Thank you for buying volume 59! As I mentioned in the last issue, I have been going to the dentist lately. I haven’t done that for about fifteen years. When I was a kid, I found the dentist scary, as well as painful. In fact, once – I was in primary school – when the light from the dentist’s office lamp dazzled me, I closed my eyes and the dentist slapped me and said, “Don’t sleep!”. It’s only when you have an accident on a snowy mountain or go to the dentist that I used to go to that you get a slap for closing your eyes. I went to treat the swelling caused by a tooth and came home with another swelling. But setting foot in a dentist’s office again after a long time, I realized that things are different. First of all, I was surprised by the fact that treating teeth does not involve the slightest pain. Moreover, the former torture room has been transformed into a relaxing place with a TV set next to the dentist’s chair. What’s more, I was amazed to see that instead of a middle-aged man slapping people, there was a beautiful young lady, so I almost wanted to be slapped. By now it can be considered a kind of amusement park: ‘You want the drill? Then call me your majesty, you damned caries bacteria!” …
“Your Majesty! Aaaaah!” … Drrrrrill! I mean, it’s a place where even witnessing such a scene wouldn’t be all that strange. If there is anyone who has been holding on to a decayed tooth for years because of the negative image they have of the dentist, I strongly encourage them to go and see for themselves.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 189
QUESTION FROM MR. “RED-FRAMED GLASSES” OF OSAKA PROVINCE
In the 524th lesson, you see Gin-san wrapped in bandages looking at ships at the window. What period does that scene refer to?
ANSWER:
I apologize if the scene is difficult to understand.
Gintoki is looking at the shogun’s ship while lying on the futon, receiving medical treatment in the Momochi family’s villa in Iga, a few days after fighting Takasugi. After the battles, the group stayed in Iga for a few days, returning to Edo only when the shogun left for Kyo. Once back, the wounded were admitted to the Edo hospital.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 190
QUESTION BY MR. “LOSER” FROM NAGANO PROVINCE
Ever since I was little, I’ve loved drawing, even comic books, but I’ve never been able to show my work to family and friends because I’m ashamed. Can you, Sorachi sensei, do it without any problem?
ANSWER:
When I was in primary schools, I used to draw comics in a notebook, but I stopped after my father found it and made fun of me. So I started doing some illustrations on the sly.
Today, when I see my father buying a huge TV set with the money I send him, I feel like hitting him with a wad of cash.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 191
QUESTION FROM MR. KONDO OF TOKUSHIMA PROVINCE
The female characters in Gintama generally wear a short kimono and knee-length stockings. For example, Kuriko and Tama. Are they inspired by Otsu? Are you a fashion influencer, or do you just like girls with knee-length stockings, Sorachi sensei?
ANSWER:
Those are not ordinary knee-length stockings but very long tabi*, so-called “nagatabi”. It wasn’t Otsu who invented them, but when the short kimono became popular in Edo, this type of tabi also became popular.
That’s because I like socks that are Oolong-to-the-knee-God-Super Saiyan!
*special socks for flip-flop sandals.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 192
QUESTION FROM MISS “DIE, MY SISTER!” FROM THE PROVINCE OF MIE
Good morning, Sorachi sensei! I recently started reading Assassination Classroom but I had a fight with my sister and she revealed the whole story to me. You don’t do that, do you?! I’m dying for revenge! Do you have any advice on how to do that? Please let me know before I kill her!
ANSWER:
Before I kill you both, think about what you have done and check again the address to which you should have sent this letter!
Having said that, the volume 59 special “Everybody go to the dentist” ends here. The progress of science gives us great hope for the future. The time when we used to complain and say “I’ve got a tooth decay, it couldn’t get any worse” is over! We now live in a fantastic world where we can say ‘I’ve got a tooth decay, hooray! I’m going to go to the dentist and have it pulled!”.
But there’s one thing I want to draw everyone’s attention to: before you go to the dentist, always brush your teeth thoroughly. I brushed my teeth so thoroughly that they bled because I didn’t want to be hated by the beautiful doctor. The time when I did it a little more superficially, she put a kind of mouth guard in my mouth for the X-ray and when she took it out, the saliva that had stuck to it dripped down like the thread of the spider that Kandata climbed on to get out of hell*. That strip of saliva was so strong that Kandata could have used it successfully. So I became agitated because I was ashamed of it, but I couldn’t break it. The dentist also seemed agitated and finally started wrapping it around my arm, including Kandata, and finally tore it off.
Both Kandata and I blushed completely. I’m sure they have a nickname for me in the office and are saying behind my back, “Kandata is coming today.
I don’t want to go to the dentist anymore.
New item; “Take care of your teeth.”
*Reference to the short story Kumo No Ito by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Yorozuya Shinigami 