貧乏社長は、現地の言葉は多少は喋れれても、文字となるとからっきし読めないもんだから、地元の情報は活字媒体なら英字紙のバンコクポストから仕入れることが多い。
一方、地元の人は日本の文物なんかにかなり興味津々なんで、色々なネタがこの紙面をにぎわすこともあるんだが、この２月９日の記事にどでかく紹介された日本男児の写真を見て、びっくりしてしまった。
何だか、虱でも湧いて来そうな不潔なもじゃもじゃ髪に手ぬぐいで鉢巻を締め、眼鏡をかけたのは良いが、山羊ヒゲをきたならしく生やした、派遣村収容者かホームレス遊民の風情を醸し出した男が、漫画本を持って上目遣いで見上げている。
誰だ、一体こいつは．．．
この間、紹介した不敬罪で本国送還のオージー兄ちゃんとは、えらい見かけが違うなー。あやつの方が全然カッコいいもんなーと思いつつも、興味を覚えずには入られなくて記事を読み始める。
なになに、彼の名前はRikimaru Toho（東方力丸）と言って、下北沢の道端で客の求めに応じて漫画を朗読することを稼業としている大道芸人であるのが分かった。貧乏社長の語彙感覚は古臭いので、今一格好良さが伝わらないんだが、横文字風に敢えて言うならストリートパフォーマーと言うところであろう。
記事では、下北沢は、東京アングラ文化の揺りかご＝発祥の地と言う例えを使っていることから見ても、彼に好意を寄せているのが分かる。この記事では、漫画は日本文化の伝統であって、古くは１１世紀に始まる源氏物語の紫式部が活躍していた時代の絵巻物が現代漫画の起源であると、持上げ過ぎでこそばゆくなる。
一方では、つい最近まで見かけることの出来た紙芝居のような庶民の語り部と言うのも、漫画の派生文化であって、不況の際には手っ取り早く収入を得る職業のひとつだったとも説明しながら、この漫画系語り部が絵巻物まで結びつくことが出来るとして壮大すぎる歴史で述べようとするのが面白い。こんな切り口で彼が批評されているなら、彼にとっても本望だろう。
しかし、何だな。
そんなに賞賛されても、力丸殿は正に風采が上がらん、うだつが上がらん感じがするのである。
おいらも、あんまり英語の語彙は豊かでないので読み飛ばしながら、何とか大意をつかんで見たんだが、ご本人は日本人の失われた十年の頃に引きこもりだったり、色々なアルバイトで生計を立てて糊口を凌いで来たらしく、典型的なニート人生だったようだ。
しかし、力丸殿の本当の素晴らしさ凄さは、単なるニートから脱却して語り部芸能を自ら開拓して技芸＝漫読家として自ら体得したところにあるんじゃなかろうか？
しかも、固定ファンまでも付いているんだそうだから、聞きに来てくれるお客さんに喜んで貰えることが励みになって、稼ぎ何かは二の次で、力丸殿に取ってみてもこの至芸は天職になってしまったんだと思う。
自分の仕事に誇りを持つことは良い事なんだな。
稼ぎはたくさん貰ったほうが良いかもしれないけど、それ以上にかけがえの無いお客さんがいてくれることで、力丸殿は今を着実に生きているんじゃないかと感じてしまった。
だから思うんだ。
派遣村に集まってきた腑抜け連中は、結局、今を生き抜く能の無い衆愚なのかもしれない。力丸殿の爪の垢でも煎じて飲んでみろと思った貧乏社長なのでした。（この巻き、終わり）
追記：後で、ネットを調べてみたんだが、彼は芸能プロダクションにも所属して仕事を請けているようですし、ブログもありました。
Rikimaru Toho doesn't mind being stared at as long as he can hold the gaze of passers-by long enough to entice them to stop and sit down for an unusual show: A comic book reading.
And stay they do, hunched on low plastic stools inches away from who offers the equivalent of an animated movie for the ears, his vast vocal registry bringing to life any character, from humans to robots.
