As I write this Cian is watching his (current) favorite television program, "Sanada maru", a historical drama which, according to the official NHK homepage (which you can see, in English, here), is "a story of the love and survival of the Sanada Family, a middle class family in the Warring States period" (approximately 1350 - 1650). This period, as its name suggests, was pretty 'het up' as they say down in Clare, with the Samurai families from differing provinces going at each other like the teams a Munster Hurling Final.
Now all of the above I gleaned from the NHK site and Wikipedia. Watching the program itself has left me completely baffled. There is a lot of fighting, intrigue, more fighting, a smattering of romance, some more fighting, an extravagant display of a variety of goatees, yet more fighting, and a lot of shouted dialogue. To be honest, I am not sure if Cian quite grasps the nuances of plot but he does like the fighting. Following each episode he runs around the house with his wooden sword wreaking loud vengeance on various phantom samurai. From his prolonged battles, it would seem our house is overrun with them. The boy can't wait for puberty when he can grow a decent 'sparrow' goatee.
Watching (bewildered) the program has made be wonder about Cian's sense of identity and who and what he thinks he is. Through school and television he is immersed in Japanese history. Irish history is, unfortunately, limited to GAAGo and reminiscences about when I was in primary school (the 1970s. Man, was it ever happening back then). There is little I can do to alter that. I suspect Cian would find Irish history akin to my impression of Japanese history - confusing and somewhat irrelevant. For both of us the past is indeed a foreign country.
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