The Tanaka Family Reincarnates - Chapter 1
Chapter 1: Happy Family Get-Together
The Tanaka family is a family that loves cats.
The father, who is good with his hands, Kazushi (65)
The mother, a great cook, Yoriko (65)
The eldest son, a natural air-head[1], Wataru (38)
[T/N 1: Natural air-head is a concept based on Japanese manzai comedy, where one of the characters, i.e. the air-head, or funny man, tends to miss the point or misinterpret messages out of context. In other words, oblivious. “Natural” is used to describe these characters’ lack of self awareness.]
The eldest daughter, a cheapskate, Minato (35)
The disappointing second son, Heita (33)
Starting this year, the parents will be living off their pensions in one of Japan’s prominent rural areas.
The three siblings are all single, each living on their own.
The three of them are of suitable age to marry, but have no prospects.
The eldest son works at a construction site as a contractor, the eldest daughter is an office lady and the second son only works part-time in a convenience store to support himself.
Several times a year, the parents would leave the rural area so that the family could gather and enjoy Mother’s cooking.
The gatherings are held at the relatively big condominium where I, the eldest daughter, Minato, stay.
Today, they shall be having hot pot.
As nobody had arrived late, the dinner began.
Usually, Wataru who works overtime and Heita who has a loose sense of time will usually come late. But today was one of the rare times we gathered together before starting dinner.
I opened a can of beer and raised it for a ‘Kanpai’[2] to stop Wataru who was engrossed in munching away at the food, but right at that moment…
[T/N 2: Kanpai is a Japanese phrase, equivalent to the English “bottoms up” or “cheers” and used in the same manner, when taking a drink and encouraging others to do the same, usually with clinking of glasses.]
The earth started shaking like it was being pushed around.
“Uehh? Earthquake?”
“It’s pretty big, huh!”
“Shut off the electricity first!”
“Hurry! Run?”
“Watch out?!”
That incident was known as the Great Southern Sea Earthquake, which had long been an upcoming concern.
The eldest daughter’s room on the first floor of the condominium was crushed that day by the earthquake, resulting in the death of the entire family.
…or so they thought.