Rhine Essays: There is a path behind where people go, and there are mountains of flowers

Rhine Essays 1996 Yukio Iura Basel, Switzerland

Essays

“In Japan, Mr. Iura, you must not do things differently from others.
Just being called an eccentric person is enough to have a negative label attached to you.”

“Mr. Iura, even if you made the same mistakes as those around you during the bubble era, you were hardly criticized.
When you do something different and cause a big problem, that is fatal,”
I often hear things like this.
As someone who has lived in Japan for a long time, I understand well what is meant by this, and I believe I also understand the customs of Japan's village society, and the old days when people worked hard at farming while watching the work of their neighbors.

Recently, I have increasingly found myself tilting my head in doubt at this way of thinking.
I think it is important to harmonize with a group or the whole to some extent, but there must be many times when one thinks that the group or the whole is clearly strange or wrong from one's own point of view.
The bubble era was like that, and for example, one must surely witness organizations covering up pollution, or many people around one clearly engaging in insider trading.
And in one's own conscience, one must surely think that it is a bad thing, that it is wrong.

At such times, I think many people fall into a dilemma.

Also, it is not just in cases where things are clearly black and white; there may be situations where one has to sacrifice laws or social rules slightly for the sake of improving company performance or one's own promotion.
Superiors may know this, and while they may not force it, there may be words and actions that implicitly suggest it.
People whose background does not sufficiently guarantee promotion and who think they must take some risks may end up turning a blind eye and moving forward. During the bubble era, many people may have gone along with others even while thinking, 'This is strange, this is strange.'

However, it may be idealistic, but I cannot help but think that the correct answer is to be prepared, including with one's family, to accept a lower standard of living rather than being forced to choose a path that is completely incompatible with one's own beliefs and way of thinking.

Even if it is not such a difficult matter, I think there are many cases in overcrowded Japan where acting the same as everyone else is disadvantageous.
The rush to return home during the Bon and New Year holidays and the congestion at tourist spots during Golden Week are examples of this.
Of course, there may be a nostalgic class reunion in one's hometown during the New Year, and I understand that there is meaning in everyone gathering.
Also, there may be circumstances regarding children's schools.

However, even taking everything into account, it should not be that difficult to exercise the ingenuity to avoid the concentration about once every three years.
I hear that the congestion during the year-end and New Year holidays has been gradually easing recently, and I also hear that more people are choosing overseas travel at lower prices by avoiding the congested consecutive holidays.

Perhaps many people have already begun to realize that there is a mountain of flowers on the path behind where people go.

Reflections of an elderly programmer

There are times when you think about whether to conform to those around you or to go where you think you should.
I remember that I used to think about things like this when I was still active in the workforce.

I am still active now, but when I think that I have no retirement money and am in a position where I can quit at any time, I prioritize my own thoughts over those around me.
I sometimes think that not wanting to cause trouble for those around me and thinking that I must not do anything that would jeopardize my retirement money were the things that bound me.
I think that being released from these bonds is what gives an old person strength.

Supplement

This article is a reprint of the 'Rhine Essays (Yukio Iura)' from around 1997.
At that time, Mr. Iura posted my hometown's 'mother's taste' on the web.
This article is still published by the son of the chief priest.
However, Mr. Iura's 'Rhine Essays' can no longer be found anywhere.
So, remembering the kindness I received at that time, I decided to reprint it.

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