He came to this country to preach Christianity, and he was troubled. Originally he was born in the Philippines and was Catholic or something, but he said that a few years ago he converted to a new denomination.
His name is called Jack.
I think he is only around 20 years old. He came to Japan six months ago, because he decided to live in a town in the northern region of Japan and work at a church there. That's when he met me.
He was very serious and tried to understand the Japanese people. And he also tried hard to spread his religion. At that time, a large earthquake occurred in this region. It was January 1st of this year.
That was a very big earthquake. So I sent him multiple emails asking if he had been affected by the earthquake. He replied that he was fine.
This is just my guess, but it seems like his family was having some big problems. This was when he lived with his family in the Philippines. However, the Catholic Church was of no help to them. That's when a new religion reached out to his family. So he chose to convert his entire family.
Jack decided to work for the church, and he came to Japan as a young missionary.
Japanese cities are by no means a good place for young foreigners to live alone. The local town where he settled was not bad, but few people understood his religion.
Living alone in a Japanese city may be convenient, but it is not easy. Many young people feel lonely in the city. I also have lived alone in the city, so I can understand this very well.
If you live in a city and are busy with work, most of your meals will consist of bento boxes bought at convenience stores. I ate a bento from a convenience store for breakfast, I ate a bento from a convenience store for lunch, and I ate a bento from a convenience store for dinner. Have a cold bento. That's a very lonely meal.
Jack said to me. "Japanese people have no problem with God." I thought it was the "Japanese wall" he was running into. There is a god in Japanese beliefs as well. So, in other words, he doesn't understand the beliefs of the Japanese people.
Few Japanese people understand his religious activities. He must feel very lonely living in Japan.
His emails that were sent to me stopped coming. A month has passed since then. He's probably still working at a church in some town in Japan today.
I loved this novel around the age of 20. This is the most famous and the top seller book since the past in Japan. Although, to tell the truth I don’t know the reason why this novel is sold so much. Because this novel’s story is filled with a dark mood. The significant sentence in this novel is this.
“恥の多い生涯を送ってきました”
“Mine has been a life on much shame”
This translation was from a very famous researcher about Japanese literature. I would like to tell you the meanings of these words.
恥 haji : shame
生涯 syogai : life
You may not be able to imagine what “a life on much shame” is. This sentence is a confession from the main character. However, we know that this confession came from this author’s life. His name is Osamu Dazai.
He had tried to suicide sometimes in his life, and some of them were lovers’ suicide. And eventually he died at the age of 38, with his lover. That affair occurred in Tokyo and also it has been reported in newspapers.
I’m not sure why this novel has been sold so much, however I can say that many Japanese intellectuals have sympathy with this author’s confession. And also it can be said that this confession is an expression from humans’ anxiety itself. In a modern society, everybody feels anxiety, I think. He wrote, “Mine has been a life on much shame.” Yeah, namely, we always fear being embarrassed within a society, the same as this author.
In this novel, the main character also hates hypocrisy about his life itself. He wanted to live pure in his mind. But it has been difficult. I think many Japanese see the same thing in his mind as their own.
This novel isn’t a fact, but it reflects the author's life. So, we read this novel as the author’s confession.
階段を ka i da n wo
二段跳びして ni da n to bi shi te
上がりゆく a ga ri yu ku
待ち合わせのなき ma chi a wa se no na ki
北大路駅 ki ta o u ji e ki
This poem was written by a young female poet, within Kyoto. Her name is Mikako Umenai, who is a famous poet. I lived in Kyoto around my young days so I love this poem. “Tanka 短歌” has rhythm of 5, 7, 5, 7, and 7 sounds. This is a rule of Tanka and a beautiful rhythm for Japanese people. First, I would like to tell you the meaning of these Japanese words.
階段 stairway
二段跳び double jumping
上がりゆく going up
待ち合わせのなき without a promise of meeting
北大路駅 Kitaoji station
Kitaoji station is located in Northern Kyoto city and this station is metro. This poem expresses that the poet is going up stairs from the underground. You may feel some fresh feelings from this poem.
She was a university student at the time. And in this case, she didn’t have a promise to meet with someone there. In my understanding, “someone” means a boyfriend in this case. So, maybe, she wanted to have a promise to meet someone but she didn’t have that unfortunately.
Around when she was living in Kyoto, I was also living in Kyoto as a student. So I can understand what she wanted to say well. Kyoto is a students’ town, so there are many young couples here and there. I can say, if you are walking in the town alone, you may feel a bit lonely. Because she must have been living in Kyoto alone. And, that’s why this poet wanted to have a promise of dating at this time. I understand this way.
She didn’t have a promise to meet someone, therefore she wrote this poem. I think this poem expresses her feelings very well. And, therefore I can say this poem is very beautiful.