The Paths That Lead Young People into Crime—and Where They End Up

Why do some young people become involved in organized fraud and violent crime? Japan’s increasingly sophisticated criminal networks reveal how easily vulnerable young adults can be recruited, threatened, and trapped.

The sky remains stubbornly overcast.

Apparently, Typhoon No. 9 is partly to blame. The temperature and humidity continue to rise, leaving us exhausted day after day.

Lately, even Anne has been reluctant to go out for her walks.

When a dog no longer wants to go for a walk, the weather must be truly extraordinary.

Today, once again, there was news that several members of a tokuryu group had been arrested.

Tokuryu is a Japanese abbreviation for “anonymous and fluid criminal groups.” Unlike traditional organized crime syndicates with fixed memberships and clear hierarchies, these groups recruit people loosely and often anonymously through social media.

Their members can broadly be divided into perpetrators, recruiters, controllers, and ringleaders. Apparently, their roles are actually much more specialized, including people who gather personal information, find potential criminal jobs, and act as intermediaries.

I do not know exactly how they choose their targets.

Still, there appear to be many people in the world who possess things that are almost unimaginable to an ordinary person like me—people who carry hundreds of millions of yen overseas, for example, or who keep gold bullion at home.

It is apparently such people who become targets.

In 2025, losses from special fraud in Japan exceeded 140 billion yen, the highest figure ever recorded.

That means nearly 400 million yen was stolen every single day.

Young people around the age of twenty are often arrested as the on-site perpetrators in tokuryu crimes or as kakeko—the callers who telephone victims in organized fraud schemes.

Some of them apparently hand over their personal information without fully understanding the consequences. Once the criminal group has obtained their names, addresses, photographs, family details, or identity documents, they may be threatened and gradually pulled deeper into crime.

By the time they want to turn back, they may feel that escape is no longer possible.

Once they commit a crime, they may be tormented by guilt for the rest of their lives.

And once arrested and imprisoned, they may lose many precious years of their youth.

Even a single year is significant. Society now changes so rapidly that, upon release, they may feel like Urashima Taro.

Urashima Taro is the hero of an old Japanese folktale. After spending what seems like only a short time in an undersea palace, he returns home to discover that many years have passed and the world he knew has disappeared.

At the same time, “paying for one’s crime” cannot truly restore what a victim has lost.

The offender and the victim may both have to carry the consequences for the rest of their lives.

Why do these young people become involved in such crimes?

Perhaps the causes were already present when they were very young.

Naturally, the circumstances will differ from one person to another.

But as they approach adulthood, someone may identify a weakness—loneliness, financial difficulty, low self-esteem, family problems, or a desire to belong—and use it to lead them onto a criminal path.

Had I been a young person living in today’s world, I have absolutely no confidence that I would have avoided every such trap.

When I was a student, there was a consumer finance company that issued credit cards even to young students.

I obtained one of those cards and soon found myself struggling with debt.

Eventually, I became unable to manage the repayments and had to ask my parents for help.

Before that happened, however, I sold many of the records I had carefully collected.

I still regret losing them.

Had I seen an advertisement on social media saying, “Easy job, good money,” I would probably at least have opened it.

And had someone skillfully guided me step by step, at an age when I did not fully understand the importance of protecting personal information, I too might have been caught in the net.

Young people today are surrounded by temptation, deception, and risk.

In that sense, I feel sorry for them.

I would like to say that those who were deceived and turned into criminals bear no responsibility.

But a crime remains a crime, and it cannot simply be excused.

So what can be done?

Schools and society as a whole must repeatedly teach young people about these dangers.

Yet merely telling them that something is dangerous may not be enough to protect them.

They need somewhere they can ask for help before they take the first criminal step.

And when a young person tries to escape, society must reach them before the criminal group pulls them back.

Perhaps that is how far we must be prepared to go.

Preventing youth crime requires more than punishment; it requires reaching young people before criminal networks do.

・・・

overcast
曇った、どんよりした
The sky is completely covered with clouds.

reluctant
気が進まない、渋々の
To be unwilling or hesitant to do something.

anonymous and fluid criminal groups
匿名・流動型犯罪グループ
Criminal networks whose members may not know one another and are recruited temporarily, often through social media.

perpetrator
実行犯、加害者
A person who carries out a crime or harmful act.

ringleader
首謀者、主犯格
The person who leads or organizes an illegal group or activity.

gold bullion
金塊、金地金
Gold in the form of bars or ingots, usually held as an asset.

special fraud
特殊詐欺
A Japanese law-enforcement term for organized fraud conducted without directly meeting the victim, often through telephone calls or online communication. It includes impersonation scams and fraudulent payment demands.

kakeko
かけ子
A Japanese criminal slang term for a person who telephones victims as part of a fraud operation. The word comes from kakeru, meaning “to make a phone call.”

identity document
身分証明書
An official document used to prove someone’s identity, such as a passport or driver’s licence.

tormented by guilt
罪悪感に苦しめられる
To suffer emotionally because of remorse over something one has done.

