time, we're really getting on that plane. (Slapps his thigh) You know, I was boiling over with anger. And we arrived at the check-in counter at Narita Airport to check in. This time, I was holding Shisho's ticket. And I said, "Shisho, give me your passport." He said, "Ahhh!!" "Don't say, 'Ahhh!!' You scared me. (laughs) So where's your passport?", I asked. Shisho said, "It's in the car." (Laughs) "The driver has already taken the car to the parking lot.", I said. So we called the driver and asked him to bring the passport to us, and Shisho finally got it. At that time, my brain was about to explode with anger, though I didn't take it out on him because he is my Shisho. However, I was like "OK, Shisho, do everything on your own this time", handing him the passport. And Shisho handed it to the girl at the check-in counter and asked her, "Did the previous flight crash?" Are you stupid or something? (With his eye rolling)
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