Last Sunday, I drove to a high-class residential district "Okuike" near Kobe.
I had read about it in the famous book "Lost Japan" by Alex Kerr. He had written of it as one of the most prestigious places to live in Kobe, where one can live in the midst of nature, yet near a big city. In "Lost Japan", Alex Kerr writes of the disappearing nature and cultural things that we still have in Japan. I visited Okuike expecting a change from the usual urban blight of Japan.
As I drove there, it was immediately apparent that the place was really wonderful. There was a beautiful lake with really clear water, and a secluded feeling among mountains even though it was only a short drive from the city. It was like a suburban villa district and I expected some good recreation on a Sunday afternoon. But, as soon as I found parking beside the lake and got out of my car, some strange noises hit my ear! Somebody was singing with a loud speaker "to live with living being on the earth". I totally agree with the idea of living in harmony, but the noisy loudspeaker was mostly definitely not harmonious.
Fortunately, soon I heard the announcement that "this is the last song of the concert" and was really relieved. I walked to where the sound was coming from and found many people gathered for a "mountain festival". Many children were playing and there were some attractions and snack stands. I bought some fried chips and saw several men in their late 40s to 60s wearing business suits coming and going. They seemed to be city councillors of some kind doing an inspection.
Then the worst thing began. A girl on the stage declared "it is time to announce who won the prize in the lottery today. Sponsor is this and that..." Then she began reading the numbers of the winners and it went on and on. She was still announcing when I left the lake one hour later.
I am fairly confident that almost all people don't like to hear an endless announcement of numbers on a Sunday afternoon. Except perhaps the council men wearing business suits.
Japanese society seems to be in a depressed state nowadays but I think it is only natural that we are depressed. If somebody take too much salt, balance of inner nature would be disturbed and he/she would get hypertension.
Similarly, if we take in too much noise, the balance of something would be disturbed and society would sink into depression. My small hope is to be able to live with a good feeling and I believe Japan is rich enough to achieve it if we want to. I just cannot understand why people are reluctant to do that.
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