"Japan of the 21st century"

Title

Creator

Kawahara, Yasuo

Language

English

Source

Panorama Volume XIX (No. 12) December 1967

Year

1967

Subject

Japan -- Social history -- 21st century

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

E In 1968, Japan will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration. The following are some of ’he prize-winning compositions submitted by boys and girls of primary and junior high schools — the driving force of the Japan of the 21st century. "JAPAN OF THE Let Us Be Tender “Japan of the 21st centu ry,” — these are words full of hope and promise and I have given much thought to them. I am now a 12-yearold, sixth-grader. Thirtyfour years from now I will be 46. I wonder if I shall be living then? But statis tics tell me, “Don’t worry. Even now the average life expectancy of Japanese is 67.” But that is only the begin ning’ of 'the 21st century. It’s the start of another 100 years. It is really like hav ing a dream to predict what will happen in that period. It is said that the year 1968 marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Mei ji Era. When I read books, watch television or see mo vies, I learn that there were no airplanes and no automo biles in the early days of that period, much less tele21ST CENTURY" vision, radio or movies. There was not even the elec tric light. But today, there are ma ny airplanes in the sky and automobiles fill the roads. We are living in a world where almost everything is electrified. Judging from the way things are now, man will make great progress in the coming thirty-four years. Ground traffic will be re placed largely by aircraft. There will be handy oneman helicopters, giant air planes with a speed of 3,000 kilometers per hour, rocket aircraft with seating capaci ties for 300 to 400. The existing spacecraft and arti ficial satellites will have been improved so much that people will be able to travel to the Moon or explore Mars. What I am most interested in is daily life. My home will be facing south, so there will be plenty of sunshine. 20 Panorama It will be built of a steel frame, instead of wood. On the roof there will be heli copter, and in the garage, a modern automobile. A ro bot will take care of every thing, from cooking to wash ing and cleaning. Meals will be high-calory, and de licious, too. People will spend their free time enjoying literature, fine arts, music, television, sports, traveling, and so forth. I think that education will become more important along with man’s cultural progress and high school education will become compulsory. And when learning has ad vanced, everybody will be wise, and there will be no bad men, and everybody will be able to lead a pleasant life. By that time I will be over 49. And soon I will have my grandsons, and I will be an old woman in retirement. But, at that time, old people will be taken good care of because effective mo ral education will have made the young more respectful of the aged. Last year, ‘Respect for the Aged Day,’ a national holiday, was created much to the joy of old men and women. I, too, will be old soon. It pleases me to see others happy. In the 21st Century, living in Japan and other countries will be like a dream. But even when we are living in comfort and plenty, I think we should not forget to be kind and tender-hearted. When education becomes advanced and cultural pro gress is made, industry is promoted and the country becomes wealthy. And our life, too, will become rich. If education is advanced and life prosperous, there will be fewer crimes. And there will be little need for po licemen and other law-en forcement officers who will have very little to do. In a family, after the fa ther leaves for work, the mo ther will do all kinds of household chores by using a robot or electrical applian ces. The children will go to school. The old people will spend the rest of their lives doing whatever they like. On Sundays or holidays the family will go on a trip and have lots of fun. It’s like a dream, but a dream based on the cultural dev elopments of the present age. December 1967 21 Science does everything for man. It will produce many things man cannot. But I don’t think that this alone can make man really happy. We must have a tender and a beautiful heart even when we are living in an age of the machine which can do everything. Only then I believe can we live a truly human life. — Nobue Shimizu, 12 years old, prima ry school. Our Village One fine day during May, I looked down on our vil lage from the top of Mt. Shiritaka. Houses were seen scattered among the rice fields of sparkling green. Rice planting in the Kaga Plain was over. The land facing the Japan Sea, ex tending 12 kilometers east to west, dotted with fifteen woods, large and small — this is our village. It’s like ships on a green sea. It’s like a fleet of ships — flat ones, round ones, square ones. Our village is made up of these beautiful woods. Issa, the famous “haiku” poet, once composed a “haiku” which went as follows: “Our hamlet ap pears/ Warped on matter how much/ Haze may cover it.” But I would say: “Our hamlet appears/ Like a ship no matter how much/ Haze may cover it.” And this is a merchant ship. I like to hear a steam whistle of a ship sailing out of a port. It is the sound of peace. This ship is like a forest park. My imagination ex pands across the sky, like a rainbow. It soars higher and higher until it reaches a brilliant world of the 21st century. The new century is here. Our village is spreading before me. There, in the brilliant sun light, scattered