Living in a country many people would consider very far up north, the winter months are not only cold but also dark. With roughly six to seven hours of daylight, at least in the region where I live, spring feels very far away. If I’m unlucky enough to have a cloudy day (or week, to be more realistic) with little to no sunlight, the entire day can easily feel like nighttime instead. I’m very grateful for not living closer to the Arctic Circle where, at the peak of winter, the sun might not rise over the horizon at all.
Since it gets so dark, it might not come as a surprise to you that we who live up here have been told since childhood how important it is to wear reflectors; I even played a game which taught the players how important it is to wear one on the school computer when I was a kid. Reflectors often come in various shapes and in familiar characters, and is made of teeny tiny prisms which reflects any light that hits it, making the wearer easy to spot in darkness. With a reflector on you, cars and other vehicles will spot you from a greater distance and a terrible accident might be avoided. So, even now as an adult, I wear my reflectors every time I step outside, from late fall and throughout all of the winter months.
I usually have at least one reflector keychain attached to my jacket. One day, about two or three winters ago, I was making my way back home from my campus building. The building was down a slope, and the street leading to it was made of cobblestone, so I carefully treaded on and silently cursed the fine grain sand which the town insisted on scattering across the streets despite it not helping much against the slippery ice. My reflector was a freebie I had recieved years prior and hung from a string by my pocket. As I was walking, it began to sway in rhythm to my steps, and in the corner of my eye, it reminded me of the sweetest, most loyal and annoying little Fairy companion in the Zelda series: Navi.
It was a dark afternoon and as a car passed by me, my round reflector lit up, not too differently from when Navi would appear by Link’s side in my childhood playthroughs of Ocarina of Time. In that moment, I imagined that my reflector was my own little Fairy, circling around me and keeping me company home.
Fast forward a couple of years and I was visiting Kyoto City, taking cover from the hot and humid weather by making a stop at the official Nintendo Store in the Takashimaya Shopping Centre. Naturally, I went to a corner with all the Zelda merchandise and considered what to buy. Perhaps a little Korok plushie with a foldable bag? Or a Bomb Flower drawstring bag? But then I saw something small lying on the table that caught my attention and I knew immediately that I had to get it. It was a turquoise reflector shaped like Navi with a phone strap attached to it, and I brought one home with me. For once in my life, I couldn’t wait for the dark winter months to arrive just so I could wear it.
Now, I truly have a proper little Fairy companion wherever I go and I couldn’t be happier. It matches my bright blue down jacket perfectly and doesn’t seem to mind hanging out with my Mofusand kitten keychain on my mint-colored backpack. My coworkers who are into gaming, too, might love the little reflector as much as I do; I’ve had to promise them to buy them their own if I ever return to Japan. Until that day comes, or if it ever does, I suppose we all have to take turns looking at it lovingly whenever I’m in the office.
