今週火水と東京へ行ってきた。東京駅の改札を出てビックリ、以後何処へ行っても、エッ、エッと云った感じ。完全に街が半死状態。実際はそうでは無いと思うが、節電の関係で照明をグッと落とし、エスカレーターも半分くらいしか動いていないし、デパートもレストランもオフィスも全て薄暗い。洗面所のエアータオルもオールストップ。

　「関西とはエライ違いだなー、」と云うのが第一印象。同時に東京の人って規律正しいと云うか、「キチッとしているなー」と感心した。

　多分これが関西なら、こうは上手く行かないのでは？。「看板消して、店暗くして、そんなんで商売になるか？？？。」などと違反者続出間違いなし。

　その点東京は凄い。見かけだろうが、良い恰好しいーだろうが、皆がキッチリ協力するのだから偉い。この調子だと何とか夏を乗り切るのでは・・・、そんな思いがした。

そんな東京を見て、ふと思い出したのが、平成７年の阪神淡路大震災。

　震災後１週間くらいの時の事。興味半分と云うのではないが被災地の中心部、三ノ宮に行った。何と筆舌に尽くし難い、物凄い状況。市役所が半分になり、そごう百貨店が消え、大半のビルが垂直に堕ち、９階建てが７階建てに、5階建てが4階建てに、と云った状況で、その凄まじさに唖然とした。

　ところがである。駅の高架下のパチンコ屋が軍艦マーチを高らかに、チーン・ジャラジャラ、チーン・ジャラジャラ、しかもお客は超満員・・・。少し足を伸ばし、歓楽街を覗くと、倒壊ビルの谷間でポン引きのお兄ちゃんが昼間から、「お客さん、一寸ちょっと・・・良い娘いまっせ・・・」と声を掛けて来る。

　その時の僕は確信した。神戸は大丈夫だ・・・、何があっても必ず復興すると！。

I went to Tokyo this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. When I went out of the ticket gates of Tokyo Station, I was astonished, and every time I went anywhere after that, I was like, “Ew! The city is completely half-dead. Actually, I don’t think so, but the lights were dimmed to save electricity, the escalators were only half full, department stores, restaurants and offices were all dimly lit. Air towels in the washroom are also all-stop.

My first impression was that it was very different from the Kansai region. At the same time, I was impressed by how disciplined people in Tokyo are, or at least how neat they are.

If this is the Kansai region, maybe it won’t work like this. What’s the point of making a business out of taking down the signs and darkening the store? I’m sure there will be many violators.

In this respect, Tokyo is amazing. It doesn’t matter what you look like or how good you look, it’s great because everyone works together to make it happen. At this rate, I felt that I would be able to get through the summer…

The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995 reminded me of that when I was in Tokyo.

It happened about a week after the earthquake. I went to Sannomiya in the center of the disaster area. It’s indescribable, the situation is amazing. The city hall was cut in half, the Sogo department store disappeared, most of the buildings fell vertically, and the nine-story building became seven-story, and the five-story building became four-story.

However, this is the case. The pachinko parlor under the overpass of the train station played the Battleship March loudly, ching ching ching ching ching ching ching ching. If you go a little further and peek into the entertainment district, you will see a pimping older brother in the valley of a collapsed building calling out to you in broad daylight, “Hey customer, a little bit of a good girl here…”.

At that moment, I was convinced. Kobe is going to be okay…no matter what, it’s going to recover!

未曾有の大震災から早や２ケ月。傷跡は深く、瓦礫の撤去どころか、大半の被災者が避難所生活から脱し切れない状況にあり、復興にはまだまだ年月がかかりそうである。

　被災者には、ただただ「前を向いて・・・」としか云いようがないが、家屋敷はともかく、ご身内を亡くされた方には、慰めの言葉も無く、全ては時の解決を待つしかない様に思う。

　ただ、石原慎太郎東京都知事ではないが、今回の大震災を「天罰」「神の啓示」と捉える人も多く、最近色んな会合でそうした言葉を耳にするが、私自身も「そう捉えるべき」だと思っている。そして、「物質から精神へ」、そんな流れに成れば良いのになーと思っている。

　物質なんて自然の力、神の力からすれば無きに等しいもの。元々日本は大陸とつながっていたと云うのだから、ビルや家など物の数ではない。ところが、戦後の日本は、経済発展の名の下に物とお金に執着し、命をかけてそれを欲し護ろうとして来た。「武士は喰わねど高楊枝」などの精神論は何時の間にか死語となり、物によって人が動かされ、上下も裏表もよく判らなくなって来つつあったのでは。

「人の命は地球よりも重い」との言葉を残し、一大決心をしたときの総理がいたが、その判断が正しかったか否かは別として、その命よりも精神に重きを置いた時代もあった。

　竹やりなどの精神論ではどうしようもないが、平成の時代を反映した「はじの文化」と云うか、日本人のＤＮＡにしみついた「日本の心」を今いちど復活させ、無縁社会など何時のことと云えるような、人間の本心良心に目覚めたコミュニティー社会の幕開けになれば・・・、それが神の啓示に応えることになるのでは。

　柄にも無く一寸気取った事を書いてみたが、結構こんな事を考えている人は多いようで、もしかしたらとの期待感はある。だって、そんなに難しい事ではない。今より少し勇気を持って、会う人に「おはようー」「今日はー」と云えば良い。石川啄木ほどの事は出来なくても、自分が本来持っている愛の心を少し勇気を出して出せば良い。

　避難所のコミュニティー社会には、そんな日本人の心が溢れていると聞く・・・。

It’s only been two months since the unprecedented disaster. The scars are so deep that, far from clearing away the rubble, most of the victims are still unable to get out of their evacuation shelters, and recovery is likely to take many more years.

The only thing I can say to the victims is, “Look forward to the future…” But for those who lost their relatives, I don’t have any words of comfort.

However, many people, not the Governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, see this disaster as a “divine punishment” or a “revelation from God,” and I have heard such words at various meetings recently, and I myself believe that it should be seen as such. And I think it would be good if the flow was like that, “from matter to spirit”.

Matter is nothing in the eyes of the power of nature, the power of God. Originally, Japan was connected to the continent, not the number of buildings and houses. However, post-war Japan has been obsessed with things and money in the name of economic development, and has put its life on the line to protect them. Before we knew it, spiritual theories such as “the samurai don’t eat but the toothpick” had become obsolete, and people were being driven by things, and it was becoming difficult to tell the top and bottom from the bottom.

There was a prime minister who left the words, “Human life outweighs the earth,” when he made his big decision, but whether he was right or wrong, there was a time when he placed more emphasis on spirit than on life.

But if we can revive the “culture of the beginning” that reflects the Heisei era, or the “Japanese heart” that has been ingrained in the DNA of the Japanese people, and create a community society where people are awakened to their true hearts and consciences, where we can say that we will never have a relation-free society…that will be a response to God’s revelation.

There are many people who are thinking about this kind of thing, and there is a sense of expectation that it might happen. Because, it’s not that hard. You should be a little more courageous and say “Good morning” or “Today” to the people you meet. You may not be as good as Ishikawa Takuboku, but you need to be brave enough to show the love that you have.

It is said that the community society of the evacuation center is full of such Japanese spirit…