Preaching

 

My grandfather was from Toyohashi. His grave is there. My mother lost him when she was in the first grade. The grave had a lot of meaning for her. When she was healthy, we often visited the grave.

 

Usually, we also visited the Buddhist temple. The priest served us green tea. And he would engage in Buddhist preaching.

 

But his preaching was very tedious. I am sure he didn’t have a sense of how to preach. I almost started to hate Buddhism.

 

But the green tea that he poured was extremely delicious. I was always surprised by the taste of the tea.

 

Toyohashi is near Shizuoka. Green tea is a well-known product in Shizuoka. The priest could even get good tea leaves at an economical price.

 

He always poured tea in front of us. So, I bought green tea in Shizuoka, and I poured it in the same way as he did. But it didn’t have the same taste. Is that difference because of Buddhist magic?

 

I used to visit the grave and the temple with my mother. My motivation was to drink the tea. At the time, I wished the preaching was more interesting.

 

Now, the priest has passed away. I can’t taste the tea forever. Looking back on it, I miss the tedious preaching, too.

 

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Americanization

 

 

In the 1990s, I studied at a university in the USA. My classmates came from all around the world.

 

One day, we discussed Americanization. I am not sure if the tendency to discuss that is still strong now. At least in the 1990s, most countries were influenced by the USA. American movies and TV dramas were popular all over the world. Japanese people used English words to describe new concepts every day.

 

But some people worried about Americanization. They thought it might destroy their traditional society.

 

The class had discussion time. I listened to many opinions from other students.

 

The teacher asked me my opinion.

 

I told this story.

 

I had Korean and Taiwanese classmates at that time. I confessed to the teacher that we often cheated during classes. We have different languages, but we used common letters: Chinese characters. Our pronunciations are different, but the meanings of the words are almost the same. So, when we had difficulty communicating in English, we often wrote down Chinese characters. It made it easier for us to communicate. But using non-English words in the classroom was cheating because it was an English class.

 

Why could we communicate in Chinese characters? About a thousand years ago, China was a prosperous country. The countries around China sent students to China. They were influenced by China.

 

I said: “I can’t predict what country will be prosperous in a thousand years. I don’t know what country future students will go to when they want to study. But I am sure they will cheat in English.”

 

All of my classmates and even my American teacher laughed.

 

In the 1990s, it might have been a nice joke. I am not sure it would work now.

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The Hare and the Tortoise

 

Once, I worked as an English teacher. One day, I was almost late, so I took a taxi. I told the taxi driver to go to the English school. The elderly taxi driver asked me, “Are you an English teacher?” Then he started to tell me his story.

When he was a student, he wanted to work for a hotel. Many non-Japanese travelers would stay in the hotel. So he studied English very hard. He continued, “I can recite ‘The Hare and the Tortoise,’ which was in my textbook. May I recite it now?”

I listened to his recitation of “The Hare and the Tortoise” as an English teacher. Amazingly, from the beginning to the end, there was no mistake. He was very fluent. Driving a taxi is a great job. But if his dream came true, he would be a great hotel employee.

I was lucky to be able to continue my English education. I became an English teacher. But I can’t remember a single page from the textbook I used when I was a student. I am not sure I can recite “The Hare and the Tortoise” fluently without making a mistake.

Perhaps I need to study the fundamentals again. Maybe every time the driver drives an English teacher, he practices “The Hare and the Tortoise.” Practice makes perfect.

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Army of Apes

 

When I was a child, I had a favorite Japanese TV drama, Army of Apes. The main characters were human, but they traveled a world dominated by apes. I vaguely remember the beginning and end of the drama.

A few years later, I saw the American movie, Planet of the Apes, on TV. It was very similar to the TV drama. I assumed the American movie had stolen the Japanese idea because I had known the Japanese idea for a few years.

As you know, I was wrong. The truth was the complete opposite. The Japanese drama stole the idea from American movie. The movie company didn’t sue the Japanese drama company. The latter were lucky.