Urashima Taro
浦島太郎
The hero of a Japanese folktale who returns home after a seemingly short absence and discovers that many years have passed. The expression is used for someone who feels left behind by changes in society.

consumer finance company
消費者金融会社
A company that lends money directly to individuals, often through personal loans or credit services.

caught in the net
罠にかかる、絡め取られる
A figurative expression meaning to become trapped in a scheme or difficult situation.

bear responsibility
責任を負う
To be considered accountable for an action or its consequences.

#YouthCrime #OnlineFraud #OrganizedCrime #JapaneseSociety #ColoKen

Stop Every Kind of Addiction!

The EU is considering stricter limits on children’s use of social media and digital devices. But addiction is not only a problem for children. Adults, too, are constantly being drawn into alcohol, smartphones, games, and social media.

I woke up close to dawn and could not get back to sleep. In the end, I had slept for only about four hours.

I had drunk two glasses of red wine again last night, so that may have had something to do with it.

In the morning, I firmly decide that I will not drink that evening. But once work is over and I finally relax, the conversation in my head begins.

“Maybe I’ll have one glass tonight.”

“But didn’t you just declare on your blog this morning that you wouldn’t?”

“Well, just one glass.”

And so it goes.

I sometimes think I am halfway to becoming dependent on alcohol. Perhaps the reason it does not occupy my mind all day is that I have work to do. In that sense, work may serve as a kind of breakwater protecting the rest of my life.

The European Union is reportedly considering measures to restrict children’s use of social media.

An expert panel has proposed that children under the age of three should not be exposed to smartphone or tablet screens, and that those under thirteen should be allowed limited use only under the supervision of parents, teachers, or other adults.

When I see a baby in a stroller completely absorbed in a tablet that has been handed over as a toy, I cannot help feeling that such measures may already be rather late.

Still, that does not mean we should simply stand by and do nothing.

Smartphones and tablets are double-edged swords. They are useful and often indispensable, but for children in particular, their more dangerous side cannot be ignored.

Sometimes I see a mother pushing a stroller while looking at her smartphone, as the baby inside plays with a tablet.

Scenes like this remind me that the risk of addiction exists at every age.

I am in no position to criticize young mothers. I myself became absorbed in Pokémon GO for a while, despite being old enough to know better.

Ordinary people have little chance of resisting the many forms of digital alchemy designed to capture our attention and turn it into money.

As an ordinary person who has used personal computers since their early days, I am no longer sure what exactly counts as social media.

Is a blog different from social media?

Where should we place a blog that actively encourages its readers to connect through social media?

Everything in the digital world has become so thoroughly mixed together that it is difficult to know where one thing ends and another begins.

Adults can, at least in theory, leave a platform when they realize that it is harming their state of mind.

In my case, I almost stopped using Facebook because I disliked the feeling of envying other people’s lives.

I found X too aggressive and exhausting, so I moved to Bluesky, a calmer social network, where I mostly post photographs of my lunch.

As for Pokémon GO, I simply lost interest one day.

Helping children avoid addiction is surely the right thing to do. Digital platforms should also be designed in ways that reduce, rather than encourage, compulsive use.

It would be convenient if someone could make my fondness for wine disappear in the same way.

Unfortunately, that does not seem to be so easy.

For now, I suppose my small consolation is that I have not yet seriously damaged my health.

We may be trying to protect children from addiction, but adults are hardly standing outside the same danger.

・・・

get back to sleep
再び眠りにつく。
“I woke up and could not get back to sleep.”

breakwater
防波堤。比喩的に、生活や心を守るものという意味でも使われる。

stand by and do nothing
何もせず傍観する。

double-edged sword
諸刃の剣。利益と危険の両方をもつもの。

be in no position to criticize
批判できる立場ではない。

digital alchemy
直訳すると「デジタルの錬金術」。ここでは、人の関心や時間を利益に変える仕組みを皮肉に表現している。

capture someone’s attention
人の注意を引きつけ、離さない。

compulsive use
自分で抑えることが難しい、強迫的な使用。

small consolation
わずかな慰め、せめてもの救い。

#DigitalAddiction #SocialMedia #AlcoholDependence #JapaneseDoctor #Pathology

When Will the Rainy Season Finally End?

