Monthly Archives: April 2016

Dream

“I have a dream…”

Probably many of you know this great speech made by Martin Luther King. What we should not say but I’m often about to say is;

“I had a dream…”

In my busy daily life as a salary man (Japanese employee of a company who works like a robot to make money and live on it), I often forget what I’m looking for. But sometimes I’m lucky enough to find something that reminds me of it.

Yesterday I bought a music CD. You might think “are you the last human being who buys physical CD on the planet? Why don’t you download it?” I have  two reasons. Firstly, I simply like it. I’ve met some people who still like paper books while the books are also available on Kindle or the like. I like CDs for the same reason. Secondly, the singer seems not have access to the music download market. When I bought the CD, the singer, or more precisely the pianist singer song writer was singing on the street in front of just a little more than a handful of people. She looked happy to sing in public in that way. What can be better than buying a music CD directly from the singer right after she sang the song?

I don’t know if she makes enough money by singing to live on it, but she looks more lively than typical salary men anyway. I don’t know her dream; I don’t know if singing in front of people like that is her dream, or if it is a way to make a more ambitious dream come true. But I suppose she knows, at least, what her dream is. Meeting someone like her reminds me that people can do what they like.

April 25, 2016Permalink Leave a comment

Surprise, Fear, Sympathy

It was 21 years ago when Great Hanshin Earthquake hit Western Japan. It was the first massive natural disaster I had “seen” in my home country. Thousands of people were killed, and I got to know many facts about the disaster. I was so surprised.

As I often write in this blog, Great East Japan Earthquake was the first massive natural disaster I have ever experienced. My place then was far from the “group of epicentres”, but it was so massive that it shook entire Eastern Japan. It was not only the biggest but also the longest earthquake I’ve ever experienced. I felt fear. The impact in my home city was not severe, but as the serious damage in the most affected areas were broadcast, we shared pain. It was on March 11, 2011. At the beginning of September, six months after the earthquake, I moved to Canada. But when I left Japan we still felt aftershocks frequently. It’s been five years since then, but I still cannot forget that feeling.

Last night, when I was watching a live TV news program, a big earthquake hit Kyushu, Southern Japan. The epicentre was very far from my current place and I didn’t feel any shaking. But the news program revealed the impact of the earthquake, little by little, and kept reporting a series of aftershocks. Now I feel sympathy. If I didn’t experience Great East Japan Earthquake, I might have been merely surprised. If pain is avoidable, it should be avoided. But knowing pain lets you feel other people’s pain.

What I can do for them now is… donation? My current place is close to one of the most sacred Shinto shrines, Atsuta Jingu. When I go to my office and come back, I always pass in front of that. Today, on the way home from work, I visited Atsuta Jingu and prayed for the casualties. I hope people in Kyushu will soon feel relieved and feel safe.

April 15, 2016Permalink Leave a comment

Time passes, anyways.

For some people, there must be a pragmatic reason for everything. I still cannot forget a question that my coworker asked me about two decades ago. I like motorcycle, and he asked me “why do you ride a motorcycle? You cannot carry a load.” Whatever I explained, he never understood I simply enjoy riding it. For him every vehicle is a tool to move from one place to another and carry a load. For another example, as I wrote in an old post, coffee is something to make “efficiently” for someone. By the way she drinks a glass of red wine everyday for her health. Wine is not something to enjoy but a kind of supplement for her. Those two people must be extreme examples, but for some other people it seems difficult to understand that everyone has different preference and that people often spend time to enjoy something that doesn’t seem practical or efficient for other people.

What I did last weekend maybe difficult for those people to understand, though I strongly believe the majority of people understand it; I made a day trip to Toyokawa, Aichi prefecture, to watch Sakura (cherry blossoms) and to visit a Buddhist temple. It took about an hour and half from my place to Toyokawa by train, but it was worth visiting.

花見 –hanami– is a Japanese culture that literally means “watching blossoms (flowers)”. Generally it means having a party (picnic) under cherry blossoms, but taking a walk under cherry blossoms can be hanami as well. What I did in Toyokawa was the latter one. I wanted to go there by myself, and one of the reasons is that I wanted walk slowly at the Buddhist temple. If I go there with other people, they walk at their pace and as a result they rush me, as I wrote in a previous post. Another reason is that I just wanted to feel easy. Picnic-type hanami is often tough especially at a popular hamani spot; you have to go to the spot way ahead of time to hold a space in a crowd, as depicted in this TV commercial. But what I saw in Toyokawa was unexpectedly peaceful.

Hanami on the bank of Sana river

Some people had picnic on the spacious bank of Sana river. Some people took a walk on the path, including myself. Whether you had a picnic in a crowd or take a relaxing walk, time passes anyways. If you do something “efficiently”, you may be able to do more in a limited time. But I prefer forgetting the time.

In this day trip I also enjoyed visiting a famous Buddhist temple called Tokokawa Inari. I admit that I’m not a pious Buddhist. I’m not a pious Shintoist either. But I like visiting shrines and temples. Those are places where I forget about busy daily life and remind myself that I am still human. I also enjoy being in tranquil scenery.

豊川稲荷 - Toyokawa Inari

Whatever I do, time passes anyways. When I work on weekdays and do housework on weekends, I may need to think of efficiency. But I still like myself when I forget the time. Time passes anyways.

April 9, 2016Permalink Leave a comment