This just occurred to me after scanning the thread again.
Bear with the set up: I have this Japanese friend of a friend in the theatre business (I used to work in it quelle surprise), who now works as a lumberjack in Nagano. Nature-loving, hippie-beatnik, outdoorsy kind of guy, no wife or kids, likes his own company and freedom above all. Not massively ambitious nor materialistic but a free spirit.
However, in his teens he briefly used to be a theatre actor-idol in Tokyo, one of those lads in anime musicals. I think it’s because he wanted to sidestep into a music career, get away from his hometown, and piss off his parents who were set on him being a pro sports player or a lawyer. He quit acting after just five years, though, saying it’s a bullshit industry. This was in the early aughts.
Fast forward years, to say about 2017: the only entertainment work he still does is session playing for half-forgotten 70 year old folk & punk legends, and free local open mic nights in his rustic town for talented youth.
Other than that he’s content and settled doing a low-key working man’s job in obscurity, not famous—even weebs & Millennial fujoshi would struggle to identify or recognise him anymore. A few clicks off civilian level, definitely less famous than
@UnPRePared
Even still, one day he gets a phone-call out of the blue from a Tokyo FM radio station, who are headhunting and want him for a graveyard slot to talk about 1960s Japanese folk & rock tunes. Sort of an Alison Nightbird Steele deal. He’s stunned, as he has zero broadcasting experience, he hasn’t released a record or done a live in years, and he’s not been on anyone’s radar nor looking for work or a platform. He’d also ticked off the only people in the Toyko A&Ents scene whom he worked for/with due to insensitive comments he once gave to press.
He’s reluctant to accept, as he’s protective of his personal time, and has rich family to supplement his lumberjacking income, but he takes the gig anyway, as a way to promote his open mics, and as a CV failsafe in case he gruff himself climbing and cutting trees or gets too old to do it.
The money is shockingly low, and he has to commute in or stream, yet he still did years of weekly shows (he quit after C0VID, got bored of OE). On FM. When he’s virtually nobody.
This shit ain’t hard.
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