The rainy season continues under gray skies, bringing oppressive heat and humidity. As concerns about heatstroke grow, so does the question of what each of us is actually doing about climate change.

Today again, the sky is overcast, with a light drizzle in the air.

It seems that this kind of weather will continue for a while, and I find myself wondering when the rainy season will finally come to an end.

This is exactly what hot and humid weather means.

Because sweat does not evaporate, body temperature simply continues to rise.

It is easy to understand how people can suffer from heatstroke even while sleeping.

Starting tonight, I should cut back on my evening drinks and make a conscious effort to stay hydrated.

Heatwaves have continued across Europe, and wildfires have occurred frequently.

What is going to happen to the Earth from here?

In recent years, that anxiety has grown every time the hot and humid season returns.

And yet, although I worry, I sometimes feel that I am not actually doing anything myself.

Each of us needs to take part in protecting the environment. Still, I tend to act only when someone tells me to, rather than taking the initiative.

Perhaps I should also encourage the people around me to think more about environmental protection. But because I am not actively doing enough myself, I end up saying nothing.

Instead of blaming other people, I need to think more seriously about how I myself am acting.

That was what crossed my mind as I felt sweat running down my cheek.

Concern about climate change means little unless it eventually changes the way we live.

 

・・・

overcast
曇った、空一面が雲に覆われた。

drizzle
霧雨、小雨。

hot and humid
高温多湿の、蒸し暑い。

evaporate
蒸発する。汗が蒸発することで、体温は下がりやすくなる。

heatstroke
熱中症。高温多湿の環境で体温調節がうまくいかなくなった状態。

cut back on
量を減らす、控える。

stay hydrated
十分に水分を取った状態を保つ。

take the initiative
自分から進んで行動する。

environmental protection
環境保護。

#RainySeason #ClimateChange #HeatstrokePrevention #JapaneseDoctor #Pathology

A Morning Walk and Heatstroke

Even before the rainy season officially ends, Japan’s humid summer heat begins to make itself felt. A simple early-morning walk can become a reminder of how easily heat exhaustion can develop.

The rainy season has not officially ended yet, but the rain has suddenly stopped.

In its place, the air has become increasingly hot and humid.

We went out for a walk before it became too hot.

Even before six in the morning, many people were already out walking, and we exchanged greetings as we passed.

We walked from Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine through the area in front of Kamakura Station, then along Yuigahama-dori Avenue.

After circling around Rokujizo, we headed home.

 

It was cloudy today, and I thought we had gone out early enough. Even so, by the time we returned, Anne had her tongue out and was panting heavily.

I also had a slight headache.

I had felt a little strange the day before yesterday as well, so it was probably something like mild heat exhaustion.

I bought a sports drink along the way and made sure to rehydrate.

Vending machines are surprisingly useful at times like this.

Having machines filled with cash standing everywhere is something that is possible only in a country as safe as Japan.

Since they also accept electronic payments, having my smartphone with me was all I needed.

The risk of heatstroke varies from day to day and from person to person.

To everyone living through Japan’s hot summer, please take care.

Even an ordinary morning walk can become dangerous when heat and humidity quietly build up.

 

・・・

rainy season
梅雨。日本では通常、初夏に続く長雨の時期を指す。

hot and humid
蒸し暑い。気温だけでなく、湿度も高く不快な状態。

panting
犬などが体温を下げるために、舌を出して速く呼吸すること。

heat exhaustion
熱疲労、軽度の熱中症。頭痛、だるさ、めまいなどを伴うことがある。

rehydrate
失った水分を補給する。

vending machine
自動販売機。日本では飲料の自動販売機が街中に広く設置されている。

electronic payment
電子決済。スマートフォンや交通系ICカードなどを使った支払い。

#MorningWalk #HeatstrokePrevention #KamakuraLife #JapaneseDoctor #Pathology

Can Work Still Be Considered a Virtue?

As prices continue to rise faster than wages, many people feel that honest work no longer guarantees a stable life. Can labor still be called a virtue if it is not fairly rewarded?

The recent rise in prices has far outpaced wage growth, creating the sense that ordinary work alone is no longer enough to make ends meet.

A news report said that a single person now needs more than 200,000 yen a month just to cover basic living expenses.

Even after marriage, it may be difficult to maintain a household unless both partners work. And when children are born, the amount of time parents can spend with them becomes limited.

Under such circumstances, it is hardly surprising that some people may come to see raising children as more of a burden than a joy.

The poet Ishikawa Takuboku once wrote:

“Though I work and work,
my life grows no easier—
I stare at my hands.”

Today, however, this no longer seems to be Takuboku’s lament alone. It has become a feeling shared by many.

