Noelle's Tadaharu Nakano Photo Cards (中野忠晴フォト・カード)

Photo cards (PC). They're decorated portraits of your favourite artists in varying degrees of cuteness and gaudiness. Japan seems to have been promoting oshikatsu (fan activities) for a few years now, with 100 yen and music stores dedicating one entire section to it. You'll find all the necessary products to make your fangirl/fanboy/fanperson life a breeze, like stickers and photo frames to make said photo cards. The wildest thing I've seen was a mini version of a literal kamidana (home shrine) wherein one can put your beloved aidoru in. Now that's dedication. When it comes to photo cards, I usually come across younger folks having these dangling from their bags and purses, but they are certainly not age restricted. I think the occurrences of catching sight of these eye-catching mini works of art increases depending on the area you're in and if there's some aidoru concert going on. Ordinarily, you'd see images of young pretty people (real, 2.5D or 2D) in these pretty frames. 

Not to long ago, I told a good friend of mine, let's call her Ms. C, a few things over several meet-ups: 

1. My most recent muse, Tadaharu Nakano (中野忠晴), is one of the figures responsible for popularizing jazz in prewar Japan. 

2. I'm still livid that bromide store Marubell does not have a single Mr. Nakano bromide despite 1. and the number of suave portraits he had during his Columbia Records days.

3. I brought my MacGyvered Mr. Nakano "bromide" to Part I of a recent Ryoichi Hattori (服部良一) record appreciation event. 

Typical tea topics. All that combined eventually gave Ms. C the idea to make me PCs of Mr. Nakano to bring to Part II of the Hattori event, to which I simply went, "If you make it, I'll definitely use it." Mr. Nakano photo cards in the style of current-day pop idol frames. The idea just sounded so wild to me, but I was equal parts curious and terrified to see what could come out of it, especially when she insisted: No retro designs, it has to be unhinged. Oh, geez. Nevertheless, I sent her some of my favourite pictures I had at the time and trusted my friend's ingenuity.

Totemo ureshii wa

You know when you witness something so unbelievable your brain can't handle it so all you can do is laugh? That was me when I took those photo cards out of the envelope Ms. C handed to me. I was told beforehand that they were less unhinged than intended because she wasn't able to find more stickers at the time. Still, I was speechless. 

First we have what I call "Yellow Nakano". Inspiration came from the fact that I like Pompompurin, hence the yellow colour scheme and roly-poly dogs surrounding the dandy jazz singer. The second one, "Pink Nakano"... Okay, for context, I introduced Mr. Nakano to Ms. C using this very photo, which led to the establishment of the nickname - I can't believe I'm saying this here - "Jazz Daddy" as opposed to "Father of Jazz"... I mean, I don't see anything wrong with that judgement and I like this smoldering Nakano very much, but seeing him surrounded by pink hearts and ribbons, I blurted out, "Why is the one that's giving Daddy energy the one with the pink bows??" And I was promptly told that it's exactly that which warrants the cuteness. It balances out the spiciness. As the kids say these days, I was deceased. I'm all for men in pink, but I was not expecting this combo. The juxtaposition of the frame designs and the photos for both PCs caused an initial Error 404 in the noggin, but it doesn't take away the fact that I like them a lot. And as another pal (Lad B from many articles back) said, "That's just Japan in a nutshell, innit? Cute on the outside, actually Showa on the inside."

Mr. Nakano's cover of "Some of These Days", titled "Totemo Ureshii" (とても嬉しい)

Never would I have thought to have such photo cards of any of the singers I like. I always thought they were beyond me. I mean, who would've thought to decorate monochrome portraits of singers from the early Showa era? Well, in hindsight, many of them were handsome and glamourous and would more than fit the term "Pop idol", so maybe the idea of them in glitzy photo cards isn't as wild as I initially thought. Y'know, give Shizuko-san some rhinestones, Mr. Fujiyama cream soda stickers - I can imagine it. But I just can't find it in me to put hearts or Pompompurin on any of my fellows. To use Mom's words, I would've never done something like this on my own. So, I greatly appreciate Ms. C's efforts for coming up with what I thought was unimaginable in such a creative and tasteful way. 

  

As promised, I brought the Pink Nakano PC to the Hattori event with my MacGyvered Nakano bromide. Having these around was intense at first, especially Pink Nakano, but I quickly grew to enjoy having them around. And since one can't let her friend's efforts be for naught, I've attached Yellow Nakano to my wallet as a daily accessory. That's my favourite photo of him and there's a Pompompurin on his head. What more could a fan ask for? It's also really handy for impromptu oshikatsu, like when I was in the Tokyo-Hibiya area recently and wanted to visit the Shisei Kaikan (市政会館), the building where the prewar Columbia Records recording studio was. If you're in Japan and were to ever see anyone on the streets with a Pompompurin-framed photo(s) of early Showa male singers, you know who that crazy person is. She is me.

Mr. Nakano's cover of "Marinella"

Considering how Mr. Nakano now has prettily decorated photo cards and a fan toting them around in the new decade, wherever he is now, he must be awfully pleased. Or, I would like to think he is. However, I do feel kinda bad for my other five. But fret not, says Ms. C, for she intends to make at least one for each of them. I've already gotten a preview of one and some rough ideas for two others. The idea of Akita Boi and Hawaiian Daddy is making me sweat nervously again, but I am curious about Kimono Pretty Boy since his brand was literally flashy and outstanding. How ever they turn out, I'm just really glad and appreciative to have a friend that would go the extra mile to support and encourage (and kick up a notch) my fangirl behaviour. 

Ude wo kashimashouka?
Revue mimashouka?
Ocha wa ikagadesu?
(〃艸〃) Yes. 

P.S. According to Ms. C, she encountered a bit of a technical difficulty when printing the photos at a 7 Eleven. What came out from this technical difficulty was multiple copies of the same Nakano in various sizes. She couldn't bear to throw them away, so she handed them all over with the photo cards. As much as I love 1949 Nakano, I don't really know what to do with five of him. I took the below photo at a Starbucks and it's got to be one of the more bizzare things I've done so far. I hope we did not scare the other patrons who were just trying to have their evening desserts.