Japanese with anime voice: episode64
Hello, I’m Sachi.
Today is 30 May, so it’s GOMIZERO day, just for the sake of the word. This was originally started by a movement called the 530 Movement, which was called by mountain enthusiasts and spread throughout the country. The gomizero movement is often heard of by Japanese companies as part of their social contribution activities. It is an activity to reduce rubbish to zero, in other words, to make sure that there is no rubbish around, and it involves picking up rubbish and cleaning up. I think we talked before, in episode 45, about how each workplace has a cleaning activity when you’re a member of society, and I think they even called it the 530 Movement or something. Or they would organise it on a different day and try to reduce the amount of personal rubbish on that day. There are also activities like that.
I’ve been out of social life for a few years now, so I don’t really know what the average company does now. But it’s already been three years. Since I last left the company, I quit at the end of 2021, and I concentrated on languages for a whole year in 2022, and I thought those days would last forever, but when I started YouTube, my life changed again. And just when I thought I was getting used to it, I started podcast. I thought I couldn’t just do podcasts, so I started writing English scripts. When I got used to doing both podcasts and YouTube, I reconsidered how often I should broadcast my podcasts, and now I’m feeling a bit trapped. Sometimes I think it would be easier to be a working person.
Sometimes people ask me why I started YouTube, but I was always interested in it. I was interested in it because it seems creative. When I think about it, I used to make a few videos for friends’ weddings. I didn’t think I liked it at the time, but I enjoyed working on something on the computer. Since I started YouTube and started editing videos, I’ve realised that I really like editing. But I don’t know any technical terms, and I still use free and easy-to-use software, so I don’t do much editing.
That’s how it all started. But I wanted to do YouTube, but I couldn’t think of anything. So for a long time, I was thinking about what to do. So at first I thought I would learn various languages and make a channel where I teach Japanese. So I quit my job and concentrated on languages. When I quit, I announced to my colleagues, who were good friends at the time, that I was going to start YouTube in two years’ time. That was in 2021. So in 2022, I concentrated on languages, but I didn’t feel like I was improving at all. So a year went by. When 2023 came around, I felt that if I didn’t start this year, I would be the one who was just talking about it. And that’s when it happened. I happened to casually film the streets of my hometown and sent it to a friend overseas, who complimented me on how beautiful the town was. That’s when the idea for YouTube came to me.
Now that I think about it, I’m glad I declared to people what I was going to do. Even if you declare it, it doesn’t mean you have to do it. But I felt that I had to do it because I said so. By removing the escape route for myself, I made myself do it. It is often said that only a handful of people actually take action even if they want to, and that those who do are amazing. As for me, I want to see the results of my actions soon, so I can’t rely on those words forever. But I still think that taking action is a big step in a person’s life.
I feel like I’ve led a life where I’ve had to make a lot of decisions. When I think back, when did it all start? When I was in junior high school, I wanted to become a voice actor and my first decision was to audition for a training school. Then I decided to go to a high school that was above my level, and after graduating from high school I moved to Tokyo, intending to live in Tokyo for the rest of my life, but one day I suddenly decided to move back to my parents’ house. Since then, I’ve made more life decisions than I can count, such as living alone again, moving to where I live now, putting an end to my working life, and so on. It’s a bit of an exaggeration to call them life decisions.
But there are people who want to do something but can’t change their current living environment. You don’t have to force yourself to change, but if there is something you want to try, you should definitely try it once. Even if it fails, it doesn’t mean you’re going to die. It doesn’t make you a failure because there is no right answer in life to begin with. I don’t want people to think of you as a success or a failure based on their values. If you have something you want to do, please declare it in the comments section. It would be even better if you put a time limit on when you want to do it. Now, what should my next declaration be? Right now, I’m thinking of creating another YouTube channel. If I don’t declare it, it’s not going to happen anytime soon, so I’ll declare it within a year. I will launch my next YouTube channel within a year!