Meanwhile, some people acquire enormous wealth through financial products and rising asset values—sums vastly greater than anything most people could earn through ordinary employment.

Finance is, of course, an important part of the economy.

Even so, has the gap not grown too wide between income earned through work and profit generated by assets?

There was once a time when working hard and earning one’s living by the sweat of one’s brow was regarded as a virtue in itself.

But in a society where people can work diligently and still lack financial security or hope for the future, can we continue to describe work itself as a virtue?

For work to be considered a virtue, it must first be fairly rewarded.

Work cannot remain a virtue in a society that refuses to reward it.

 

・・・

make ends meet
To have just enough money to pay for ordinary living expenses.
生活費を何とかやりくりする。

far outpace
To increase or develop much faster than something else.
大きく上回る、はるかに速く進む。

maintain a household
To financially support and manage a home and family.
家庭を維持する。

lament
An expression of sadness, regret, or disappointment.
嘆き、悲しみの表現。

financial products
Investments such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other financial instruments.
株式、債券、投資信託などの金融商品。

asset values
The monetary worth of property, investments, or other possessions.
資産価値。

by the sweat of one’s brow
By working very hard, especially through physical effort.
額に汗して、懸命に働いて。

fairly rewarded
Given appropriate pay, recognition, or benefit for one’s effort.
努力に対して正当に報われる。

#WorkAndSociety #CostOfLiving #EconomicInequality #JapaneseDoctor #Pathology

Reading as a Digital Detox

After drifting away from books, I stopped by Kinokuniya in Shinjuku and rediscovered the pleasure of browsing shelves, buying paperbacks, and spending time away from screens.

The other day, there was a welcome and farewell party for the pathology department at the university.

I left the hospital early so that I would not be late, but I still had a little time before the party began. So I got off the train at Shinjuku and stopped by Kinokuniya Bookstore.

Recently, I had been moving away from books at an alarming speed.

However, after buying Haruki Murakami’s Kaho and reading a paper book for the first time in quite a while, I seemed to remember not only the texture of a physical book, but also the pleasure of walking through a bookstore.

As expected, the first floor was lined with copies of Kaho.

For a moment, I found myself thinking that Haruki Murakami might be the last god protecting printed books in Japan.

The rest of the floor was filled with bestsellers, much like the bookstores found inside train stations, and there was not much that attracted my attention.

Of course, younger people—perhaps those up to their forties or fifties—probably find them interesting.

But once you are over sixty, many books begin to feel like reworkings of stories you have already read somewhere before, and they no longer seem quite so interesting.

Perhaps that is one reason I have drifted away from paper books.

I took the escalator up to the second floor, where the literary books were located, and was once again overwhelmed by the sheer number of books filling the shelves.

Although the layout of the sales floor had hardly changed since my student days forty years ago, I could still feel the enormous accumulation of knowledge before me.

In a sense, it also made me realize just how much of our knowledge is now absorbed digitally.

Simply walking along and looking at the spines made me feel excited.

Once again, rather than the latest bestsellers, I wanted to read a classic, so I headed toward the Iwanami Bunko shelves.

Before reaching them, I stopped to look at the Iwanami Shinsho series. There I found a guidebook to Proust entitled An Invitation to In Search of Lost Time, and picked it up to leaf through it.

For now, however, I do not have the time to read it.

I decided to leave it for another occasion and finally moved on to the Iwanami Bunko section.

The first volume of Proust was displayed in a stack, and I picked it up for a moment.

Still, I decided that this was not yet the right time to begin, and put it back.

All sixteen volumes were lined up on the shelf.

I remembered that there was also a Kobunsha edition, and when I checked later, I found that Shueisha had published one as well.

I decided that I should first consider carefully which edition to read, and began looking for something else.

I wanted something thin that I could finish quickly.

While searching, I found Maupassant’s Boule de Suif.

It is a famous book—everything in the Iwanami Bunko series is supposed to be a classic—yet I had never read it.

I bought it and thought it was time to leave. But since I was already there, I decided to look around a little more. Just as I was about to go downstairs, I turned around and went up to the third floor instead.

This floor contained books on philosophy and related subjects.

As I wandered slowly between the shelves, I found myself entertaining a completely inconsequential thought: in the end, I had never really developed any connection with Wittgenstein.

Then a critical essay about artificial intelligence caught my eye.

It was a newly published paperback, with its first edition dated July 1.

I thought that something this recent could hardly be outdated yet, so I bought it, although it was considerably more expensive than an Iwanami Shinsho volume.

I have been reading it on the train during my commute.

And so, although I had entered merely to pass the time, I ended up buying two books.

Even so, there were several people walking around with perhaps ten books in their shopping baskets, and I found myself imagining that they, too, must be serious book lovers.

