Japan!!2008.12.01

The other day, I saw the first snow for the season in St. Petersburg, Russia. The temperature that day was 1 degree C. I had been thinking how noticeably cold it was, and then just when I was having lunch the snow started coming down. The restaurant I was in was on the top floor (admittedly it was only six storey building) and surrounded by glass, so it was quite spectacular. I was telling a friend about this, and found out that they've already had snow in London, Paris, Milan and so on as well. Is it my imagination or is the snow early year? I heard that in Japan Hokkaido has already had snow, but I wonder about the other areas... Well, in any case it seems there is no doubt winter is here!

Following the wintery skies of Russia, the next destination I flew to was here in India!! At this time of year, (naturally,) India is warm in the daytime so that you don't need more than short sleeves. But morning and evening do get pretty chilly to the extent that you need a jacket or something similar. I went to Russia with a cold, and thought that throwing myself into the contrastingly summery environment of India, where it's tens of degrees warmer, might worsen the cold. But, perhaps something to do with the medicine I picked up in Japan, my cold is fortunately almost gone now. My visit to India this time is with a friend who was asked to give a speech here at the beginning of December, and another friend, so we're a group of three. We start from Delhi, and travel around Rajasthan. This is actually my third visit to India, and three years in a row too. But I seem to spend all my time in the north, and have never seen the central and southern regions. Next time I'm thinking I'd really like to travel down south.

Anyway, no doubt some of you reading this will have been shocked to hear where I am - I'm referring of course to the terrorism in Mumbai, India, just a few days ago (which, as I write seems not to be over in many ways). It was the morning after it all began that I first heard what was happening (it had begun the night before). Apparently there were explosions caused by terrorists in seven locations including top-end hotels such as Taj and Oberoi. The morning after the attacks began, I got up and went to the gym to do some running, and that's when I saw the CNN breaking news continually showing scenes of Mumbai on the TV that happened to be right in front of me. The speech that my friend was to give was at a conference organised by a newspaper company for top representatives of the world's luxury brands. The location was to be Delhi, but naturally a lot of people who saw news of the terrorism cancelled their trips, and the conference has been cancelled for now as well. I didn't have any plan to go to Mumbai myself, and my departure is scheduled from the Delhi airport, so I guess the only direct affect on me might be confusion and crowding at the airport. I certainly hope there are no more problems...

Why is it that terrorism continues to happen though??? Last night just by chance I watched a Jamie Foxx film called "The Kingdom", about bombings in Saudi Arabia in June 1996, and it really got me thinking. I think that the world right now is on the verge of experiencing a dramatic change in the concept of "common sense". This is true of Japan too... The financial crisis spreading from America around the world at present is of course a dreadful thing, but I also find myself wanting to look at it as an opportunity for the concept of "common sense" to be revisited and revised... Is it only me who feels this way?

Anyway, one thing that I have been taking a great interest in lately is actually... Japan!! You may think "Really? Off travelling the rest of the world the whole time...?" but in fact I think it is because I have been away from Japan, and experiencing other places, that I have grown so interested. The other day, I had an opportunity to chat with Ai Sugiyama the tennis player, and she was saying the same thing - that she's really drawn to Japan lately, and that her understanding of Japan has grown deeper. This is just my philosophy, but I think human nature tends to make us attracted to things and qualities we don't have. That's why your eyes don't fall on the beauties Japan possesses if you are always in Japan; on the contrary you are drawn to the outside world. And, as was my case, the longer you live away from Japan, the more aware you become. I certainly became more aware of the good qualities of Japan and Japanese people the longer I lived overseas.

Actually, despite living in Italy for seven years, I have hardly travelled at all in Italy. I lived in Rome for one and a half years, and never even went to the Colosseo (or Colosseum). It would be the equivalent of living in Tokyo and never having visited the Tokyo Tower. (I have been, by the way) Living in a place, you think you can go to its attractions any time, and on top of this I think it can be hard to see the value of something when it is too close. In this way now that I am away from Italy, I am aware of its great features even more strongly than when I was living there. The same thing may apply to family and lovers too I guess...

Anyway, as for what it is about Japan that I am interested in:

1.Japanese people
2.Japanese culture
3.Japanese agriculture

Regarding number one, the Japanese people, travelling the world, in almost all the countries I go to, people tell me "Japanese people are wonderful". They say they are polite and kind. Certainly, as I have mentioned in my mail before, I do believe Japanese service and hospitality is of world standard. The point is, I think, that there are a high proportion of people who are good on the inside. But having said that, while I'm travelling, a lot of the news that I do hear from Japan recently is along the lines of random murders of murders within families with no other reason given than "because I was angry" or similar. Of course I haven't spent much time in Japan for a long time, and I'm no expert on the reasons, but I get the impression that the relationships between family members, neighbours and friends are deteriorating lately. The reasons behind this must be multiple and complex, but I feel like one factor must be a lack of opportunities for families to get together with friends or neighbours and have a great time - get really excited about something. So I'm thinking it would be good if I could somehow create such opportunities for people - an event of sorts perhaps - that everyone can look forward to, be passionate about, and get together and enjoy.

The second thing was Japanese culture. I'm ashamed to admit it, but my knowledge in this field is far exceeded by one of my non-Japanese friends. But even so, during my recent travels abroad, I have had more and more opportunities to experience Japanese culture. This is clear evidence of just how much Japanese culture is being spread into the wider world, and being recognised and accepted as well. And I have grown to think, each time I witness this, that I really must learn more about my country's culture. As I slowly but surely increase my knowledge of our culture through these opportunities, I become aware of how wonderful it is, and at the same time how many aspects of it are in danger of dying out without being passed on to many people. This is something I have witnessed in numerous places overseas - wonderful features and traditions of specific local areas often don't fit in with today's lifestyle, and many are left to fade away. So I have also been thinking I would really like to do something to take the wonderful Japanese traditions that are endangered, like hand crafts, and find a way to integrate them with today's culture so that people can experience and get into them again...

Finally Japan's agriculture. This is probably the most surprising thing for me to mention, right? It's hard for me to say why I became aware of this either. It's like I just woke up one day and was interested in farming methods! Haha! Perhaps a situation like the current global financial crisis can bring one back to the basics like food... although it was before this crisis all began that I started thinking about farming. Another factor might be that recently I have really been appreciating the simple deliciousness of really good rice, to the extent that I've been wanting to make meals of just a good rice with egg, or just a good rice with nori the seaweed. Of course there are numerous issues relating to food now - uncertainty about food safety or quality, and the poor food production ratio of countries like Japan... This got me thinking about how we could improve our self-sufficiency and secure more quality delicious ingredients, and I did a bit of research. I feel like I have opened a Pandora's box, because there are that many different yet interrelated factors to consider it is unbelievable. The more you know, the more you see the depth of the difficulties in this issue. But to be turned off by this and give up would be pointless. In any case, at this point I am in discussions with specialists in the related fields, talking about our ideas in the hope that there is some action I can take. So look forward to what might be a really out-there idea sometime soon!

Well, these are all things I'm hoping to work on from now and into next year, but as well as these, I decided to create a Take Action fund, which I believe there was an announcement about in Japan the other day. Having said that, it hasn't actually been approved or anything yet! And the main point is not what this fund's charity purpose will be, but more a theme of having fun yourself, and creating enjoyment for those around you at the same time. And growing and spreading this theme is the main purpose that I have in my vision for the fund. With the motto "One thing I can do", I want to work on all kinds of ideas that I think are good, and that others will get enjoyment out of too. So please look forward to developments here too!

Let's put some life back into Japan!!

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