Category Archives: A day in my life

When I visited Toronto for the first time, I lived in my home city Yokohama which is adjacent to Tokyo (more precisely it is adjacent to a city that is adjacent to Tokyo). Tokyo and the surrounding area including Yokohama is like a gigantic version of GTA (Greater Toronto Area), and at that time, I thought Toronto was a small city. When I lived in Hamilton, I often visited Toronto and thought Toronto is a big city. When I lived in Orillia, I thought even Barrie, which is way smaller than Toronto, was a big city. The notion of “big” and “small” is always relative.

It’s been one week since I moved to Etobicoke which is western part of Toronto. As I wrote in an old post, I spent a couple of weeks at my friends’ place in downtown Toronto during Christmas vacation after having lived in Orillia for a little more than a month, and at that time, I couldn’t tell which I preferred; urban or rural. Now I can tell without hesitation that I prefer living in an urban area. My experience in a small town for ten months seems to change my perspective. Etobicoke is not as “urban” as downtown Toronto. It’s not a very exciting place, but I feel relieved to live in a lively place.

I should emphasize that “urban” does not necessarily mean “little green”. Many people, even in Japan, presume that Tokyo is “made of concrete”, but in fact, there are many green and relaxing places in Tokyo. I lived in Barcelona, which is way smaller than Tokyo, for three months in 2005. I found it is “made of stone” with little green, less greener than Tokyo, and I felt a little uncomfortable for that reason. I like to live in an urban and green city.

It’s been 10 years since I came to Canada in September 2003 when I entered the University of Calgary. I spent about 3 years in Japan after graduating from U of C, so I have lived in Canada for about 7 years in total.

One of today’s hottest Japanese news is the retirement of Hayao Miyazaki, the most famous and probably the most talented animation film director of Japan. It was announced by the president of the film studio that Hayao Miyazaki works for, Studio Ghibli, and he will officially talk about his retirement at a press conference on Sept. 6th. Now we don’t know why he decided to retire, but according to an internet article, the president told that a character in his newest animation film says “a creative period only lasts for 10 years”, and that Hayao Miyazaki said “my 10 years ended a long time ago”.

Really? I mean, does a creative period last only for 10 years? I have not watched the animation film yet, and don’t know in what context the character says that. I just want to believe that a creative period lasts way longer than 10 years; otherwise my creative period will end soon.

I like Ghibli films because both children and adults can enjoy it, and probably children and adults watch it in different ways. I liked it when I was a child simply because it was fun, but did not watch it in my 20s and early 30s because I thought watching animation films was childish. Now I like it again because it reminds me of something precious that adults tend to forget. As I wrote in the previous post, I often forget a beginner’s mind. It seems that I should rethink what is fundamental for me, so that my creative period will last longer than 10 years.

I lived in Calgary from 2003 to 2008. It is my first Canadian city to live, and my first impression of Canada was very good. It’s a big “small town”, and I like their hospitality. As I wrote in an old post, I feel a sense of home both in Calgary and Ontario, and my heart is still Calgarian. Today, probably every Canadian knows that Calgary and the surrounding areas suffered massive flood 10 days ago.

Recently I had a chance to talk with Canadian workers about natural disasters. I talked about the earth quake that hit Eastern Japan 2 years ago on March 11, and they talked about natural disasters in Canada like flood and tornado. One of our common understanding was that people help each other when they suffer natural disaster. One of the Canadian worker’s house was flooded a few weeks ago. He said even strangers talked to him and asked if he needed help. When Calgary was flooded, many facebook posts from my Calgarian friends were about the flood; some of them offered a place for evacuees, and some others shared information for evacuees and other sufferers. Recent TV news have shown how Calgarians help other sufferers. As broadcasted overseas, when the earthquake hit Eastern Japan, people in the most affected area, Tohoku (north east), showed their spirit to help each other when they are facing trouble. At that time, I was often depressed because I could not find a job, but encouraged by them.

Of course we should be aware that not everyone can act like that in disaster areas. When another massive earthquake hit Western Japan in 1995, many sufferers acted calmly, and quietly waited for help. It was broadcasted overseas, and many people in other countries were impresses. This implies that many people in other countries cannot act like this; riots often break out, and people loot food. We also should not forget people in disaster areas who are severely depressed and cannot think of others. They need time and help to be relieved.

Today is Canada Day. Unfortunately, I have worked seven days in a row, including night shift for five days until this morning, and I cannot do anything but having rest at home today. I just quietly wish everyone’s happy Canada Day. My current contract job will end at the end of this week, and I’m still looking for a new job. Still, I should think I am lucky because I have a place to live safely. Remember how I was encouraged by the earthquake sufferers when I was looking for a job in Japan.

I went to Niagara Falls on day 1 of this long weekend. It was my fourth time to visit there: twice in winter, and twice in summer. Whenever I visit there, I feel the same, and find something new.

For different reasons, I have never had enough time to stay there as much as I want. For the first and second times, I used bus and my schedule depended on the bus schedule. For the third and this time, I drove and was free from bus schedule, but rushed by someone else. Last time, I was rushed by a workaholic as I wrote in a previous post. This time, I was rushed by a person who visited Niagara Falls for the second time. I don’t know why he did not enjoy it, but perhaps, unlike me, he did not find anything new. For me, it’s not all about a huge amount of water falling in an amazing way; I feel the air, scenery of the season, people of the time, and anything around me. I’ve never had enough time to feel everything. But I understand that people have different perspectives.

What do I always feel the same? The photo above is probably one of the typical views of Niagara Falls. It is, of course, fantastically great. No doubt. Having said that, I prefer the view in the photo below. It may not be as awesomely impressive as the one above. I should mention that neither of the photos here are good enough at all to show how tremendously amazing the falls are. One of the reasons is the quality of my photos, which is rather a minor reason. In fact, it’s not all about the view; it’s a combination of the view, sound, mist (like storm), and atmosphere. I love the view below partially because it is the closest view of Horseshoe Falls. Furthermore, from there, I can see the enormous vastness of the upper stream, a thick layer of water sliding over a long sharp edge of rocks, and the transition between the static flow of huge amount of water and the dynamic, beautifully stunning water falls. To make a very long story short, it’s the power of Nature.

As different people have different perspectives, everyone has different perspectives at different times depending on what they have, what they value, and what they suffer from. I want to retain this sensibility no matter what happens to me.