Japanese with anime voice: episode56
Hello, I’m Sachi.
May 20, today is 森林 (shinrin) day. 森林 (shinrin) is written 森 (mori) and 林 (Hayashi), and reads as 森林 (shinrin). This is also interesting because it has the same origins as the day of お香 (Okou), which I discussed earlier in Episode 34. The character 森林 (shinrin) has five 木 (ki)’s and a total of 20 strokes, five 木 (ki)’s for May and 20 strokes for 20 days, so they decided to make today, May 20, 森林 (shinrin) day. It is really a very good idea, isn’t it? Where did they come up with this idea? It is really wonderful! It is common to play word games with dates and read them. However, I don’t think it’s easy to come up with something like this. They are a genius. Their point of view is totally different from the norm.
The “美し村 (Utsukushi mura) federation” was formed by 10 villages with the Kanji character “美 (bi)” in their names. 美 (bi) is the Kanji character bi for 美しい (utsukushii). Unfortunately, due to the recent merging of municipalities, most of the villages that belonged to the federation have disappeared, and the federation was dissolved. So, the federation is no longer active, but only the anniversary date remains.
This “municipal merger” took place in various regions of Japan a few years ago. The area where I live now was originally a large city, but it became even larger. My hometown, however, is located in the northwesternmost part of the prefecture. It was supposed to merge with neighboring towns to become a city, but it didn’t work out and ended up merging with several villages deep in the mountains. Therefore, my hometown was never able to become a city. From a municipal point of view, it may not have been a good outcome, but from my point of view, I am happy with the way things are now. It is true that becoming a city may be better from a political point of view. But I don’t think it would be good if it became too big. I think it’s just fine the way it is now. I think that villages have always known each other better than neighboring towns. There wasn’t a lot of interaction between the two neighboring towns, and their cultures were a little different.
I was born in a shopping district. In my hometown, it used to be a prosperous shopping district. However, it had already gone out of business when I was a child. Nowadays, there are very few stores that are still in business. If anything, the history of the area is not that deep. In the local area, there is a mountain called 城台山 (jodaisan), on top of which there was a castle from 1343 to 1547. That was more than 400 years ago. It is said that the castle at that time was built like a fortress and was completely different from the castle that everyone is familiar with today. There is a shrine at the foot of that mountain, and the town around it is so old and historic that people have lived there since the time when that castle was there.
Therefore, the shopping street where my parents’ house is located is a place where people have lived for about 120 years. Compared to the towns around the shrine, it still has a short history. Thinking about it, I sometimes wish my parents’ house was a little further north, or that I had been born in a village deep in the mountains. Still, the hometown of one’s birth is a place to which one is strangely attached. Even though it is a rusty shopping street. I am still helpless, but I still have a big ambition. I have a great ambition to one day restore the vitality of my hometown. Even if it is something that no one else is interested in, even if it is something that no one else is thinking about, as long as I alone think about it and work toward it, I believe that the results will naturally follow. Of course, it will not be smooth sailing, and there will be many opponents. In fact, I would say that 90% of them are against it, and the remaining 10% are my own. Still, I have a strong feeling that I don’t want to stay here and do nothing. I used to think that after graduating from high school, I would definitely move to Tokyo and never return to this countryside again. I thought there was nothing in my hometown. There was nothing like in the city, and no place to work. I was convinced of this, but now I think the exact opposite. Even if there is no place to work, you can create your own work. What you find in the city is not all there is. Local communities have a long and deep history. You can’t create that in the city. I think that is something to be proud of more than anything else. I think we need to appeal to the world more and more. I hope that my activities will someday influence other people in the countryside and that they too will promote the good qualities of the countryside so that people will realize that the charm of Japan lies not only in the cities but also in the countryside.
