Big Justice and Small Justice

 

              The coming-of-age ceremony is popular in Japan. We have Coming-of-Age Day as a national holiday. The ceremony is usually held at a public hall in the celebrants’ hometown. It could be a kind of class reunion. Most of the attendants might not have seen one another after graduation from junior high school.

              When I was twenty, the ceremony committee invited me to give a speech at the ceremony. I didn’t know why they had chosen me. We didn’t have cellphones in those days. The committee called our home. I was absent. My mother answered the phone. She immediately refused the offer.

              This was my mother’s assertion: “My son is still just a student. Someone who already works as a member of society should give the speech. You must find someone else.”

              I was not interested in giving a speech. I didn’t mind that, but she should not have done that. Even if she had a good reason, she should not have refused an official offer for an adult family member. She should have kept the message and waited for me to get home. She could have given me the message and added her wonderful idea. She should have let me decide that as an adult.

              In our coming-of-age ceremony, one of my best friends, Mr. A, gave the speech instead of me. I loved that idea. I looked forward to his speech. He was better than me. He was also a student from a prestigious university. He was popular among us. He was a wonderful, witty fellow. I still remember his outstanding campaign speech for the student council when we were elementary students.

              This time, however, his speech was not attractive. He just kept mentioning traffic safety. I thought he was not enjoying his speech. What was happening? After the ceremony, I talked with Mr. A personally. He explained the reason. Some policemen had checked his draft for the speech, and they made some revisions. Finally, most of his speech became about traffic safety.

              I understand why the policemen did that. Our prefecture, Aichi, was the worst prefecture in Japan with regard to traffic accidents, with the highest number of people dying every year. The policemen needed to take care of tragic traffic accidents. They really wanted to tell young people about traffic safety, but no adult should be forced to revise a draft for their speech. Even if they have good reasons, it doesn’t mean they can do anything.

              I am older now. I always think our society should be like this and that people should do this, but I want to take care not to let big justice trample on small justice.

Picture by osame