among the rice fields, I see our homes. Shaped like domes, they have nothing but windows out side. Rooms are air-condi tioned, and temperature, hu midity and ventilation are all automatically controlled. Atomic power is used, so that winter is not much of a hardship even in this north ern region. Snow can be removed and crops in the fields kept warm easily. Flowers bloom all the year round. I turn my eyes to our village, a forest park. There, trees are well taken care of, tennis and volley 22 Panorama ball courts are available, too. But the shrines and temples are just as they were before. The cemeteries are always tidy and clean. I have now become com pletely a boy living in the 21st century. The park is our ground for recreation. It is open to all, city dwel lers and foreigners. Many rainbow trout and carp are swimming in the ponds of the park, into which flows the water of the Tedori Ri ver. There are extensive pastures and farms, and milch cows are grazing. The shallow soil, peculiar to the alluvial fan, has been im proved as deep soil. Even the smallest unit of a rice field is three hectares. The number of households is now one-tenth of that in the mid dle of the 20th century. This is a nationwide trend. Al most every village is a fo rest park with its own dis tinctive character. How did such a rapid change come about in only one century? Kawakita-mura, our village, has 800 hectares of land un der cultivation. Kusabuka, the hamlet in which I was born, alone has 150 hectares. Human labor equivalent to 0.8 man was once required; now only 0.05 man is neces sary. No wonder the number of households has decreased to one-tenth. Atomic power is being used for peaceful purposes in every industry. Develop ment projects are making rapid progress not only in Japan but in all parts of the world. Demand for indus trial products is increasing steadily, and production keeps rising. Economic con ditions are improving fast, and many people, particular ly of the farming villages, have found better jobs else where — with the promise of unlimited happiness. Ma ny people migrated to attrac tive foreign lands — with joy and courage, equipped with excellent skills and po tentialities. They did so in a very natural way, without compulsion. Then, what about us — the 10 per cent left behind here in Japan? Failures in life? No! The others left here, and we stayed, both as a matter of course. In fact, people are grate ful to us. We must dev elop our land, handed down to us by our ancestors, to December 1967 23 meet the needs of the new century. It is our mission to rebuild it into a commu nity as good as the living environment, of those ninetenths of the people who left our village. Let us take Kusabuka, our hamlet, as an example, to see how it has changed. There used to be 100 fami lies, but now in this forest park, large cedars, old pine trees, and garden rocks are the only reminders of the homes which once stood there. In front of the temple is a large ball park. In the compounds of the shrine now stand a music hall, a sacred Shinto festoon still hangs on the trunk of a large zelkova just as it did in the old dayd. At the western end of the village, where my home once stood, there is a large pond for rainbow trout. There are many promenades, and it is very quiet there. Outside the park, farmland spreads far and wide. There are excellent roads, too. No electric poles are seen. There is plenty of water in the canals. Orchards, bota nical gardens, dairies and factories for the processing of agricultural produce are also to be seen. The atmo sphere in the town, where people go shopping occasio nally, is lively but restful. The pine trees in the wind break forests and the cedars in the hills of Mt. Shiritakft have grown big and tall. We would be happy to hear from our friends in the cities and abroad, thanking us for the job well done in rebuilding our village. All working people here are making the best use of their time and living a comfor table life. We are now friends with all peoples of the world. Birds and ani mals, worms, grass and trees, the sun — all bless us now. Parks built in old villages, scattered against the back ground of beautiful scenery — this is Japan. This is the land we have built. In dustrial nuisances, the plague of agricultural chemicals, traffic accidents, old people’s diseases are now things of the past. Traveling is safe, cheap and easy; so, many people use these parks every day. Last night, there was a song contest in the park. A friend of mine, who. returned 24 Panorama to Africa after taking part in the contest, has written me. In Africa, he grows and processes peanuts, my favo rite food. His letter was mailed through a space sta tion. The letter said: “You have preserved this beauty of our native place, this tenderness of people, the ho nor of we Japanese. You have turned our village in to a community full of vigor. This forest park has been our ideal. It’s a social meeting place for all peoples of the world. It’s the ‘merchant ship of the heart,’ as you say. I’ll write you again from the Moon. Ichiro, at the space station.” I am a little embarrassed by his praise. Oh, the sun is now setting — over the beach of Komaiko. The Japan Sea spar kles white like a mirror. The shadow of our village is now a deep purple. It’s becoming dark. The chilly wind atop the mountain blows against my cheeks. My back feels chilly. It’s cold. It seems I have been returned to the 20th century. — Yasuo Kawahara, 12 years old, male December 1967 25

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