I did not have enough time to explore the bookstore thoroughly from top to bottom, but I still spent a very enjoyable time there.

The time spent reading a book is also a form of digital detox.

I must make sure not to lose that time.

Time spent with a paper book is time reclaimed from the digital world.

 

・・・

welcome and farewell party
歓送迎会。新しく来た人を歓迎し、去る人を送る会。

get off the train at
〜で途中下車する、〜駅で降りる。

at an alarming speed
驚くほどの速さで。ここでは「猛烈な勢いで」の自然な英訳。

line the shelves / be lined with
棚や場所にずらりと並ぶ。

reworking
焼き直し、既存の内容を作り替えたもの。

leaf through
本や雑誌をパラパラとめくる。

displayed in a stack
平積みで置かれている。

wander slowly between the shelves
書架の間をそぞろ歩く。

inconsequential
取るに足らない、どうでもよい。

reclaim time
時間を取り戻す。デジタル機器に奪われがちな時間を、自分のために取り返すという含み。

 

#Reading #DigitalDetox #Bookstore #JapaneseEssay #ColoKen

When Things Go Your Way—and When They Don’t

Good luck and bad luck often seem clear at the time, but the true meaning of an event may not become apparent until much later.

There was a news report that a well-known professional athlete had been involved in a traffic accident.

Judging from the circumstances, it seemed that the cyclist may also have been partly at fault. However, since the accident involved a car and a bicycle, the driver of the car will probably bear the greater responsibility, even though both are legally considered vehicles.

No one sets out intending to cause a traffic accident, so I feel sorry for everyone involved.

The athlete had already been dropped from the national team because of an injury. It was one misfortune after another.

Before the injury, the athlete had been selected for the national team and was expected to play an important role. Then, one unfortunate event followed another.

Things were simply not going their way.

It might be understandable if any of this had happened by choice, but of course it had not.

In life, everything has two sides.

Perhaps the athlete’s injury is actually minor, and receiving treatment at an early stage may help protect and prolong their career in the years ahead.

As for the traffic accident, the fact that the other person reportedly suffered only minor injuries was at least a small mercy amid the misfortune.

As we go through life, there are times when things go our way and times when they do not.

When things are going well, we rarely stop to think about how fortunate we are—unless, perhaps, we have won the lottery.

When things are going badly, however, we reflect deeply on our lack of luck.

And yet, something that appears to be nothing but misfortune at the time may take on a different meaning later.

At the moment something happens, we cannot really know whether it is fortunate or unfortunate.

We have no choice but to accept what has happened. And whenever possible, I would like to turn it into an opportunity and make use of it in my own life.

What seems like misfortune today may reveal a different meaning tomorrow.

・・・

things go one’s way
物事が思いどおりに進む、運が向いている
Nothing seemed to be going his way that week.

be partly at fault
一部に責任がある、多少の落ち度がある
The cyclist may also have been partly at fault.

bear responsibility
責任を負う
The driver may bear the greater responsibility.

one misfortune after another
不運が次々と重なること。「踏んだり蹴ったり」に近い表現。
It was one misfortune after another.

everything has two sides
何事にも二面性がある。日本語の「表裏一体」に近い表現。
In life, everything has two sides.

a small mercy amid the misfortune
不幸の中でのせめてもの救い。「不幸中の幸い」。
The fact that no one was seriously injured was a small mercy amid the misfortune.

take on a different meaning
別の意味を帯びる、違う意味を持つようになる
The experience may take on a different meaning later.

turn something into an opportunity
出来事を好機に変える。「奇貨とする」を自然な英語で表したもの。
She turned the setback into an opportunity to reconsider her future.

#GoodLuckAndBadLuck #LifeReflections #FindingOpportunity #oshi #supporters

Compassion for Those Who Are Physically Struggling

A Help Mark may be the only visible sign of an illness or disability that cannot be seen from the outside. On a crowded train, a small act of consideration can reveal what kind of society we choose to create.

When commuting, I usually try to board a less crowded carriage and choose a door where fewer people are waiting. Yesterday evening, however, the train arrived just as I stepped onto the platform, so I had no choice but to board at a particularly crowded spot.

I spend most of the day sitting in front of a microscope, so I know that sitting for even longer is not exactly good for my health. I do not particularly mind standing on the train.

Still, when I am carrying a heavy bag containing my laptop, I begin to want a seat after a while.

Fortunately, at the next major station, the seat directly in front of me became vacant, and I was able to sit down.

I spent some time looking at my smartphone, but four or five stops later, a man wearing a Help Mark boarded the train.

He looked to be around seventy.

