Walkman - Arakan 9

Walkman

The other day, I bought my daughter new earphones, and
she said this to me at dinner.

"Dad, these earphones sound kind of thin."

Calling the earphones I bought her "thin"—
what kind of upbringing did this daughter of mine have?
While thinking I'd like to see her parents' faces,

"They're not that different from the old ones,"

I started to say, then suddenly remembered.
This situation, it feels like it happened
thirty-some years ago too.

-----------------------------------------

At the university I attended, the number of international
students from Asia was increasing at the time. I was
involved with them, helping them out.

A Chinese man called "Mr. Huang" was, I recall, a lecturer,
though that is quite hazy.
He was a serious, sincere, yet somehow quietly humorous
person.

One day, a Korean international student showed me his
Walkman with pride.
Was he trying to show off that Korea could make things like this too?
At the time, Korea and China were just starting to
make cheap portable players.

As I pressed the play button and listened intently,
I thought to myself:

(Huh, the sound is kind of tinny;
there is "something" different from the Japanese-made one.)

Then Mr. Huang, seeing the puzzled look on my face,
smiled and said this.

"Japanese people are bothered by the poor sound quality of Korean-made products,
aren't they?"

I was honest, so I agreed completely.
Then the Korean student, looking annoyed,
compared my Walkman with his, and

"They're the same. There's no such difference in sound quality."

he said.
The next moment, Mr. Huang smiled quietly and said this.

"But you Koreans think the sound of Korean-made and Chinese-made
is completely different, don't you?"

The student replied, sounding somewhat smug.

"That's just a fact, so it can't be helped.
Korea and China have different levels of technical skill."

To that, Mr. Huang replied.

"To Chinese people, they all sound the same.
I came to Japan when I was young, so I know
how they differ."

And he continued.

"China will eventually overtake Japan and South Korea.
It will take time, though. By then, you won't
be able to tell the difference between your
Walkmans and the Chinese ones."

-----------------------------------------

At the time, I couldn't accurately grasp the meaning of those words.
But now, I think I understand.

People are sensitive to the gap with those "below them," but
they are surprisingly dull to the gap with those "above them."
That is precisely why people always labor under the illusion
that they are "not being properly evaluated."
It is because they cannot see the depth of the effort and accumulation that exists above.

He understood that "staircase structure."
What was exchanged in that classroom that day was not just talk about Walkmans,
but a very grand theme that pierced through the limits of perception,
human self-evaluation, and national growth understood through those lenses.
And Japan at that time was giddy with the bubble that had suddenly appeared.

I told my daughter this memory.
Then, while eating her curry, she said in a very light tone:

"People are sensitive to the 'gap with those below,' but
they can't hear the 'gap with those above,' right?
Dad, you're a super easy example of that.
Go buy me some new earphones~."

......Hey.

My wife, while wiping a plate, muttered quietly.

"Well, that's true.
If people really understood and saw their own position,
they would just get depressed.
Humans are built not to see it."

While listening to those words,
I suddenly remembered Mr. Huang's profile.
He was just quietly staring at the reality
that no one else wanted to see.

I gently place the earphone box
in front of my daughter.
And I suddenly think.

You can live in peace without seeing.
If you try to see, you can move forward, albeit with pain.

Standing between those two states
is who I am now,
and who this country is.