While kids in most parts of Japan are obsessed with Pokémon cards, the children of Kawara are clutching to something a little closer to home.
They are playing a trading card game (TCG) where the stars aren’t fantasy creatures, anime heroes or even famous baseball players, but ojisan (middle-aged or older men) from the local community of Saidosho.
On the surface, this Ojisan TCG looks like any other collectible card game. As of March 18, there are 47 different cards in the collection, including 28 featuring local men with stats and special abilities.
Take the Firewall card, for example. It features Mr. Honda (74), a former fire brigade chief who helped keep the town safe for decades. Then there’s Soba Master Mr. Takeshita (81), who runs a local soba noodle-making class and now holds legendary status among the town’s youth.
Them ojisans aren’t exactly middle aged, unless Japan’s life expectancy is now in the 130s or 140s?
ojisan kinda has the vibe of the US term “unk” - like it’s for someone who is too old to call “oniisan” (big bro), but not literally a bag of bones like “ojiisan” (gramps).
Yeah I know but the title says middle aged…
I would still call those guys ojisan though!