The roaring overhead train, orange street lamps and the station walls comprise the setting for his performances of "manga" comics in Shimokitazawa, the cradle of Tokyo’s underground culture.
"I find it appealing to do, and to offer something that one doesn’t usually experience", said the 34-year-old, whose real name is Satoshi Arikawa.
"By making all kinds of voices including female ones, I enjoy watching my audience’s reactions, and I am very grateful to them," he added, with a slight bow of his head.
With long, black, dishevelled hair held in place with a rudimentary bandana, along with glasses and a black goatee, Rikimaru’s looks invite as much curiosity as his punchy voice which swings between bass and falsetto.
From action hero Kenshiro of the popular Hokuto no Ken series to the earless blue cat Doraemon and the lovelorn heroines of The Rose of Versailles, Rikimaru has done them all. And that’s not everything.
"Attatatata! Bang-bang-bang! Aaargh!" he shouted, shaking a Hokuto comic depicting a battle involving machine guns and blood. His audience, a group of college students, erupted into laughter and applauded.
When the scene changes, Rikimaru snaps his fingers and takes the deep solemn voice of a narrator.
A crowd including children and a few elderly people gathered around him, some snapping photos of the scene with their mobile phones.
"This is really entertaining, and especially because it's so unusual. You don't normally see these sorts of street performances in Tokyo. It's so different," said a university student, 19-year-old Shohei Shindo.
For a reading of less than 10 minutes from one of the dozens of comic books displayed on the ground, listeners slip a few hundred yen - equivalent to a few dollars - into his box.
Rikimaru politely bows and hands out chocolates.
When Rikimaru was 19, around the time that Japan’s socalled bubble economy plunged into a decade-long slump, he stayed in his room for an entire year not seeing anyone, one of the country’s socalled "shut—ins".
After he emerged, he held various temporary jobs. But it was manga reading that became the focus of his life and which has won him a solid fan base, evident in the regular comments on his blog.
He has appeared pon television and travelled around Japan for shows, achieving a level of fame that would seem to justify the 14 years of effort he has put into training his voice and practising his reading skills.
While reading manga is one of Japan's favourite pastimes, shared even by Prime Minister Taro Aso, it is generally a solitary activity. Popular "manga cafes" have cubicles so readers are undisturbed.
Through manga, however, Rikimaru says he is reviving the art of story-telling which goes back to the 11th century but has been replaced in the modern age by television, movies and now mobile phones.
Historical and romance stories including the famous Tale of Genji were elaborately drawn on scrolls of silk or paper, known as emakimono, and shown to the nobility. They are believed to be the origin of modern manga.
Story-telling then took the form of kamishibai or picture-story shows, popularised during the recessions of the 1920s and 1950s, offering unemployed men the means of earning a small income.
As Japan grew wealthy, kamishibai became romanticised as a relic of a time when the country enjoyed strong social cohesion despite common hardship.
Now Japan is again mired in recession, with thousands of people losing their jobs. And Rikimaru's life is a sign of the grim reality many millions are facing. The manga -reader entertains on Saturdays and Sundays for stretches of more than five hours, which earns him around 15,000 yen (6,000 baht), a day.
His limits his own spending to the cheapest eateries and shops. He lives in ia tiny, mildew-stained apartment, he washes - now and then - at a coin-operated shower. He apologises for his disorderly appearance.
When he arrives at his designated street corner on his bicycle, hehas a broom and a dustpan which he uses to sweep himself a patch clear of cigarette butts, fliers and other trash. He salutes his neighbour, an elderly palm reader.
Despite what appears to be a life of hardship, Rikimaru is refreshingly positive, seeing freedom where others might see destitution and despair.
"This is a life that I chose. Although I'm in a miserable situation, I have a place to live and cheap food I can eat," he said. "And I'm doing something that allows me to take my time, without being pushed around." AP
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