Monday, November 05, 2007

The Mystery of Santa's Balls Solved!


I finally managed to rip myself out of my laudanum-induced stupor long enough to actually recall my blogspot password. After my jones for cough syrup subsided I ventured out to our covered shopping arcade only to find the Christmas decor had already gone up, like the ugly green and red cock of American cultural colonialism. This year too, Santa's pale balls, upon which I first remarked a couple of years ago, are making an appearance. This year, I finally learned what that is all about.

To explain it, I first have to explain that our city's mascot is a dead, noodle-shop owner named Sendai Shiro (1860-1902). He is quite literally venerated as a god of commerce and prosperity by the locals. The one surviving photo of Shiro has been reproduced endlessly and adorns shop walls all over the city. In the photo, Shiro is sitting, arms crossed, bare knees poking out from under his robes. He looks remarkably like Buddha, so I can sort of see why people worship him.

I am informed by reliable sources that the Santa which appears in our arcade each year is a poorly executed "Sendai Shiro Santa". It is meant to look like Shiro dressed as Santa with arms crossed in his signature pose. What I mistook for a rather generous genital endowment are in fact meant to be Santa/Shiro's knees. Below is the famous photo of Shiro. I find it wonderful that this random collision of local folk belief and Christianity has produced a big red balloon of Santa with his wedding tackle dangling in the breeze.