He appeared healthy, but he presumably had some illness or disability that was not visible.

He looked around with disappointment when he saw that there were no empty seats, then stood holding on to a strap.

The two young men beside me were absorbed in games on their smartphones, whether or not they had noticed him.

The men in their thirties or forties sitting opposite us were also staring at their phones and showed no particular reaction.

After about two stops, one of the young men beside me got off the train.

I felt relieved, thinking that the man with the Help Mark would finally be able to sit down.

At that very moment, however, another man who had been standing next to him quickly took the vacant seat.

The man with the Help Mark moved slowly and had lost this little game of musical chairs.

Unable to stand it any longer, I spoke to him and offered him my seat.

The men around us, all of whom looked clearly younger than I was, continued to pretend not to notice.

I placed my heavy bag on the luggage rack and took hold of a strap again, thinking that they could at least have had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.

Many people who wear a Help Mark or a maternity badge are dealing with circumstances difficult enough that they feel the need to make them visible to strangers.

Some illnesses and disabilities cannot be recognized from a person’s appearance.

That is precisely why a certain degree of consideration from those around them is necessary.

Incidentally, on the bus from my nearest station to the hospital where I work, the healthy-looking passengers are usually hospital staff, while most of the others are patients or people accompanying them.

For that reason, I try to offer my seat whenever possible.

Alternatively, I sit at the very back from the beginning, where it is difficult to give up the seat midway through the journey.

Everyone wants to sit down on a train or bus.

These days, I also tend to sit whenever a seat is available.

When I was a student, standing was simply a matter of course.

Even now, I might still manage without much difficulty if I were not carrying a commuting bag with a laptop inside.

After a full day’s work, however, it is not quite so easy.

Some people might say that anyone who needs a seat should use the priority seating area.

They might say that such a person should travel in a Green Car.

They might suggest avoiding crowded hours.

They might even argue that people who struggle physically should use a private car or take a taxi instead of using the train.

Perhaps those arguments exist.

Even so, a person with greater physical strength can surely stand for ten or twenty minutes for someone who is struggling.

Is that not the kind of small burden we should be willing to share with one another in society?

As I thought about this, I silently muttered to myself, “Still, this really is tiring,” and remained standing as the train carried me all the way to the final stop.

Compassion does not require us to feel no burden; it asks us to accept a small one for someone who may be carrying far more.

・・・ 

Help Mark
A red-and-white symbol used in Japan by people who may need assistance or consideration because of an illness, disability, pregnancy complication, prosthetic limb, or other condition that may not be visible.

maternity badge
A badge worn by pregnant women in Japan to indicate pregnancy, especially during the early stages when it may not yet be obvious.

not particularly mind doing something
To be willing to do something without feeling strong reluctance.
Example: I do not particularly mind standing on the train.

presumably
Used when something is considered likely based on the available evidence.
Example: He presumably had a condition that could not be seen.

musical chairs
A game in which people compete for fewer chairs than there are players. Here, it is used figuratively to describe the competition for an empty train seat.

unable to stand it any longer
Unable to tolerate a situation any further.
Example: Unable to stand it any longer, I offered him my seat.

have the decency to
To behave with a minimum level of politeness or consideration.
Example: They could at least have had the decency to look embarrassed.

priority seating area
Seats on public transport reserved primarily for elderly people, pregnant women, people with disabilities, and others who may need to sit.

Green Car
A first-class railway carriage in Japan that requires an additional fee and generally offers more comfortable seating.

a matter of course
Something regarded as normal, natural, or expected.
Example: When I was a student, standing was a matter of course.

#InvisibleDisabilities #PublicTransport #SocialCompassion #LifeInJapan #ColoKen

Those Who Rule and Those Who Are Ruled

When political power reaches into the world of sports, even rules that are supposed to be impartial can begin to look unstable. This raises a broader question about those who rule and those who are ruled.

At the soccer World Cup currently under way, the president of the United States reportedly asked FIFA to reconsider a red card given to an American player, claiming that the decision had been mistaken. Afterward, the suspension resulting from the red card was lifted.

I feel sorry not only for the players taking part, but also for the referees, who must make difficult decisions under enormous pressure.

What kind of structure lies behind an incident like this?

There are players who play soccer for people to watch.

There are national soccer associations that support and organize them, and above those associations is FIFA, which governs the sport internationally.

Up to that point, the structure was relatively simple.

But once someone with political power intervenes from outside the system, the situation changes.

It suggests that the interpretation of the rules, or the punishment imposed under them, may be altered through pressure from someone who is not supposed to be part of the decision-making process.

What such an outsider is watching may not be soccer itself.

