When anybody was younger, anybody liked to try fortune slip, I think. But, when it comes to adults, they don’t have an interest in trying fortune slips. Because they know that they have to live according to their destiny.
So, do you like to try fortune slips? What kind of fortune slips are there in your country?
In Japan, we call it “Omikuji”, I mean it’s a fortune slip. Many Japanese try Omikuji in shrines on New Years’ day. They try to know by doing that, if they are happy that year or not. For example, if they can encounter a best partner or not, if they can enter the university where they want to enter.
In Japanese Omikuji, your fate will be suggested by the words below;
大吉 Daikichi : You can get a big happiness
中吉 Chukichi : You can get a middle size of happiness
小吉 Shoukichi : You can get a small size of happiness
小凶 Shoukyou : You may have a bit of unfortunate
中凶 Chukyo : You may have a middle size of unfortunate
大凶 Daikyo : You may have a big unfortunate
So, when my friends got “Daikyo” from Omikuji, they always had dark faces which meant despair, in shrines. Although it was on New Years’ day.
When they tried Omikuji in their youth, they mainly wanted to know their own fate about love. I mean, they wanted to know if they could encounter a good girlfriend or boyfriend. However, even if they got “Daikichi”, they often couldn’t encounter a good girlfriend. That’s not avoidable because it’s a fortune slip.
When you visit shrines in Japan, you would be able to see the landscape like in this photograph. This picture is capturing the scene where the Japanese had tied Omikuji, which they tried and looked at.
In the past, stomach cancer was the most common cancer among Japanese people. Therefore, the main character of this movie also develops stomach cancer and dies in the end.
This movie is one of my favorite Japanese movies.
After his doctor informed him that he had stomach cancer and had only a short time to live, he began to think about the true meaning of ”living''.
What does it mean to “live”?
Actually, I'm 60 years old now, and these days I often wonder how many years I have left to live. Ask yourself, what is the best way for me to live the time I have left?
There is a saying: "Life's downhill." I'm walking downhill now. When climbing a mountain, I'm completely absorbed in walking uphill because I'm just aiming for the top of the mountain. My heart is filled with the desire to reach the top of the mountain as soon as possible. However, when walking downhill, everyone wants to enjoy the hike for as long as possible.
The main character of this film begins to think about what it means to live for the first time when he has less than a year left to live.
No one knows what will happen tomorrow. Maybe you'll get into a traffic accident tomorrow and die. Maybe tomorrow there will be a big earthquake and you will die. It's fate, so no one can predict it.
Work, earn money, eat, and sleep. Many people spend their days like this. Life is a repetition of such things. Living is a cycle of eating and sleeping. However, because we are human beings, we have a heart that is not satisfied with just repeating that process.
After the main character of this film was diagnosed with cancer, he began to think about the meaning of life. As long as he was healthy and alive, he didn't think about it. That's ironic. His illness made him think about the meaning of life.
Health is very important, but healthy people don't necessarily mean they're happy. Money is necessary, but it doesn't necessarily mean that people with money are happy.
A life that does not consider the meaning of life may not be called a happy life.
I will be 60 years old this year. So this is my story. I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be 60 years old.
The average life expectancy of Japanese people is 87.09 years for women and 81.05 years for men. There are still 21 years left until I reach that age.
These days, we often hear the term “healthy life expectancy'' in Japan. What this means is that even though the current average life expectancy of Japanese people is 81 years, that does not mean that they will live to that age in good health. The average life expectancy of Japanese women, including the years they spend bedridden in hospital, is 87 years old for women and 81 years old for men.
Let's think about it. I wonder if spending the last few years of my life bedridden in a hospital bed would be a happy thing for me. You can't do anything by yourself. For example, is it really possible to live a happy life when you cannot eat or go to the bathroom on your own?
What I need to think about now is what I should do at the age of 60 to avoid having to live such a life.
First of all, you will need to train your legs and hips. Being able to move around by walking on your own feet is the most important function of all. It is also important to use your mind every day to avoid developing dementia. If you think about it that way, even if I retire and no longer work, my days might be busy.
At my workplace, I have many colleagues who started working with me as new employees when we were 22 years old. One of them has severe diabetes and can no longer walk. Another person was unfortunately diagnosed with Parkinson's disease syndrome due to genetics. Another person recently fell at work and suffered a serious injury, breaking his shoulder. Oh my god.
When I was 22 years old, I never thought that 60 years old would be like this. Now, how should I deal with my life in the 20 years I have left?