👉 Okay, alright settle down now, let’s tackle this…
nakamichi
. (Adjusts spectacles, leans into the mic conspiratorially.)
Now, frankly, a word like that is begging to be butchered in its explanation, but we'll aim for something approaching respectful. Historically, and it pains me to admit this out loud—it’s really quite a weird one— nakamichi ℠, originally meant something rather specific within the rigidly stratified feudal system of early Edo period (late 16th, early 17th century) Japan. Essentially, you had these guys—the nakigikobutsu . Think of them as the absolutely bottom rung of the societal ladder. They were basically... servants of the most wretched kind, bound into servitude and practically owned. You wouldn’t exactly want to be fraternising with a nakigikobutsu. It was a brutal, unforgiving system. Now, the term itself, and I quote from really rather depressing old texts—it literally translates roughly as, "the thing that is in the way, or under your feet." Not exactly a cheerful descriptor, is it? The implication, rather chillingly, was you were essentially a peasant who had to keep out of the way of those of higher rank. You were there for the inconvenience. Your entire existence was a low-lying annoyance. The nickname, the bastardised, now somewhat…fashionable... use