What matters may be the public connected to that person—particularly the people whose support he wants to retain. Everything else may be of little importance.

I once felt a certain admiration for people in positions of power.

I also hoped that they might use their influence to make society better.

Recently, however, such feelings have gradually faded.

The sense of stagnation only seems to grow rather than diminish.

Even living in a comparatively free country such as Japan, I find myself thinking this way. What, then, must life be like for people living in countries where freedom is far more restricted?

Unlike in the past, we now live in an age when events occurring around the world can be followed almost instantly.

Many people may be painfully aware of how they are being controlled, while still being unable to do anything about it.

Do people who rule others seek power because they have always wanted to control them?

Or do they simply find themselves in positions of authority and gradually begin to exercise control without fully realizing it?

Do those who are ruled actually wish to be ruled?

Or did they once hope to stand on the ruling side themselves, only to find that they could not?

The relationships between people in human society are remarkably unstable and difficult to understand.

Perhaps the boundary between ruling and being ruled is far less fixed than we would like to believe.

・・・

rule
To control or govern people, an organization, or a country. In this essay, it refers not only to formal government but also to the exercise of power over others.

be ruled
To be governed, controlled, or strongly influenced by someone else.

red card
A card shown by a referee to send a player off the field for a serious violation of the rules.

suspension
A temporary ban that prevents a player from taking part in one or more matches.

intervene
To become involved in a situation in order to influence or change what happens.

impartial
Fair and not favoring one person, group, or side.

outside the system
Not formally belonging to the organization or process that is supposed to make the decision.

retain support
To continue receiving approval or backing from other people.

stagnation
A condition in which there is little progress, movement, or improvement.

exercise control
To use one’s authority or power to direct other people’s actions.

#PoliticalPower #FIFAWorldCup #HumanSociety #JapaneseBlog #ColoKen

The Freedom to Think and the Responsibility to Put Thoughts into Words

Human beings are free to think whatever they wish. Yet thoughts do not always exist in clear sentences, and putting them into words is not a neutral act. Once expressed—and especially once published—private thoughts begin to affect other people. This reflection considers the distance between thinking, verbalizing, and communicating, and the responsibility involved in writing a personal blog.

People think about all kinds of things.

When we speak of thinking, we tend to imagine that we are forming words somewhere inside our heads.

Yet we also have feelings and impressions that remain difficult to express, so thinking itself may be more complicated than it first appears.

There are times when we do not want to think about anything at all. And when we are physically active, there are moments when the body must respond before the mind has time to put anything into words.

Perhaps, then, we are not constantly thinking in a clearly verbalized form.

In any case, human beings have the freedom to think whatever they like.

Thinking is free. But once we try to put our thoughts into words, things become somewhat more complicated.

They become more complicated still when we release those words into the world.

When people select only the ideas that serve their own interests, give them persuasive language, and spread them widely in order to lead others in a particular direction, those ideas can become propaganda.

Human thought is fundamentally self-centered. As a result, contradictions inevitably arise between one person’s way of thinking and another’s.

To supporters of President Trump, his claims may appear unquestionably correct. To those who oppose him, the very same words may sound entirely unacceptable.

Each side has its own arguments, and it has become increasingly difficult for them to move toward one another.

I, too, think about many things.

But what seems correct to me is correct only from my own point of view. To others, much of it may seem mistaken, and there are undoubtedly many aspects of my thinking that could be improved.

Through this blog, I put my thoughts into words. Those words should not be careless, nor should they cause unnecessary pain to someone else.

At the same time, I do not put everything I think into words.

Without fully realizing it, I select certain thoughts, leave others out, and polish some parts of myself before presenting them.

Seen in that light, the person who appears in this blog may also be, in a sense, a somewhat hypocritical version of myself.

There is freedom in thinking, and there is freedom in putting thoughts into words.

But the distance between the two may be greater than we imagine.

That is what makes writing so difficult.

We are free to think, but the moment we turn thought into language, freedom begins to carry responsibility.

 

・・・

put something into words
To express a thought or feeling clearly through language.
考えや感情を言葉で表現する。

verbalized
Expressed or formed in words.
言語化された。

release words into the world
A figurative expression meaning to publish or communicate something publicly.
言葉を公に発信する。

serve one’s own interests
To be useful or advantageous to oneself.
自分に都合よく働く。

propaganda
Information spread deliberately to influence people’s opinions or behavior, often in a biased way.
人々の考えや行動を一定の方向へ導くため、意図的に広められる偏った情報。

self-centered
Viewing things mainly from one’s own position, needs, or interests.
自分を中心に物事を考える。

move toward one another
To reduce disagreement and try to reach mutual understanding.
意見の隔たりを縮め、歩み寄る。

leave something out
To omit or not include something.
何かを省く、書かずにおく。

polish parts of oneself
Here, to present oneself in a more favorable or carefully arranged way.
自分を多少よく見せるように整える。

hypocritical
Claiming or appearing to have principles or qualities that one does not fully live by.
実際とは異なる立派な姿を見せる、偽善的な。