Dear creators, you should not steal someone else’s idea! However, I’m probably not the best person to give that piece of advice.

Once, I worked as a scriptwriter for stages and games. I confess: When I was young, I stole someone’s ideas for my work. I didn’t realize it was a crime. Those were my favorite materials. I assumed they were parts of me. I was lucky no one sued me. My works have never achieved monetary success. So perhaps I wasn’t worth enough to justify taking me to court.

Now I really care about original creation.

Dear creators, we have to look over our works carefully. Even if no one sues us, plagiarism leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

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Jogging in Germany

 

 

When I was young, I jogged almost every day.

Once, I traveled to Kiel in Germany. I jogged in the morning. When I jogged, I saw a beach. I thought that jogging on the beach might be fun. I then started jogging on the beach.

There was a rocky stretch. At that time, I was in my twenties. I assumed I could jump from rock to rock easily, but I found it very difficult. Somehow all the rocks jutted upward. I couldn’t jump from rock to rock. I couldn’t even walk on the rocks.

I climbed and went down one rock to another rock. I knew I had to retreat and find a different way, but I was a reckless young man. I believed I could accomplish it. I tried for a while. Then a man called me from the land.

The land side of the rocky stretch was surrounded by barbed wire. The man invited me to a door leading through the barbed wire. The inside was a lawn. The man led me to the opposite side of the rocky stretch. That way, I could continue my jogging on the sandy beach.

At that time, I had no idea about this incident. Now I understand that I was in a military base in Germany. Kiel was a famous naval port. The rocky stretch was not a natural scene. The rocks had been put there for defense. Of course, I couldn’t walk on the rocks. They were designed for this.

The inside of the barbed wire revealed a base. There might have been secrets. I should not have trespassed there. The man who had invited me might have been a soldier. He didn’t wear a military uniform. Officially, he should not have invited me inside.

I should not have done that. If it was a different country or a different time, I would have been in a dangerous situation. I had tried to trespass a military base. It might have been an act of suicide. It was the 1990s.

I wish for lasting peace. In a peaceful world, even if a foreign man tries to trespass a military base, a soldier invites the man inside. I pray for world peace.

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My Student Was a Magician

 My mother ran an English school for children in our house. I didn’t succeed at it, but sometimes I held English classes for adults.

One of my students was a magician. He needed to study English to perform his magic abroad. His magic was not the Western style. His magic was the traditional Japanese style. I didn’t know there were magic traditions in Japan. He was popular in English-speaking countries.

He needed a very specialized form of English for magicians. He was a professional magician, and his magic was great. We searched for and studied the most effective expressions for his magic together. Yes, I am a good teacher!

One day I asked him a question: “How do you do this magic?”

However, he didn’t answer. Why? Students need to answer teachers’ questions honestly. He said he didn’t have a choice. Magicians have a strict rule. They can’t tell the secrets of their magic except to other magicians. Even a teacher can’t be told these secrets. If I really needed to know these secrets, I had to be his pupil. I needed to be a magician myself.

Teachers always play losers’ parts. We just teach something. In most cases, teaching materials are not secret.

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TGIS

When I lived with my mother, who had Alzheimer’s disease, I always looked forward to the day I left her for the short stay.

One day, after I saw off my mother’s ride to the short stay, I did a fist pump and shouted, “Yahoo!” One of the neighbors saw it. I was embarrassed.

Sometimes I hated myself. I should not have been happy because I left my mother, but I changed my mind. Even a person who studied hard and got an ideal job might look forward to the holiday “TGIF.” Japanese people call it “floral Friday.” Everyone loves a holiday.

Caregiving to my mother was not my ideal job. I didn’t have a choice. I loved and respected my mother, but it didn’t mean I could give her unlimited caregiving. I could enjoy my vacation. I should enjoy my holiday. “Thank God it’s short stay.” TGIS.

Dear friends who are giving care to their families, you need vacations. You are doing a great job. You should be proud of it. You should confidently enjoy your holiday.

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