Freelance announcer Nakamura Hitomi released her first book, "Wife Brain vs. Husband Brain: Observations of Older Husbands" (Kobunsha) on February 27th. The book also includes some unusual remarks from her husband, Otake Kazuki of the comedy duo "Summers." What was the "surprising remark" that came out of Otake's mouth during their conversation? We spoke to Nakamura, who revealed, "I thought it was really funny that he would say something like that so openly."
"Wife Brain vs. Husband Brain: Observations of Older Husbands" is a collection of Nakamura's popular essays, which have been serialized in the women's fashion magazine "STORY" (published by the same publisher) since 2021. It contains real-life anecdotes from the daily lives of "Showa husbands" who, as a generation, prefer to leave household matters to their wives, and "manly wives" who declare that home is not a place to rest.
This is Nakamura's first published book.
"There are many former announcers who have published books, but I thought it had nothing to do with me. I also never thought I would write a book about my husband, so in that sense, I think unexpected things happen in life."
On the other hand, since the serialization began, he talks about the "benefits of writing," saying, "By writing again, I've been able to see my relationship with my husband from a bird's eye view, and even if I used to get annoyed, when I looked at it as a joke I thought, 'This is funny,' and it's really good that I've been able to turn my everyday troubles into laughter."
"If I had kept my feelings about my husband bottled up and kept thinking, 'What kind of man is he?' I might have exploded at some point, but I wrote one article a month about what had happened, and I heard readers say, 'I understand, too,' so I'm glad I wrote it in the sense that I was able to process it in a good way. As I wrote, my feelings changed, and as I wrote, I started to think of dirty stories as 'Oh, this could be a good story.' When I was saving them in notes on my phone, my husband would say, 'Don't write about what I just said,' (laughs). We had more and more exchanges like that. I think I was able to process a lot of things internally."
The book is full of hilarious stories from raising three brothers, as well as some of the Showa era husband's unusual remarks and anecdotes that will make you chuckle, as seen from his wife's perspective.
She has been married to her husband, Otake, for 15 years. During their normal conversation, Otake once said something surprising, and it was a comment that was "the big fat guy."
"I thought my husband was amazing, and it was really interesting that he could say something like that so confidently. My husband is a lazy person, and basically wants to leave all the housework to his wife. But I thought, 'We're both parents, aren't we?' and when I asked him, 'Who are you to your children?' he answered, 'Me? I'm the ultimate puppet.' At that moment I thought, 'This guy is amazing,' like, is it really possible for someone to be so unashamed? Normally, you'd be too embarrassed to say it, right? It's true that a husband who can say something like that is amazing."
In the end, it's a relationship where they can say things like that to each other. Otake also dotes on his three children, and Nakamura says he "really loves" seeing Otake like that.
"At first, my husband said, 'I won't change my lifestyle even if I get married or have children,' but now when I see him devoting himself to looking after our children after coming home, I think he's changed a lot over the past 15 years."
On the other hand, Nakamura has recently been troubled by a certain problem. He says that over the past 15 years, he has become completely accustomed to Otake's "strange remarks."
"When we first got married and when our child was born, I used to think my husband's strange behavior was funny, but after 15 years of marriage, I've gradually gotten used to it and I've started to no longer find it funny, which scares me. I find myself thinking, 'Here he goes again,' so I'm thinking, 'No, no. This is funny, so I have to make it into a joke,' and I'm trying to go back to my roots."