 

#FreedomOfThought #ResponsibilityOfWords #PersonalWriting #LifeInJapan #ColoKen

As a Casual Harukist

A newly released novel by Haruki Murakami sends me straight to a bookstore. As a modest but devoted “Harukist,” I reflect on the pleasure of reading Murakami in Japanese, the distinctly Japanese geography of his fiction, and the curious resemblance between his writing method and my own approach to blogging.

An interview about Haruki Murakami’s new book appeared in the morning newspaper on the third.

That was how I learned that the book had been released the day before yesterday.

So yesterday, I promptly went to Yurindo bookstore at Yokohama Station.

I had expected to find towering stacks of copies laid out on a display table. Instead, there was only one sample copy, along with cards saying, “Please take this card to the register.”

It felt rather lonely somehow, but perhaps the book was selling so quickly that this system saved the staff from having to keep restocking the display.

I took one of the cards to the register, but afterward I thought that perhaps I should simply have gone there empty-handed and said to the clerk, “The new Haruki Murakami, please.”

I found myself thinking that I still had some way to go before becoming properly Haruki-like.

I immediately read the first two or three pages.

As always, once I begin reading a Murakami novel, I start feeling that it would be a shame to finish it. So I stopped after only those few pages.

But even so, it was remarkable.

In the interview, Murakami himself mentioned that he was seventy-seven, yet there was nothing in the freshness of the opening that suggested his age.

I later realized that the words printed on the band wrapped around the book were only its opening lines. And that was exactly right: beyond those lines, I could not have written even a single additional character.

I therefore intend to proceed more carefully than usual, making sure not to read too quickly.

Still, Haruki Murakami really is extraordinary.

One of the good things about having been born Japanese must surely be that I can read Haruki Murakami in Japanese.

Musashisakai, a place name that appears in the table of contents, happens to be where I lived when I was newly married.

I am very much looking forward to seeing how it is portrayed.

I have always thought that Murakami uses the Japanese language extremely well. He also writes with a very domestic and distinctly Japanese sense of geography.

For example, there is that scene in which Aomame gets off the elevated expressway near Sangenjaya, slightly toward Shibuya. Unless you have actually driven there, it would be almost impossible to understand the geography of that description.

This is a use of place and language that only a Japanese reader can fully appreciate.

It makes me think that Murakami is not deliberately writing in pursuit of a Nobel Prize.

And that is exactly as it should be.

In the interview, he said:

“My style is to write without making a plan, picking up whatever emerges naturally as I go along.”

My blog is written in much the same way.

Reading that gave me a little confidence that perhaps this way of writing is perfectly all right.

Perhaps writing does not always begin with a destination; sometimes it begins simply by picking up what appears along the way.

・・・

	Harukist An informal Japanese term for a devoted reader or admirer of Haruki Murakami. Murakami is one of Japan’s best-known contemporary novelists, widely read both in Japan and abroad. His fiction often combines ordinary urban life with surreal events, dreams, music, loneliness, memory, and parallel worlds. The term Harukist is used mainly in Japan to describe people who are especially enthusiastic about his books and distinctive literary style. 村上春樹の熱心な読者、ファンを指す日本独自の呼び方。村上春樹は日本を代表する現代小説家の一人で、日常的な都市生活に、幻想的な出来事、夢、音楽、孤独、記憶、並行世界などを織り交ぜた作風で、日本国内外に多くの読者を持つ。「ハルキスト」は、とくに彼の作品や独特の文体を愛好する人々を指して日本で使われる。 towering stacks Large piles of books or other objects stacked high. うず高く積まれた山 restock To replace goods that have been sold or removed from a display. 商品を補充する empty-handed Without carrying or bringing anything. 手ぶらで freshness A lively, youthful, or newly created quality. 瑞々しさ、新鮮さ book band A strip of paper wrapped around a Japanese book, usually containing promotional text. 本の帯 distinctly Japanese Clearly characteristic of Japan or Japanese culture. いかにも日本的な sense of geography An understanding of the locations of places and how they relate to one another. 地理感覚 in pursuit of Trying to obtain or achieve something. 〜を求めて、〜を目指して as it should be In exactly the way something ought to be. それでよい、そうあるべき

#HarukiMurakami #JapaneseLiterature #TheJoyOfReading #ColoKen #LifeInJapan