In the beginning
of 2000, I had a unique hobby. In those days, we could already read newspaper
articles on the Internet. On Japanese newspapers, we can read a short essay on
the front page. I didn’t buy any newspaper, but I could read the front page
essay for free. Then it became my hobby. I read two essays every morning. One
essay was from the local newspaper’s front page, and the other was from the
national newspaper’s front page. I compared them and personally decided which
one was more interesting.
I had continued
this hobby for a year. As a result, the winner was the local newspaper’s essay.
The local beat the national by a score of 6–4. It was just my opinion. It was a
completely personal hobby. I didn’t tell the result to anybody, except one
person, my father.
Since my father
worked for a local newspaper company, I believed he might be happy to hear the
result.
When I returned to
my hometown, I told him the result. But instead of being happy, he got mad. He
said, “The guy who writes the essays is writing just one short essay a day!
That’s why he can write a good essay!”
I guess he didn’t
like the person who wrote the front-page essay.
I was a stage
actor. Let’s think about this in the context of the theater world. If a member
of my family would come and see my performance, after the show, he or she would
praise the actor whom I hate. The family member would say,
“It was a
wonderful show. This was better than what I watched in Tokyo. Actor X was
especially wonderful!”
We are hostile a
near enemy than a remote enemy.
Picture by Igor
Sapozhkov
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